Red Snow by Michael Slade ~ 2010 Olympic Book Review and Giveaway

Canadians are preparing for the approaching Olympic on slot invading British Columbia next month! Yes, the 2010 Olympic Winter Games is coming to Vancouver, Canada in February and Canadians can be thankful of one thing, Red Snow is only fictional!

Michael Slade’s Red Snow is a Canadian thriller I predict will be a February Olympic sensation! As the Olympic frenzy takes over you will find Red Snow adorning B.C. hotel room night stands, clutched in the hands of travelers in airports, and waiting in Olympic line-ups, and discarded--dog-eared and worn old before its time--in Olympic venues only to be picked up again and read by other curious spectators!

Spectators may be finding themselves unconsciously sneaking glances over one shoulder fearful of an approaching attack from the thankfully fictional Mephisto! Mephisto is a serial killer beyond imagining. A headhunting psychopath bent on revenge stalking and picking off the Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers connected to the elite Special X team. Foiled once before by Chief Superintendent Robert DeClercq Mephisto recruit’s a team of mercenaries willing to commit heinous murders to fulfill his maniacal plan. Athletes and RCMP officers are dropping like flies as Mephisto quickly works to destroy those surrounding DeClercq.

Horrific, mysterious, and truly bone chilling, trial lawyer Jay Clarke--a.k.a. Michael Slade--has mastered the art of bringing the bizarre and frightening elements of his true life experiences working with the criminally insane to light in a fictional melee of horror!

Canadian readers will feel the connection to the references which are part and parcel of the collective Canadian consciousness:

“Ah yes, winter in the Great White North! Zinc, however, still saw winter through the eyes of a bundled up schoolboy. Two pairs of socks in thermal boots, two pairs of mitts tethered by string around his neck, long johns beneath a flannel shirt and jeans inside a snowsuit. His mom would throw open the door of the farmhouse in Rosetown, Saskatchewan, and let in a blast a cold as Jack Frost’s breath. No sooner would Zinc step outside than he’d have to pee. Brrrrr…” (Slade 2010: 101)

Others who read Red Snow will--though sensationally--get a small taste of Canadiana, a large dose of dramatic thrills, and a new perspective of the Olympic spirit! DeClercq’s take on the Olympics may please some Olympic naysayers:

“…Niles Hawksworth embodied everything DeClereq disliked about the Olympic games. If the games were really about sport and the human spirit, wouldn’t it make sense to stage them in the same place every four years, stripped of all the commercial nonsense that bleeds them of meaning? …The cash saved could be spent on humanitarian causes, and security could be state of the art. That made sense to Robert, but not to the world’s businessmen. Men like Hawksworth saw the Olympics as a giant money-making opportunity. They gambled with the public purse…”
(Slade 2010: 116)

Michael Slade’s Red Snow is a must read for those off to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and for those who are staying home, perhaps it will make you thankful you weren’t there!

Penguin Canada is offering two Northern Mama readers copies of this Canadian thriller!

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Giveaway open to Canadian residents. Giveaway closes January 22, 2010 10:00pm CT. Please read Giveaway Rules for details.