Book Review: GHOUL. By Michael Slade **** out of *****

Ghoul, the second in the loosely connected "Special X" series by Canadian author Michael Slade, is a hard book to categorize. It's part horror, part psychological thriller, and part police procedural. But it's also much more than that. With Ghoul, Slade (which is actually an alias for writer Jay Clarke and a number of co-writers) has come up with a formula so unique, so strange, and so potent, it's basically a new genre unto itself.

The plot, which centers on the hunt for two spree killers - one obsessed with blood, the other with horror fiction, especially Lovecraft, is a dizzying spiral down  a series of graphic set-pieces, red herrings, and nightmarish imagery; and the protagonists, CID Hillary Rand from New Scotland Yard, and RCMP officer Zinc Chandler, are fleshed out and likable. But Ghoul is not really about characters. It's almost all story, and what a story it is. On the surface, this is an addictive, compelling, and wholly entertaining psychological thriller with horror overtones. But on another level, this is also a clever and well-thought out meditation on the nature of horror fiction, and the never-ending debate on its effect on society. It sounds ambitious, and it is, but Slade pulls it off for the most part, delivering a fascinating, multi-layered thriller that is unlike any other, and which is brimming with ideas and wit. He only falters a little near the end, with a climax so complex it almost buckles under its own weight, and an overlong section full of psychobabble, which tries to tie up the plot's loose ends and explain away the killer's disturbing motives.

With his debut, Headhunter (1984), Slade proved to be a force to reckon with. With his second book, Ghoul, he proves to be one of the most original thriller writers of the past fifty years. Highly recommended.

Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2020.

Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of the feature film Wingrave, released on Netflix, and the author of a number of novels and short stories, including the YA horror novel, Beware The Stranger, available on Amazon.