Psychos: Hangman and Bed of Nails

by Michael Slade

Relentless PSYCHOS stalk Mountie Inspector Zinc Chandler in this pair of dark thrillers by criminal lawyer Michael Slade. In HANGMAN, a games-playing avenger is lynching terrified jurors who years ago sent a wrongly convicted child killer to the gallows. What ties the killings together is a “Hangman” word puzzle drawn in blood at each crime scene. The limbs missing in the mind game mimic those cut from each body. The race is on for Chandler to solve the Hangman’s riddle before the bloody vendetta claims him too. In BED OF NAILS, the psychos have a taste for human flesh. First, they taunt Chandler with a murder inspired by the Hanged Man card in a tarot deck. Next, they lure him to more evildoings at the World Horror Convention. Finally, when the Mountie tails his prey to Tangaroa, the cannibal isle of South Pacific, he finds himself locked in a life-or-death struggle to keep his body from ending up on the Kingdom of Bones’ menu.


“Murder with gore galore, and a killer who enjoys his hobby. There’s plenty of legerdemain before HANGMAN’s trick ending.” - The Globe and Mail

“HANGMAN’s escalating suspense is sustained not only by readers wondering ‘whodunit,’ but who will be the next to die. Every character is both a suspect and a potential victim. HANGMAN is an inventive, occasionally hilarious horror-mystery that delivers the goods by the bloody bag-full.” - Quill & Quire

“A harrowing tale of revenge. HANGMAN is a hardboiled police procedural based on the tough realities that Slade faced every day in court. The hallmark of a Slade novel is extensive research. Readers come away not only entertained - and terrified - but also enlightened.” - Cemetery Dance

“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

“You’re never quite sure who the killer is until all the stops are pulled out in BED OF NAILS’ 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

About the Author:

Michael Slade has acted in over a hundred murder cases. He specializes in the law of insanity. Slade defended the last man sentenced to hang before the Supreme Court. Because his police procedurals fuse crime and horror, he was guest of honor at the World Horror Convention and guest speaker at both the international Police Leadership Conference and several RCMP regimental dinners. BED OF NAILS was plotted in the subterranean bone-filled cannibal caves of Atiu, one of the Cook Islands in the South Pacific.

981 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 10, 2016

About the author

Slade on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MountieNoir

Slade on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MountieNoir

Criminal lawyer MICHAEL SLADE has acted in over one hundred murder cases. His specialty is the law of insanity. He argued the last death penalty case in Canada’s highest court.

Backed by his forensic experience, Slade’s Special X and Wyatt Rook thrillers fuse the genres of police and legal procedure, whodunit and impossible crime, suspense, history, and horror.

Slade was guest of honor at both the Bloody Words crime convention and the World Horror Convention. As Time Out puts it, “A thin line separates crime and horror, and in Michael Slade’s thrillers, the demarcation vanishes altogether.”

Slade was guest speaker at the international Police Leadership Conference and several RCMP regimental dinners. As Reader’s Digest puts it, “The Slade books have developed a strong following among police officers because of their strict adherence to proper police procedure.”

For the stories behind his plots, visit Slade’s Morgue at www.specialx.net.