Blind God's Bluff: A Billy Fox Novel (Billy Fox Novels)

Ante up for the game of a lifetime!Billy Fox, a small-time gambler on a losing streak, has more than enough problems on his hands, owing too much money to some very impatient people. But when he rescues a blinded stranger from a swarm of bloodthirsty fairies, Billy’s life gets a lot more complicated. . . .Seems the stranger is actually a powerful local god who is involved in a high-stakes Florida poker tournament against various supernatural challengers. And with his eyes currently missing, he needs somebody to take his place at the gaming table. Before Billy knows it, he finds himself playing against the likes of an ancient Egyptian mummy, an unbearably seductive succubus, a mechanical man, an insect queen, and a cannibalistic beast-man. And not just cards are in play; magic, bloodshed, and cheating are not only expected, they’re encouraged.Everybody, including a sexy satyr-girl with her own cards up her sleeve, thinks that Billy is in way over his head. But Billy is a born gambler and, when the chips are down, he might just change his luck for good!Blind God's Bluff is an outrageously addictive urban fantasy that will keep you flipping pages until the very last hand.Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.

From Booklist

Billy Fox is not having a good day. Some tough guys are hounding him for some money he owes them, making not-at-all subtle threats about damage to Billy’s person if he doesn’t make good. Billy is on the run when he comes across a man with no eyes, just empty sockets, who appears to be under attack by a swarm of nasty fairies. Well, as it turns out, the eyeless man is a god who’s supposed to be playing in a high-stakes poker tournament. He recruits Billy, who appears to have some small supernatural powers of his own (hey, who knew?), to play in his stead. If he’d known who his opponents were going to be (an Egyptian mummy, for one; a succubus, for another), Billy might have turned down the gig. On the other hand, anything’s better than getting beat to a pulp by the tough guys he owes money to, right? This is the kind of story someone like Mike Resnick or maybe Joe R. Lansdale would have knocked out of the park, but in Byers’ hands, it doesn’t have the light, effortless tone it needs to be completely successful. You can feel the author working hard to convince us to suspend our disbelief, and occasionally the story creaks under its own weight. Not a bad novel by any means—it has many moments of excitement and humor—but not as good as it might have been. --David Pitt

About the Author

Richard Lee Byers is the author of approximately forty fantasy and horror novels as well as scores of short stories. He holds a BA and an MA in Psychology, worked in a psychiatric facility for many years, then left the mental health field to become a writer.

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