'It was an odd disease. Its symptoms were like infatuation–palpitations, sleeplessness. Its only certain cure, death...'
Chance had ruled Marty Strauss' life for as long as he could remember. Now at last luck was turning his way. Parolled from prison, he becomes bodyguard to Joseph Whitehead, one of the richest men in Europe.
But Whitehead has also played with chance – an ancient game which gave him vast power and wealth, in exchange for his immortal soul.
Now the forces he played against are back to claim what's theirs. Terrifying forces, with the power to raise the dead; and Marty is trapped between his human masters and Hell itself, with just one last, desperate game left to play...
Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English writer, film director, and visual artist. Barker came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories, the *Books of Blood*, which established him as a leading horror writer. He has since written many novels and other works, and his fiction has been adapted into films, notably the *Hellraiser* and *Candyman* series. He was also the executive producer of the film *Gods and Monsters*.
Barker's paintings and illustrations have been featured in galleries in the United States as well as within his own books. He has created original characters and series for comic books, and some of his more popular horror stories have been adapted to comics.
**Source**: [Clive Barker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clive_Barker) on Wikipedia.
