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?

The Special Edition:

In addition to a hardcover run, Play Dead will also be released in a limited special edition as the second title in RDSP's highly collectable and unusual "Grim Grimoire Bloodline" series. These special editions feature handmade three dimensional covers sculpted from resin by horror prop artisans Z Malice & Co. The first book in the series, Jeffrey Thomas' novel Everybody Scream!, created a huge stir in the book collecting community when it was announced in June '04, selling out on pre-order in about 36 hours.

The Play Dead special edition will be numbered and matched with a custom-designed playing card signed by the author. They will be limited to one deck, with two jokers, for a total of 54 copies. It will also come with a pack of custom illustrated poker cards and a stand for displaying this very unique book. See pictures and get more details.

What People Are Saying About Play Dead:

"If you're a poker player and you read this book, you'll never look at another hand without thinking about it in a macabre way. "
—Doorways

"Established contemporary horror author Arnzen serves up a chilling brew of gritty dialogue and hard-boiled, James-Ellroy-style action that, by means of unexpected plot twists, never fails to keep readers alert and guessing."
—Booklist

"Set in a neon-lit metropolis where desperation and moral corruption are commonplace and the difference between life and death is mere luck, this viciously realistic look into the not-so-glamorous world of high-stakes gambling (and the sinister individuals who exist in its shadows) is as utterly repellent as it is addictively readable. Gambling aficionados as well as horror, mystery and crime fiction fans are sure to enjoy this action-packed 52-chapter 'novel-of-cards'—if Play Dead were a poker hand, it would undoubtedly be a royal flush."
—Paul Goat Allen for Barnes & Noble's Ransom Notes newsletter

"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."
—Publishers Weekly

"This novel does indeed work as hardboiled crime fiction, but has a layer of brutality and undercurrent of the supernatural that makes it work for horror fans, too. Imagine David Mamet doing an episode of Tales from the Crypt, Scorcese in the Twilight Zone, that sort of feel. And the horror in the novel is genuine. Though the central characters are archetypal, they are richly drawn and you find yourself genuinely concerned about them (Gin in particular). Despite the pulpy feel, the existential questions put forth by the novel give it a real gravity."
—Jeremy Robert Johnson for Dark Discoveries

"Broken down into fifty-two chapters, Play Dead is sure to appeal to both card players and horror fans alike."
—Chizine & SFReader

"Like a game of high-stakes poker, the story progresses hand after hand, with increasing intensity, the characters tempting fate while they seal their own. ...Arnzen is a master of the concise. This book is relatively short, under 300 pages, but packs a powerful wallop."
—Flesh & Blood

"Play Dead reads like white lightning. The wonderfully grungy characters and staccato-fast chapters grab you by the face, haul you in, and won't let go, while the richly metaphoric style begs for savoring on every page. Arnzen wears a wry gaming grin even as he reminds us the universe is little more than a horrorshow comprised of pure plain chance. This terrific (in all senses of the word) novel hits the ground running and just won't stop."
—Lance Olsen, author of Hideous Beauties and Girl Imagined by Chance

"With Play Dead, Arnzen has created a masterpiece of eloquent depravity. It features all of the sins of Vegas, slathering on heaping portions of insane greed, savage sex, irredeemable blasphemy, and skull-crunching violence. You'll get sucked in on the first page, and won't put the book down until you reach the breathless finale. Arnzen writes like someone has a shotgun to his head, and Mike might be the one pulling the trigger..."
—J.A. Konrath, author of Bloody Mary

"Play Dead is a fun story full of power, life and death, intricacies of relationships, mysticism and survival. Arnzen weaves a gripping tale with just the right blend of intrigue, horror, and morality. Very entertaining."
—Horror-Web

"...a fast-paced, brutal, gritty, and unflinching novel."
—Cemetery Dance

Introduction

Jimmy The Gun coughed. Johnny could feel him staring at his bared and straining neck, his shifty eyes like greasy fingers feeling for a pulse. The dealer sat at the table like Death: silent and patient, hauntingly anonymous, wise.

Johnny wondered if whoever was watching from above—the eye in the sky, spying on every table in the casino—knew that Johnny was about to lose the last of everything he had. Everything. Every fucking asset he'd pawned, every damned chip he'd bought and spent. Every. Mother. Fucking. Cent.