Book Review: Death's Door

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Death's Door     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Michael Slade
Class/Genre:   Mystery
Onyx, Dec 2002, $6.99, 419 pp.

Lord and Lady Ridding in England had a bit of a financial setback so he arranges to have his mummy Sleeping Beauty sold to the highest bidder. Before that can happen, Stopwatch, a master criminal hired to steal the mummy, puts his plan in motion to get it in his hands. Six guards die but the mummy in the coffin is safe and on a plane to Richmond Columbia where it is picked up by an albino looking man known as the Undertaker.

The Undertaker kills two custom officials and takes the mummy to its new owner, The Director. Sleeping Beauty is perfectly preserved, flesh and body parts are as new today as when the mummy was alive years ago. The Director thinks that Sleeping Beauty, with the help of the Doctor, can help him unlock the secrets of aging and the patients they chose to experiment on don’t have any say in the matter. It will be up to Chief Superintendent Robert De Clerq and his team to get some answers before even more bodies are found.

This is a very gory tale detailing cruel acts done to people by psychopaths who love different kinds of torture. Do not read this book on a full stomach or if you easily turn squeamish especially if you can’t handle the ugly results of torture. DEATH’S DOOR is a fascinating excursion into the sick and psychopathic mind and the audience will feel sorry for the police who have to deal with this trash as the novel makes Norman Bates look like a choirboy.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner