Wunderkind PR today announced that the new ISIS game has already massed over a 1.7 million plays less than one month after release and before the novel officially goes on sale, which is tomorrow.

The "Spot the Difference" ISIS game is based on the forthcoming novel, ISIS, (A Vanguard Press hardcover; on-sale: September 29, 2009; $14.95) by New York Times bestselling author Douglas Clegg, and features the incredible pen-and-ink illustrations of Glenn Chadbourne, the award-winning artist who recently illustrated Stephen King's Secretary of Dreams. In ISIS, Clegg, winner of the Bram Stoker Award, the International Horror Guild Award, and the Shocker Award, tells the eerie tale of a love that extends beyond the grave.

Author Douglas Clegg weighed in on the incredible number of game plays, saying: "I'm excited to be part of a very different kind of book promotion that hasn't been done in quite this way before — where the outreach is viral within the game community itself and has a life beyond the usual time period for getting word out about a book."

With hundreds of thousands of casual games competing for consumers' attention, the success of one based on a book has caught the industry by surprise. Says Adam Schroeder, co-founder of FlashGameLicense.com, of the first week the game went out: "We expected the game to hit a million plays within the first two months–but the fact that it reached a million plays just one week after release is amazing. At least 10% of the players are moving on to visit Doug's site after they play the game so it's generating a lot of interest in the book. The excitement is building and we are really pleased with the way fans are gravitating to the game and passing it along!"

The ISIS game, which grew out of the amazing synergy between Clegg's words and Chadbourne's stunning illustrations, was created by designers at FlashGameLicense.com. Says Chadbourne of designer Ecky Oesjady's work with his drawings: "I'm delighted with the colorization of my artwork for ISIS–in fact I'm bowled over. The tones, hues and overall color scheme add a wonderful moody, broody, feel to the book's atmosphere. I couldn't be happier."

The game was released in early September to a number of major arcade portals and hundreds of other smaller gaming sites and caught on like wildfire; as of Monday, September 28th, one day before book publication, the game had already surpassed 1.7 million plays after less than one month of distribution. Vanguard Press is expanding the game audience with an iPhone-specific version coming later this fall and is excited by the prospect of bringing more players to the game . . . and more readers to ISIS.

With a "Spot the Difference" game, the art is the main feature and the game mechanics give players a reason to explore the book in greater detail. Chadbourne's illustrations have been drawing acclaim from readers and booksellers alike.

Del Howison, owner of Dark Delicacies, the biggest horror and fantasy bookstore in the Los Angeles area, expressed his admiration of the game, saying: "What a delight to play Douglas Clegg's ISIS game! There is such beauty to it. To be able to concentrate on the artwork of Glenn Chadbourne is to immerse oneself in a dream."