Originally published: 2/29/2008
Repost Value: Please note that you can order Playing for Keeps in novel form from Amazon.com on August 25th.  Click the banner in “You Gotta See This” for more information.

What do you get when you mix super villains with corrupt heroes and a smattering of worthless wannabes? You get Seventh City and the world of Playing for Keeps that’s what.

What good is having a talent that prevents people from stealing from you? Is being able to lug around a bar tray actually worth anything? And whoever heard of knowing something about another person by scent?

Apparently the Grand Dame of speculative podcast fiction, Mur Lafferty, thought those were interesting powers considering she wrote about them. As the author of Playing for Keeps, Mur has once again grabbed her fans by the neck and pulled them into her world. Immersion into Seventh City is so complete that by the time it’s over you want to wail and scream for more, so very much more.

In Playing for Keeps, we follow Keepsie, who’s superpower is that she can’t be stolen from, as she is harried by hero and villain alike. In just a handful of her days we’re kidnapped by Doodad, aggravated by White Lightning, and just plan harassed by the leader of the Super Hero Academy, Dr. Timson. Poor Keepsie has to deal with all of that just in the first few hours of her day.

As she and the rest of her friends find out that the heroes are just as nasty, and maybe even worse, than the villains, it’s time to decide who they want to help in the battle for Seventh City. Either way they could lose the battle and their own lives in this harrowing adventure.

That’s just the battle for the city itself, intermixed with all of this is where the heroes even came from. What’s the difference is between First Wave, Third Wave and Hero and why this close knit group that frequents Keepsie’s Bar was rejected by the Academy to begin with.

Action and adventure with just a smidgen of mystery will hook you at the navel and tug you deeper into the world of Playing for Keeps. Go take a listen at the Playing for Keeps homepage.

Strap yourselves in; it’s a wild ride, and perfect for wasting time with.

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