RED SNOW reviews (alphabetical by author):
"Michael Slade's books are blood-chilling, spine-tingling, gut-wrenching, stomach-churning, and a much closer look at the inside of a maniac's brain than most people would find comfortable - but always riveting." - Diana Gabaldon, the # 1 New York Times bestselling author of the Outlander series.
"RED SNOW is crisply-written, sly and exciting. Michael Slade is a writer who clearly knows how to tell a story and make it real. A warning: it's not for the squeamish, or for those who suffer from chionophobia (the fear of snow, red or otherwise)." - Robert McCammon, New York Times bestselling author of SWAN SONG, BOY'S LIFE, and the Matthew Corbett series.
"As always with Slade, a cracking good detective story; he gives shock horror a chilling new dimension - I'll never look at the Winter Olympics in quite the same way after reading RED SNOW!" - Anne Perry, Britain's queen of historical detective fiction, the William Monk and Thomas Pitt series.
"RED SNOW is another Slade Slam-dunk! Michael Slade's genius lies in being able to scare his readers to death by showing them, with perfect clarity, the terrifying banality of true evil, injecting psychotic nightmares into humdrum, everyday reality." - Jack Whyte, bestselling author of the Camulod Chronicles, the Templar trilogy, and the forthcoming Guardians series.
"RED SNOW is Michael Slade in top form with his trademarked relentless pacing and one of the most ingenious and unsettling murder weapons ever imagined." - F. Paul Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of the Repairman Jack series.
RED SNOW reviews (media):
ANSIN illustration detail: See the Mountie's reflection?
"FASTER! HIGHER! STRONGER! GORIER! RED SNOW IMAGINES A WINTER OLYMPICS WHERE THE GOLD, SILVER, AND BRONZE ARE SPATTERED WITH LOTS OF BRIGHT RED BLOOD. Attention, terrorists: The Olympic Games have never been more vulnerable. Now is the time to strike! For complete instructions on staging a crippling attack on isolated Whistler, B.C., one with the potential to kill three-quarters of all the people on Earth, proceed to your nearest bookstore and obtain a copy of RED SNOW by Michael Slade. The veteran Canadian thriller writer spells it out, step by step. RED SNOW is a campy gore fest in which decapitated heads roll down the ski slopes while bodacious vixens lure Mounties to grotesque deaths in chalets below. Cut off from the world by two well-timed blasts on its constricted approaches, pre-Olympics Whistler falls prey to a sadistic supervillain with a penchant for shrinking heads. It's not Tolstoy, but it's fun. But the best-timed blast may be the novel itself, which has drawn national attention for its audacious premise. RED SNOW is a high-proof antidote to Olympic hype. Canadians will know the Mounties have failed to heed fair warning at the sight of the first skier 'grabbing air' with his head bouncing through the snow behind him. Let the gore begin." The Globe and Mail (John Barber) and ctvolympics.ca
"Just in time to scare the liver out of people heading for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Michael Slade has a thriller tailored for the slopes. Red snow indeed. This one is guaranteed to keep you awake with the lights burning. If you're planning to attend the Olympics, you may want to find some other novel for the trip." The Globe and Mail (Margaret Cannon).
"WHISTLER PAST THE GRAVEYARD. What evil lurks in those soon-to-be packed Whistler hotels? Michael Slade has a few ideas. He won't be winning any gold medal of appreciation from Tourism Whistler in this Olympic year - or, perhaps, any in the next decade. Taxpayers not only may be paying for the Games for the rest of their lives, but some could actually pay for them with their lives. At least, they do in Slade's fictional world. He may have done the Vancouver Olympic organizers a huge favour. That $900-million bill for security? It's well worth it, some readers may decide by the last page of RED SNOW." - National Post
"IF IT BLEEDS, IT LEADS. THE TITLE SAYS IT ALL: RED SNOW. It's Michael Slade's exquisitely timed new thriller about gory mayhem at Whistler just before the 2010 Winter Olympics. The Vancouver Organizing Committee can't be too thrilled. Not that Tourism Whistler is likely to include RED SNOW in its welcome packs. The body count begins to mount on page 2 with the decapitation of a cliff-hucking snowboarder. Neither the death toll nor the frenetic pace lets up as Slade lumbers like a zombie through a winter wonderland gone bad. RED SNOW's action charges maniacally as its hero's team of Special X forces is gruesomely picked off around him. This unabashed bloodbath of a thriller imagines every worst-case scenario the Integrated Security Unit could possibly face, almost justifying the Games' near-$1-billion security bill. The deranged villains and gruesome murder methods make you wonder if it's time for Slade to put aside the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, power down his computer and hang out with some stoned snowboarders for a change." - Vancouver Sun
