Bed of Nails: A Special X Thriller

From deep within the high-security ward of a mental hospital, the Ripper plots revenge against Inspector Zinc Chandler. When Chandler responds to a bizarre murder at a hotel in Vancouver – a Hollywood producer suspended upside down like the Hanged Man card in a tarot deck, with a crown of nails hammered into his head – the Mountie becomes enmeshed in a deadly battle with the most implacable of psychotic enemies.

To solve that murder and the horrific killings that follow at the foot of Maltby Cemetery's Thirteen Steps to Hell and Ted Bundy's house, Chandler must look back in time to 1888, when London was terrorized by its own demented Ripper, and into the weird world of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.

His search takes him from a high-speed car chase with guns blazing in the streets of Vancouver to the fantasy realm of the Goths at the World Horror Convention in Seattle to a nail-biting climax in the Kingdom of Bones on the cannibal island of Tangaroa in the South Pacific, where Survivor is the game and Chandler an unwilling contestant.

"BED OF NAILS electroshocks the reader into turning pages long into the night. It's a get-under-your-skin thriller with machine-gun dialogue and impressive real-world research. It's one heck of a ride, and definitely not for the faint of heart." – CNN

"Nerve-wracking! BED OF NAILS blends cunning whodunits with creepy psychos derived from Slade's criminal defense history." - Cemetery Dance

"Michael Slade is undeniably the best thriller writer of our generation." - Del Howison, Dark Delicacies, America's Horror Bookstore

"You're never quite sure who the killer is until all the stops are pulled out in the thrilling climax. This bloody good yarn is well told, and seamlessly blends intensely researched historical fact with present day drama jacked up with brains, twisted sex, and buckets of gore." - Rue Morgue

"A graphic, unflinching novel full of action, suspense, and intensity that turns the screws on its readers." - The Georgia Straight

About the Author:
Criminal lawyer Michael Slade has acted in over a hundred murder cases. He specializes in the law of insanity, and argued the last hanging case in the Supreme Court. Reader’s Digest says: "The Slade books have developed a strong following among police officers because of their strict adherence to proper police procedure." Slade was guest speaker at the international Police Leadership Conference and at several RCMP regimental dinners, and was guest of honor at the World Horror Convention in Seattle.