The Playing Card Killer

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By Russell James

Publisher Description

"A masterfully crafted, horrifically powerful story. Expect the unexpected in this deliciously twisted tale." - Cemetery Dance

Brian Sheridan may be losing his mind.

Asleep, he’s plagued by dreams of murder, women strangled with a red velvet rope then left with a playing card tucked in the corpse. While awake, he’s hallucinating that he’s being stalked by a man painted like a skeleton. It’s getting hard to know what’s real. He hopes all this is driven by his cold turkey withdrawal from a lifetime of anti-anxiety medications.

But when one of his nightmare’s victims shows up on the news, dead, Brian fears he himself may be the unwitting killer...

FLAME TREE PRESS is the new fiction imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Launching in 2018 the list brings together brilliant new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices.

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The Playing Card Killer Reviews

4.0

Kim

Created about 1 year ago

Aimee Tate

Created almost 2 years ago

Nicole | nicoledreamsofbooks

Created about 3 years ago

“Brian Sheridan may be losing his mind or is he? I enjoyed this book, I found the content engaging and Brian was easy to like, sad and had depth. I especially enjoyed the interplay between Brian and Mr. Jitters, I felt the battle of his ADHD and anxiety within himself. He sees visions of killings after going off of his meds and doesn't know if maybe he could be the killer. Overall this was a great crime thriller with a cleaver plot and great characters.”

Toni

Created about 4 years ago

“During withdrawal from anti-anxiety medication, Brian is plagued by dreams of women strangled to death and left with a playing card on their corpse. This premise hooked me right away as I've struggled with anxiety and medication withdrawals myself, and also love a good read about a serial killer! The book was slow (and quite boring) at the start as it gathered its bearings, but it soon picked up and the simple writing style worked really well. Brian also got more likeable but I wish he was a little bit more fleshed out - we never learn much about his actual personality/interests. Russell James is great at writing fact paced action too, although there are moments where it dips. I found it interesting when the POV of Detective Weissbard was added as I hadn't read the more detailed blurb so I didn't know this was going to happen. I grew to like the detective a lot and really enjoyed seeing things from his point of view. It made me want to either read or watch more crime/mystery stuff, especially as I don't often read that genre. I wouldn't say no to reading another book by James in the future if another premise sells me. Thanks to Net Galley and Flame Tree Press for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.”

Zoé

Created over 6 years ago

“Well, welcome to the cray cray for sure of Mr James! This book had me hooked from the start as we watch Brian trying to struggle with day to day life after coming off all his medication. The hallucinations he started to have were quite frankly mental and if I had been experiencing them, terrifying! I mean how would you cope if the “hallucinations” you were having were occurring in real life! I mean to be visiting by Mr Jitters, erm no thank you, you can move along with that one thanks!! The description of Mr Jitters was something out a horror film, Slenderman with a face came to mind! When we are not with Brian, going through withdrawal and the intense mind-boggling dreams, we are introduced to Detective Weissbard. Weissbard is a retired NYPD policeman, residing in Tampa and who was the lead on the Playing Card Killer case but his douche boss pulled rank. So enough about the plot is this an author I would be happy to pick up and read again, hell yeah!!! The thrill of this book with the unsolved crimes with a dash of the supernatural is perfect for me! My first outing with Mr James has been an eye-opener for sure! He has given a voice to some damaged and crazy people, but he has made them so arresting that you keep the pages turning to find out how it will all end. Mr James has also made Brian highly unreliable, I mean are these just dreams we are experiencing with him? Or could he be the Playing Card Killer? I mean he couldn’t be……….could he? The writing style is an easy one to sit back in and devour the words. It draws you in a piece by piece and is extremely unwanting of letting you go. Flame Tree Press is my go-to publisher at the moment, I have not read a book by them that has disappointed me yet. With their upcoming epic schedule of releases, I can not wait to get my grubby little mitts on the books!”

About Russell James

Russell James grew up on Long Island, New York and graduated from Cornell University and the University of Central Florida. After flying helicopters with the U.S. Army, he has had multiple horror and paranormal thrillers published. His wife reads his work and says "There is something seriously wrong with you."