Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Loading... Play Dead (edition 2013)by Michael A. Arnzen (Author)
Work InformationPlay Dead by Michael A. Arnzen
None Loading...
Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. http://www.sfreader.com/read_review.asp?ID=634 ( ) "Arnzen (Bram Stoker award-winner Grave Markings) sets his second horror novel in a nightmarish 'Vegas,' where a group of desperate homeless men play an ultra-high-stakes 'Butcher Boy' card game run by casino owner Nebo Tarrochi. To qualify for the game, each player must create a suit of cards based on lurid photographs of dead people, and this cautionary tale grows sticky with relentless gore as the victims pile up. The novel's hero is Johnny Frieze, a compulsive but likeable gambler who has bottomed out at a homeless shelter after ripping out his own gold tooth to stake himself one last hand. He joins the game after learning the payoff is a cool million, money he hopes to share with Gin, a sexy shelter cook (and undercover P.I.). The other players add up to a gang of stereotypical psychos: Shorty, seemingly autistic and overweight, Preacher, a religious zealot, Ferret, an American Indian who doesn't drink but kills remorselessly, Axe, a bigoted creep who 'folds' early, and Winston, Nebo's neat-freak assistant. Johnny is desperate but no cold-blooded killer, so rather than murder to make the death photos, he tries to fake them, with dubious results. In a shakily plotted, over-the-top resolution, the game collapses like a house of cards. " Publishers Weekly no reviews | add a review
Johnny had been to the top. Young and slick, he knew how to play the high roller, dress the part, and make his opponents sweat. He'd ridden into Vegas on a winning streak a mile wide. But Vegas took everything, even his lucky gold tooth.You'd think he couldn't fall any lower than a homeless shelter full of the downtrodden. And he couldn't possibly have anything left to lose. But you'd be wrong.Johnny soon discovers there's a game going on at the shelter. A game where before you play the cards you have to make them. A game where the payout is survival and folding means death. A game where the question becomes: are you playing the cards or are they playing you?Using 52 chapters Arnzen's novel-of-cards is stacked with mischief and thrills. Like the most accomplished blackjack dealer Arnzen will keep you guessing at his hand. Are you ready to play? No library descriptions found. |
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
|