Play Dead

by Michael A. Arnzen

The Barnes & Noble Review
Play Dead, the first novel from Michael A. Arnzen in more than a decade -- after 1994's Grave Markings, which won the Bram Stoker and International Horror Critics Guild Awards for Best First Novel -- is a depraved fusion of adrenaline-injected mystery and horror that is as brutal as it is unforgettable.

Johnny Frieze is a high-rolling gambler down on his luck; he has lost everything in Vegas -- even his lucky gold tooth. Living in a homeless shelter with a misfit group of failed gamblers, career criminals, and raving lunatics, Johnny stumbles across the ultimate no-limit wager: a card game where the winner gets $1 million in cash and the losers get killed. The game is called Butcher Boy, and before it can begin, the four chosen players must create their own suit of cards by artistically "extinguishing life" and photographing the results. Once the gruesome deck is completed, the game begins in earnest -- but what happens when the enigmatic entrepreneur bankrolling the contest is playing a much larger game, with even more nefarious stakes?

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 both utterly repellent and 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

Genres: Horror, Fantasy

271 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Michael Arnzen has won multiple awards for his fiction and poetry, including four Bram Stoker Awards and the International Horror Guild Award. He teaches horror and suspense writing at Seton Hill University, as faculty in their unique MFA degree program in Writing Popular Fiction.

To catch up with Arnzen or hunt down collectable editions, visit the author's website, GORELETS.COM Or tune in his new podcast: 6:66 w/Michael Arnzen at http://6m66s.com/

Reviews

[Tanya Twombly · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read. A master in the writing game, Arnzen plays his readers like a sick deck of cards. He uses his twisted imagination and dark humor to draw the reader in and keep those pages turning. But if you think you know where the game will end-- bet again. In this game, it's hard to tell Lady Luck from the Grim Reaper... and winning may not be all it's cracked up to be.

[Daniel Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a fun time reading this book. It wasn't amazing by any means, but certainly enjoyable. I'm not sure I'd classify it as horror. It was never really scary, or even tense. There were a lot of murders but despite how much time was devoted to highlighting how dangerous the game was and the associated threats of being caught or killed, it never felt like the protagonist himself was in any truly harrowing situations. In fact, the protagonist very rarely seemed responsible for proactively driving the plot at all, a lot of the action being attributed to fate. Which is fine, except the character still needs to feel like his role in the story is somewhat less interchangeable than just 'willing participant number 4'. Also, one of my big gripes with this book was how it presented the idea of fate. When I imagine fate, I imagine it painting in broad strokes, treading the thin line between pre-determined and coincidence, making it nearly impossible to distinguish between the two. So in general, I'm somewhat put off when fate instead works in such specific meticulously defined strokes that it feels almost like it's micro-managing. Arnzen did a solid job of playing up the grittiness of the world, although occasionally seeming a bit too fixated on describing Johnny Frieze's missing tooth. Las Vegas offers some delightfully sleazy locales and Arnzen provides us with a quirky ensemble of distinctly wretched characters. All in all, the story was entertaining, although never aiming to transcend its gritty pulpy absurdity.

[Critics Cabal · Rating 3 out of 5]

The two (living) authors most often associated with horror are Stephen King and Clive Barker, and before them was H.P. Lovecraft. Considering the success and legacy of these writers, it strikes me as somewhat unfair to judge any other author by those standards.

So good news for Mr. Arnzen. I have not read any work by King or Barker (although one of my colleagues did earlier). And my knowledge of H.P. Lovecraft is limited to a few short stories. Thus, I can review Arnzen’s work, Play Dead, without unfair comparisons.

To read the entire review, click here!

[Ladonna Fisher-Hadley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having worked as an "eye in the sky" I'm always interested in stories set in casinos and the gaming industry. "Play Dead" was a real thrill with compelling characters and a wonderful plot. After page 52 (maybe because of the significance to the deck of cards, maybe not) I couldn't put the book down. The imagery left little to the imagination, which is awesome in the horror/thriller genre. I also enjoyed the creativity of writing a chapter for each card in the deck. Very nice touch! Can't wait to read more of Michael's books.

[Daniel McTaggart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having heard the author read in person, I couldn't help but read this book in his voice. I've read Mike Arnzen's poetry before, but his novel is a new experience. It's a shame he only has one other novel published because "Play Dead" has moments of pure poetry in it. It's classified as a horror novel, but it's also a great crime story. Don't expect a splatterfest here. The horror in this book is subtle, with several slap-in-the-face moments. And the crime element keeps the tension as tight as an eager gun hammer. A thoroughly entertaining thrill!

[Alexis Kubala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very twisted. I had to really take my time to read so I could enjoy how disturbing this tale truly was.

[Kyndal · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not good at all.