Reading Order
Special Xseries.seoTitleShort
Start with Headhunter and continue through all 14 books in the listed reading order.
Start Here
Start with Headhunter
Book 1 by Michael Slade • Published 1984
Slade's original Special X debut pits retired Mountie Robert DeClercq and his team against a sadist who decapitates women around Vancouver, leaving taunting clues that reach back to a deranged Victorian officer, jungl...
Complete List
Special X reading order
Ends with Headhunter Reimagined
- 1
Book 1:Headhunter
Michael Slade • 1984
Slade's original Special X debut pits retired Mountie Robert DeClercq and his team against a sadist who decapitates women around Vancouver, leaving taunting clues that reach back to a deranged Victorian officer, jungl...
- 2
Book 2:Ghoul
Michael Slade • 1987
A theatrical killer in cape and top hat stalks London's sewers while the shock-rock band Ghoul stirs chaos in Vancouver, and Inspector Zinc Chandler must uncover how these horrors connect to a wealthy family obsessed...
- 3
Book 3:Cutthroat
Michael Slade • 1992
An astonishing discovery at the Battle of the Little Bighorn echoes into the 1980s when judges in San Francisco and Vancouver are assassinated, and Special X tracks the "Cutthroat" through high-tech labs, dynastic obs...
- 4
Book 4:Ripper
Michael Slade • 1994
A modern Jack the Ripper seems to be at work when a prominent feminist is mutilated, twin sex workers vanish, and a secluded island party turns lethal, leaving DeClercq and Chandler to navigate booby-trapped rooms and...
- 5
Book 5:Zombie / Evil Eye
Michael Slade • 1996
Across Africa and Canada, a cop-hating killer, a cursed relic from Rorke's Drift, a framed Mountie, and a suicide bomber at the Red Serge Ball converge, forcing Zinc Chandler to untangle a sprawling web of vengeance a...
- 6
Book 6:Shrink / Primal Scream
Michael Slade • 1998
This volume collects the case where gunfire at a seized lakeside reserve reveals a frozen, headless body and a vengeful archer, drawing DeClercq and Special X into a northern manhunt that exposes old abuses and dredge...
- 7
Book 7:Burnt Bones
Michael Slade • 1999
As the millennium approaches, Mephisto taunts C/Supt. Robert DeClercq from cyberspace, turning a hunt for the secret of Stonehenge and a legendary Highland hoard into a race against ritual murders, modern Druids, and...
- 8
Book 8:Hangman
Michael Slade • 2000
Jurors from a long-ago capital murder trial are being executed one by one, each scene framed by a bloody game of Hangman, and Zinc Chandler with Seattle detective Maddy Thorne must solve the puzzle before the vengeful...
- 9
Book 9:Death's Door
Michael Slade • 2002
Surgeon-like mutilations across the Gulf and San Juan Islands lead Special X and deputy Jenna Bond to human "monsters," a stolen Egyptian mummy, and a porn-fueled underworld, all tied to Mephisto's plan to shove the w...
- 10
Book 10:Bed of Nails
Michael Slade • 2003
A Hollywood producer is found hanging upside down in a Vancouver hotel with a crown of nails driven into his head, and Inspector Zinc Chandler soon suspects an old enemy, as tarot symbols, Ripper lore, and Lovecraftia...
- 11
Book 11:Swastika
Michael Slade • 2005
Decades after Hitler's bunker and the V-2 rocket program, Special X investigates swastika-marked murders in Vancouver that point toward surviving Nazis, covert military secrets, and the long shadow of something that c...
- 12
Book 12:Kamikaze
Michael Slade • 2006
Genjo Tokuda, a former war criminal turned yakuza boss, comes to Vancouver vowing vengeance on a veteran of the Enola Gay by destroying his family, forcing Special X and Corporal Jackie Hett into a fast, personal batt...
- 14
Book 14:Red Snow
Michael Slade • 2010
On Whistler Mountain during a brutal winter storm, Special X faces Mephisto, a sadistic mastermind who targets Olympic hopefuls and anyone who can identify him, turning the isolated ski resort into a deadly arena of s...
- 15
Book 15:Headhunter Reimagined
Michael Slade • 2018
An updated retelling of Slade's first Special X case, this novel follows the Mounties' psycho-hunters as they stalk a Vancouver serial killer who beheads women, taunts police with photographs, and leaves a trail that...
Quick Answers
Special X FAQ
What is the best order to read the Special X series?
The recommended reading order is the numbered order shown on this page, starting with Headhunter.
How many books are in the Special X series?
There are 14 books currently listed in the Special X series on GurusReads.
Where should I start with the Special X series?
New readers should start with Headhunter, the first book in the reading order.
Is the Special X series complete?
Based on the publication years we have, the series appears likely complete and spans releases from 1984 to 2018.