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Bronson Palmer
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Playing Dead: A Young Adult Cyberpunk Novel Kindle Edition

by Bronson Palmer (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 19 ratings
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They don't want to play the game. They want to destroy it, and she won't let them.

Wow. Just, wow. This book has a few rough edges stylistically, but the story is gripping, the characters so real they practically leap off the page. —Amazon Review

Jenaiya is a typical teenager, plodding along as she tries to find her place in the chaotic world of high school. Her only source of real joy is her favorite game, 'Age of Z,' and that all changes when another player calls her an awful, racist name for no good reason at all.

Convinced it's a one-time insult, she goes back to her favorite game again. Only, something's changed.

She fashions herself a cyberpunk hero—at least online—but she's up against a new kind of danger when her favorite game gets flooded with vile, ruthles new players.

Can Jenaiya muster the courage to face her personal demons and be victorious, or will 'Age of Z' be torn apart by the new players?

Playing Dead is a young adult novel for fans of Ernest Cline's Ready Player One and Marie Lu's Warcross series. It's not quite a litrpg in the vein of Aleron Kong—there's no leveling system—but it's close enough if you squint.

I'm not a gamer, but the marriage between the world of A of Z and the reality-based storyline created an intriguing story that moved fast and spurred many memories of the battles of being a teenager. —Amazon Review Wow. Just Wow. —Amazon Review
Previous page
  1. Print length
    282 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    November 7, 2017
  5. File size
    1688 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  9. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0778HFKWH
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Jinx Protocol Publications (November 7, 2017)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 7, 2017
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1688 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 282 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 19 ratings

About the author

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Bronson Palmer

Bronson Palmer

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Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
3.9 out of 5
19 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

BBATL
5.0 out of 5 stars A Teenager Battles More than Just Zombies in this Coming of Age Story
Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2018
Verified Purchase
Playing Dead is a story with multiple layers that explores complex emotions such as bullying, sexuality and relationships. Jenaiya, a teenage gamer, is a loner who is frequently bullied at her high school. In her favorite game, Age of Z, she is a fierce character who has garnered a lot of respect for her playing abilities. At school, unless she is being picked on, she is pretty much anonymous--at least until she meets Rory. Rory loops her into a falsified sense of heroism as together they try to take down the bullies by turning the tables and revealing their weaknesses. Simultaneously, Jenaiya is battling to save Age of Z from outsiders who are trying to change the game for--in her opinion--the worse. As the two stories unfold, Jenaiya is forced to come to terms with her own demons and morality. She must decide if it's okay to win at all costs.

I'm not a gamer, but the marriage between the world of A of Z and the reality-based storyline created an intriguing story that moved fast and spurred many memories of the battles of being a teenager. It's a great story for today's young adults who face pressures both online and off and for adults who are looking for a fun read.
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Ed E. Morawski
3.0 out of 5 stars a book about a video game about zombies
Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2019
Verified Purchase
This is a book about a video game about zombies. In my opinion zombies are so over and there hasn’t been an interesting video game in twenty years. I didn’t realize from the blurb that the video game coverage was such a huge portion of the story, probably 75%.

Add to that the clunky writing:
Actual sentence: “In a wasteland you'd assume it was the creatures out in the world trying to kill you that kept you going, but the other people in the world were more dangerous than all the other hazards combined.”

And: “...but there could be a guy with a fresh glock just hungry enough to kill a teenager for her can opener.”

A ‘fresh glock’, is that a pastry? You mean a new Glock semi automatic pistol? I’ve never heard a gun referred to as ‘fresh’ and Glock is a brand name. And does the guy want to eat the can opener or the girl? Top that off with more than a few missing and mistyped words. The book needs an editor.

Eventually the subject came around to bullying in school. That kept me interested for awhile. I hate bullies and the fact that schools just don’t want to solve this problem makes me livid. At the 25% point there seemed to be a light at the end of the tunnel when Jenaiya meets Rory and maybe the dogs (nerds) will have their day as the pair enacts revenge on their school bullies unique ways.

It was a good effort but I wish the author would have concentrated more on the Jenaiya / Rory aspect of standing up to the bullies and less on the video game. I would suppose this might appeal to YA gamers, but then again do teenage gamers actually read anything?
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Stacie Eirich
4.0 out of 5 stars A Diverse YA Thriller in the Internet Age
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2018
Playing Dead, by Bronson Palmer, is a young adult novel that chronicles the daily life of a teen gamer. It is also a hauntingly realistic look at American culture in the age of online, multi-player video games that are immersive and addictive. And along with the fantasy world of the game, there is also the real world that protagonist Jenaiya lives in. A story that will suck young readers in just as quickly as the lastest viral video, tweet or video-game craze will - this is a novel of that explores not only our increasingly electronic culture, but other issues as well: bullying, racism and family issues.

As a mother of of son who has just started to enter the gaming culture, I was quickly attuned to the similarities between the game Jenaiya plays in the story - “Age of Z” - and the massively popular game-of-the-moment, Fortnite. A game that features maps with “drop” locations, items to scavenge and other players in a multiverse to either team up with or kill - this is a game that has taken over the lives of many in the last year. Having seen the affects that such an addictive game has on my 9-year-old son, whose screen time I closely monitor - I am only too aware of how games completely dominate the lives of many teens I know. And many, like Jenaiya - have been victims of bullying, and see themselves as outsiders. The world of the game becomes a safe zone, a place to disengage from real life and live out fantasies. While this is worrying to many parents, the world of the game can be a positive one too - where teens can freely express themselves, and find others they identify with. Playing Dead does credit to both sides, depicting Jenaiya as a teen who desparately wants to continue gaming because she craves the freedom and expression it allows her.

What Playing Dead forces readers to examine is not only how we are affected by the internet age, but also why we are so drawn to it. It also makes us look at the diverse world around us, and reconsider relationships - students, teachers, parents - and question which relationships are most authentic. Perhaps most important is that this story is one of diversity and perseverance, with a teen protagonist who isn’t a shrinking violet. In a culture where violence (both in our schools and games) is prevolent, Playing Dead feels like a warning inside of a thriller that will hook young readers from start to finish.
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