August 5, 2014

‘Hell’s Casino’ joins ‘Dead Man’ series

The Dead Man found himself a friend in Bill Peschel. The novella “Hell’s Casino” was recently added to Amazon’s Kindle Worlds section of the website.

[UPDATE 180722: Kindle Words has closed, but the book can still be bought at Amazon!]

Created by TV producer Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin, the Dead Man series features Matt Cahill, a blue-collar worker who dies and finds himself reborn as axe-wielding champion of justice. He roams the United States, uncovering the nefarious plans of his enemy and thwarting them with extreme violence.

“Hell’s Casino” finds Matt on a wintery night outside a Harrisburg, Pa., casino. A chance encounter with a $50 bill encourages him to try his luck, only to find himself ensnared in a murderous heist. Wrapped into the robbery is a supernatural game show which pits Matt against his nemesis, Mr. Dark, with the soul of his long-dead wife hanging in the balance.

“I wanted ‘Hell’s Casino’ to target Matt’s weak point, which is his love for his dead wife,” Peschel says. “I wondered how far would he go, who would he sacrifice, if he was offered a chance to get his wife back from the dead. So there’s an element of mythology in my story.”

As he battles Mr. Dark and his sinister plans, Matt befriends a vacationing policewoman and her husband, a dealer with a sinister past, and a down-on-his-heels mobster trying to rebuild his business one aphorism at a time.

Peschel originally wrote his Dead Man story as an entry in a writing contest sponsored by Goldberg. When he didn’t win, he shelved the story.

“Then Amazon opened Kindle Worlds, which allows fans to contribute, and I was motivated to take the story out, polish it and submit it,” he said. “I don’t normally write horror, but I loved the Dead Man series, and it was a great exercise in stretching my writing muscles.”