Customer Reviews

Headhunter

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've been a big fan of Michael Slade ever since reading his EVIL EYE. This one HEADHUNTER is the first novel in his/ theirs series of horror/mystery/thrillers featuring policemen Robert DeClerq (here still without Zinc Chandler) and the Canadian Special X unit of the Royal Mounted Police.

HEADHUNTER is about this serial killer who kills women and takes their heads. The above mentioned unit is called in to track the killer down and a nerve shattering, and extremely deadly game of cat and mous ensues.

I refuse to go into the plot any further. I just have to tell you there's this mindboggling twist in the end which turns the book you've just been reading completely on it's head (no pun intented) and had me - as an aspiring writer - seeing green with envy- as brilliant as I thought the ending was. That same twist also makes reading the book for a second time almost a must!

HEADHUNTER really is that good a book. I can understand some of the criticism in that Slade doesn't pay all that much attention to the killers motives and his/ their priorities clearly lie with the police procedural-whodunnit aspects of the plot.
For me personally that didn't spoil the fun though and I still give it a maximum score of five stars.

I also just have to say a few things about the author. For who doens't know it Michael Slade is the pseudonym for a bunch of Canadian lawyers, and their expertise (and their knowledge of both policework and the justice system) clearly is evident in their books. Besides HEADHUNTER and EVIL EYE I'd also recommend RIPPER and especially GHOUL.
Although I catagorise Slade here as a thrillerwriter the series above all really is horror. It was marketed like that by ONYX in the late eighties and got rave reviews from FANGORIA magazine. Almost un-typically I also found Slade's name under the 'horror section' at my local bookshop.
Having concluded that, there's (not suprisingly) enough gruesomeness here to give even the most diehard horrorfan a run for his money, and it gets worse (or better?) with every following volume in this series. Just don't go expecting the next Stephen King novel. BE WARNED!

I read the first four Slade novels, including "Headhunter," and I was mightily impressed.

However, I now have to say that one or more of the lawyers who departed from the Slade pseudonym took his/her great imagination, stylish writing, and good characterization along when s/he left.

The two Slade books I read after the lawyer(s)' departure were so badly written, tedious, and stereotyped that all the grue in the world couldn't have saved them from being very poor excuses for books.

Readers who think the novels subsequent to the original quartet are good obviously don't know or care much about good writing, good characterization, and good reads.

Oh, dear departed pieces of Slade, please come back so the Slade name can regain the credit it deserves, and we who loved the first few books can love the books written subsequent to your return.

This is the book that started it all . . . looking for a good read at my local library years ago . . I stumbled across this gem. As a devotee of the RCMP and mystery and police fiction in general . . . this offering provided them all . . . and it's true claim to fame is that I have read it 3 times . . . and no other author has provided that same feeling and interest to get me to do THAT!!! If you go to the web site you can check out all that he has written since and see what his latest book is all about . . .
www.specialx.com

New to the works of Michael Slade, I started with Headhunter, the first in the series. As I made my way through the first hundred plus pages, I was engaged somewhat, but also thrown slightly at the jumping around in time and place, plus the regular introduction of new characters. There was never any thought of giving up on my part, but if you start this novel and don't get into it right away, by all means, stick with it. Everything ties up in the end rather brilliantly. There are probably more characters than are necessary to effectively tell this tale, and some of the "red herring" sidetracks go on a bit long, but over all Headhunter is a smartly written dark serial killer novel that packs a wicked punch to the gut as it concludes. I look forward to reading more from the Michael Slade team.

I read this book years ago but it is a good book. Blunt but good. These three writers know how to write a good story. It is a book you don't want to put down.

The review on the cover suggest that the book is "gruesome"...it is not. I'm a fan of gore and gruesome so I was excited to give it a go. While the killer is termed "The Headhunter", the book does not give bloody details, at least not what I call "bloody". The storyline itsself is excellent. It took me a few chapters to really get into it, but once I did I enjoyed it a great deal. The ending was a true suprise to me and very unexpected.