paul fischer

FREE E-BOOK: "Playing For Keeps" + new short story by J.C. Hutchins

It doesn't get any cooler than this, folks. To celebrate the upcoming mainstream print release of her superhero novel Playing for Keeps on Aug. 25, author and podcaster Mur Lafferty has released the full text of the novel -- and a never-before-seen short story called Parasite Awakens -- as a free PDF download. The PDF also features original comic book cover-style artwork by Jared Axelrod, Natalie Metzger and me, and was assembled by Paul Fischer and Martha Holloway.

Podcast subscribers should automatically receive a dowload of this PDF to thier podcatchers. Folks can also manually download the file, below.

I've been promoting Mur's work here on the site and in the podcast feed for a week now, and there's a reason for that: it's worthy of all the attention. Playing For Keeps both celebrates and satirizes the superhero comics genre. Defying expectations, Mur's novel is an awesome exploration of heroism, the life of an underdog, and the corruption of power.

It's pretty damned funny, too.

Here's a synopsis of Playing For Keeps, from publisher Swarm Press:

The shining metropolis of Seventh City is the birthplace of super powers. The First Wave heroes are jerks, but they have the best gifts: flight, super strength, telepathy, genius, fire. The Third Wavers are stuck with the leftovers: the ability to instantly make someone sober, the power to smell the past, the grace to carry a tray and never drop its contents, the power to produce high-powered excrement blasts, absolute control. over elevators.

Bar owner Keepsie Branson is a Third Waver with a power that prevents anything in her possession from being stolen. Keepsie and her friends just aren't powerful enough to make a difference. at least that's what they've always been told.

But when the villain Doodad slips Keepsie a mysterious metal sphere, the Third Wavers become caught in the middle of a battle between the egotistical heroes and the manipulative villains. As Seventh City begins to melt down, it's hard to tell the good guys from the bad, and even harder to tell who may become the true heroes.

It's great stuff, so check out the free PDF, and please be sure to support Mur Lafferty's rush on the Amazon.com charts on Aug. 25 by purchasing a copy of Playing For Keeps!

--J.C.