"A VIOLENT VISION OF THE 2010 OLYMPICS: THRILLER TAKES GAMES SECURITY FEARS TO THE BLOODY MAX. RED SNOW might make some think twice about heading to Whistler. Slade has tapped into the terrorism fears hovering around the buildup to the Olympics. By the end of the novel, readers are left wondering if the Games can go on in Whistler. As it's winter, everything from a skate blade to ice picks to an ice axe and even an icicle become deadly weapons." - Victoria Times Colonist, Ottawa Citizen, Edmonton Journal, Saskatoon Star Phoenix, Global TV B.C., Global TV Calgary
"BLOODY MYSTERY OF OLYMPIC PROPORTIONS. In the annals of dark fiction, Canada can claim one true champion in Michael Slade, an inventive, twisted writer of tricky, internationally celebrated macabre prose. Anyone can die at any time in a Slade novel - including continuing characters - a distinct formula designed to shred the steeliest of compositions. There are two 'whodunits,' two 'howdunits,' two 'locked room' puzzles, and a dying message to decipher in Slade's latest mind-bender. The plot yanks you compulsively toward its solution, and the shocks make you jerk back in fright. Thrills and chills are Siamese twins." - Toronto Star
"You can bet your last set of commemorative glasses that the famously fussy VANOC (Vancouver Organizing Committee) is none too happy about the latest crime thriller by Michael Slade, given that the plot centers on a serial killer painting the town of Whistler red with blood just before the Olympics begin. The deadly Mephisto is out for vengeance, not just against the members of Special X, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's unit tasked with tracking down psycho killers, but the world at large. And what better kiss-off than extinguishing the Olympic flame and all that accompanies it? Slade isn't stingy with the blood and gore in this one. But if you've got the stomach for the strong stuff, RED SNOW gets the job done." - Calgary Herald
"HOT READS: WHISTLER IS CUT OFF. Take a world-famous ski resort in British Columbia, an impending international event, a seriously angry and vengeful bad guy with an army of mercenaries, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. What you've got is the 13th Michael Slade book pitting the good guys of the RCMP Special X squad against the nutbar du jour. In this case, it's a creepy guy called Mephisto, who has issues with shrinking heads, painting corpses gold, and a vendetta against the squad that has thwarted him before. Mephisto has a secret virus in his possession that could kill 90 per cent of the population. There are beheadings, throats slashed with skate blades, and all sorts of explosions that cut Whistler off from the rest of the province. Slade has piggy-backed shamelessly onto the upcoming Vancouver Olympics. If you like gore and action, then this novel delivers." - Montreal Gazette
"THRILLS, CHILLS, AND A (NOT SO IMPOSSIBLE?) OLYMPIC TALE. Are you ready to save Whistler from a group of international ex-soldiers led by a terrifying megalomaniac? Strap into the shoes - and skis - of the Special X elite police team and see if you can solve the seven puzzles in RED SNOW before Mephisto and his henchmen succeed in ending the 2010 Games in a horrific blood bath. RED SNOW opens with the gruesome murder of a snowboarder in Whistler's backcountry and the bloody action doesn't slow down until the final gunshots. The result is a "pedal to the metal" thriller that's got readers on the edge of their seats and reviewers raving." - Whistler Question
"CRIMES OF OLYMPIC PROPORTIONS. It's always fun to read a book that's set in a place you've lived or visited, to recognize the buildings and personalities that are described within. And though the familiar pristine slopes of Whistler are stained crimson in the pages of RED SNOW, the nail-biting novel from Michael Slade, there are many other insider references that are sure to evoke a chuckle or two from anyone who is familiar with the community. Slade has clearly done his ski bum homework. Maniacal villain Mephisto is out to launch an all-out attack on unprotected Whistler, a possible scenario that I have been wilfully ignoring until now. Um, is it too late to rent out my place and get the hell out of dodge? Slade has successfully tapped into some very real fears to produce a page-turning novel of suspense coupled with elements of mystery, and one that makes the $900-million Olympic security budget seem worthwhile." - Pique: Whistler's Newsmagazine
"SLADE TALE LETS THE BLOOD FLOW. The Winter Olympics are coming to Whistler and for Michael Slade it is a perfect setting for murder and mayhem. It all begins with the decapitation of a local snowboarder and goes racing downhill from there. The body count will grow as the ever-determined RCMP keep their emotions in check and doggedly pursue the killer in a fast-paced story that will keep you turning the pages until you reach the final showdown." - North Shore News (encompassing Whistler)
"RED SNOW is Ian Fleming-esque in its narrative drive. In the canon of Michael Slade supervillains, perhaps none is so broadly perverse as Mephisto, an intellectual with a general loathing of mankind. He makes Hannibal Lecter look like a dime store hoodlum. RED SNOW is another winner from Slade." - Fangoria
Available in paperback, trade edition,
hardcover, and large print
"If you want a series of mysteries better than the puzzles in THE DA VINCI CODE, CRUCIFIED is your book. Slade has all the hot buttons punched." - The Globe and Mail.
"A smoking hot read...Prepare to be entertained." - CTV.ca
