T  h  e    W  r  i  t  e  r

Michael Slade is a pen name.

Since the beginning almost 20 years ago, five writers in all adopted the «Michael Slade» pen name: John Banks, Jay Clarke, Lee Clarke, Richard Covell,and, most recently, Rebecca Clarke.
Michael Slade is now Jay & Rebecca Clarke, father & daughter.

Rebecca Clarke

Jay Clarke is a criminal lawyer who, in Slade's books, keeps giving us a series of extraordinary crash courses on criminal law and police procedurals.

Jay Clarke

How Slade writes

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The way Slade makes us explore the deranged psyche of numerous murderers is just astonishing. Furthermore, his books contain history and geography lessons, for many of Slade's stories are connected with historical events. Slade goes through a huge amount of research for each of his books.

I truly believe that Slade's books are more than just grisly stories of «cops chasing killer». They offer more than your regular gory mystery. They offer complex plots for complex characters. They offer an homage to one of the most popular police forces in the world, the R.C.M.P. through which we make the acquaintance of people of amazing courage and determination, namely, Robert DeClerq and Zinc Chandler, among others.

Each of Slade's books can stand on its own, but what the reader should know is that through the years an important character mythology has developed. We follow numerous characters through tragic events that mark their life. Every Slade book is connected one way or another. And it's more than just a series of «to be continued» endings. It's trying to reflect what may happen in real life: we just can't get the whole story the first time around. To know more about the resolution of given stories, we must get the following one. It's a true concept through which characters live and evolve.

Slade's most recent book is KAMIKAZE.

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Here's a little something I wrote about HANGMAN, one of Slade's most recent books. I think it really reflects how intelligent a writer Michael Slade is.

You see, a good writer will know how to use feelings -- his guts -- to write. However, a good writer should also be a good «technician». Slade is a good «technician». He uses writing techniques to add to his prose. That is what I mean by intelligent writing...



Welcome to...

English Writing 101

ALLITERATION: the repeating of the initial consonant sound.
Example 1:
«As Halloween shrieks shrilled from the outside speaker, several onlookers laughed amid the masquerade.»

«SHrieks - SHrilled»...can you hear them? The shrieks?

Example 2:
«Boom, boom, boom! The deafening din dampened conversation»

By the way, «boom, boom, boom» is an onomatopoeia.
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DIALOGUE: a composition in which two or more persons (characters) are represented as conversing.

When it comes to Slade, think sharp dialogues as the next passage shows:

«Who lives next door?»
The question was asked by the crowd-control cop at this end of the walk to the murder scene.
«I do,» said one of the gawkers.
«Then show some respect. You neighbor's dead, sir. Silence those screams.»
A beer drinker from the look of his ruddy face and rotund belly, the disgruntled man indicated a stereo speaker affixed to his house. «It's on a sensor. Movement sets it off.»
«I don't care if Mr.Spock on the good ship ENTERPRISE is at the controls. What I'm saying is let's have no...more...screams.»
Beer Belly Belched.
«The beam cuts across my walk and hers. It's you cops coming and going that prompts the screams.»
«Is there a problem?»
Beer Belly turned.
And found himself eye to eye with the no-nonsense glare of a don't-mess-with-me woman.
«Who are you?» he asked the intruder.
Beer fumes billowed.
Maddy stood firm.
«Detective Thorne. Homicide. Who are you?»
«Joe,» said the neighbor.
«Joe who?» she asked, pulling out her notebook and flipping it open to the page after the rubber band. She poised her pen.
«Hey, what is this?»
«Why'd you dislike her, Joe?»
«Dislike who?»
«Your dead neighbor.»
«Who says I disliked her?»
«Actions speak louder than words. Would a neighbor who liked his neighbor hurl screams at her house on the night she died? Or would he be civilized enough to stop the racket himself?»
«You think I killed her?»
«Did you, Joe?»
«Hell, no.»
«You act like it.»
«It's Halloween.»
«I KNOW it's Halloween.»
«All I'm saying is you got no right to spoil it. I paid a lot of money for those screams.»
«Joe WHO?» Maddy said.
«All right. I'll kill 'em.»
«Kill who?» Maddy asked.
«The screams,» Joe answered.

Sharp, I say.
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PUN: The usually humorous use of a word in such a way as to suggest two or more of its meanings.
French: calembour

Slade is a heck of a punster. How many puns pertaining to «hanging» can you count in the next passage?

The witness from the [American Civil Liberation Union] leaped out of his chair, craning forward to get a better view. Was he let down by the hanging? It fell far short of what the union had predicted; a slow death by strangulation, or a hard one by decapitation.»
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What kind of writer is Slade? With such depth in his writing, I'd say an intelligent one.
All the passages above are from HANGMAN.

Ciao!

Eric