This is the first book in the Second Sons Trilogy. The novel is set in the fantasy world of Ranadon, where there is no night time. Two suns orbit the earth and bathe it in light constantly. A religious sect known as the Shadowdancers claim this is the work of the Goddess, a both benign and at times merciless deity whom most in the world believe in. The back story is that many years ago the second sun mysteriously vanished and left Ranadon in the Age of Shadows. At the insistence of the self-appointed High Priestess of the Shadow dancers, Belegren, the lion of Senet, a powerful and devout man named Antonov, sacrificed his baby son Gunta, after which the second sun returned and so it has been ever since. Dirk Provin, the second son of the Duke Wallin Provin of Elcast, saves a wounded sailor from a shipwreck, brought about by a volcanic eruption and consequent earthquake. Through the course of the man''s recovery it is revealed that he is in fact, Johan Thorn, the exiled King of Dhevyn who was utterly defeated by Antonov during the Age of Shadows, and is now the most wanted man in Ranadon. News of this reaches the Lion of Senet himself, who arrives with Belegren the High Priestess, on Elcast, and the secret web of lies which had been built up around Dirk and everything he ever knew begins to slowly unravel, as the apprentice physician comes to realise that others are slowly drawing their own plans around him.

Lion of Senet

15-year-old Jessica Day moves with her family to Bixby, Oklahoma after her mother is employed at a high-tech aerospace company. Soon after the move, Jessica awakens to find time frozen and rain stopped in mid air. Although she thinks it is a dream, she is suspicious when she wakes to find her clothes wet. The next night, it happens again. Leaving her room, she finds that her family is frozen and the only other living thing is a cat, which leads her out of her house. Once outside, the cat transforms into a snake, revealing that it is actually a slither. It, along with other slithers and a darkling in the form of a large cat, attacks her. Jessica is rescued by the "Midnighters": Dess, Rex and Melissa, who chase away the animals using thirteen letter words and steel. The next day, they explain that in Bixby time freezes for an hour every midnight and that only Midnighters - people born at the moment of midnight - can enter it. Creatures known as darklings live in this secret hour where they can hide from advances in human technology. Darklings hate people and fear new inventions, complex concepts and the number 13. It was the darklings who took one hour of each 25-hour-day and hid inside it so that people couldn''t get to them. They also explain that each Midnighter has a special power - Dess is a polymath, Rex is a Seer (someone who can read the lore - the ancient history of the midnighters) and Melissa is a mindcaster (meaning she has a variety of telepathic abilities). They don''t know what Jessica''s power is, except that it isn''t the same as any of theirs. The next midnight, Jonathan, a boy from Jessica''s school, arrives outside her house, and takes her flying with him - he is an Acrobat, and in the Secret Hour gravity does not have a strong hold on him. He and Rex don''t get along, and the other Midnighters avoid talking about him. After flying for most of the hour the pair are chased by a darkling and narrowly escape - only to be arrested by policemen enforcing Bixby''s eleven o''clock curfew. Jessica is grounded for the rest of the month. Meanwhile, the Midnighters are becoming suspicious of why the darklings, who normally avoid Midnighters, are so intent on killing Jessica. Rex decides to take Jessica out to the Snake Pit, a place in the badlands, where she will be able to discover her power. Unfortunately, the badlands are also the home to the darklings. Dess sets up protection beforehand and the Midnighters plan to be inside it before the Secret Hour arrives. However, they are all late, and rely on Jonathan to fly them inside the protection, which causes Rex to get jealous and Melissa to get disgusted and angry. The darklings are so desperate to attack Jessica that they suicidally attack the defenses, weakening them considerably. Just before the defenses collapse, Rex discovers Jessica''s power is Flame-bringer, but none of the group know how they can make a fire. As the defenses are breached, Jessica realizes that her watch is still ticking, implying that her ability allows her to use technology in the secret hour. She uses a flashlight to kill the darklings, and the Midnighters leave safely.

Midnighters 1: The Secret Hour

In this alternate history the corrupt US President Ferris F. Fremont (FFF for 666, ‘F’ being the 6th letter in the alphabet, see Number of the Beast) becomes Chief Executive in the late Nineteen-Sixties following Lyndon Johnson''s administration. The character is best described as an amalgam of Joseph McCarthy and Richard Nixon, who abrogates civil liberties and human rights through positing a conspiracy theory centered around a (presumably) fictitious subversive organization known as "Aramchek". In addition to this, he is associated with a right-wing populist movement called "Friends of the American People" (FAPers). Ironically enough, the President''s paranoia and opportunism lead to the establishment of a real resistance movement that is organized through narrow-beam radio transmissions from a mysterious alien near-Earth satellite, by a superintelligent, extraterrestrial, but less than omnipotent being (or network) named VALIS. As with its successor, VALIS, this novel is autobiographical. Dick himself is a major character, though fictitious protagonist Nicholas Brady serves as a vehicle for Dick''s alleged gnostic theophany on February 11, 1974. In addition, Sadassa Silvia is a character who claims that Ferris Fremont is actually a communist covert agent recruited by Sadassa''s mother when Fremont was still a teenager. As with VALIS, Radio Free Albemuth deals with author Philip Dick''s highly personal style of Christianity (or Gnosticism). It further examines the moral and ethical repercussions of informing on trusting friends for the authorities. Also prominent is Dick''s dislike of the Republican Party, satirizing Nixon''s America as a Stalinist or neo-fascist police state. Fremont eventually captures and imprisons Dick and Brady after the latter attempts to produce and distribute a record that contains subliminal messages of revolt against the current dictatorship. Brady and Silvia are executed, and Dick narrates the concluding passage about his life in a concentration camp, where his supposedly latest work is actually penned by a ghost writer and regime-approved hack. Suddenly, however, he hears music blaring from a transistor radio which contains the same subliminal message. He and his friends, it turns out, were just a decoy set up by VALIS to detour the government from stopping a much more popular A-List band from releasing a similar record with a better-established recording company. As Dick realizes this and hears youngsters repeating the lyrics he realizes that salvation may lie within the hearts and minds of the next generation.

Radio Free Albemuth

The main plot of Checkers is told in flash back, first-person narration which takes the form of a diary. The author of this diary is a nameless teenage girl, who is a voluntary patient in a Psychiatric Ward. She refuses to talk about why she''s there and does not say a word during her Group therapy sessions. Before she admits herself into hospital, she lived with a grimly dysfunctional and uncommunicative family of four, whose father was a co-owner of a company named Rider Group receives a multi-million dollar business contract. As part of the celebration, the girl''s father buys her a pet dog, which she names Checkers, for his odd fur pattern. Soon, however, her father''s company begins being attacked by the press, who accuse him and his business partner of gross corruption, allegedly involving the Premier of the State. The Premier continually denies having ever met the girl''s father, but these accusations and negative media attention escalate over a period of months. The pressure drives the girl further into isolation and cements the bond she has with Checkers. Reporters continue to hound the family and the girl is under strict instructions not to discuss any personal matters. However, one day when returning from a walk with Checkers, she strikes up a conversation with a young reporter waiting outside her house. The reporter is intrigued by Checkers, seemingly by his unusual appearance and asks to take a photo of him. The following day, the newspapers are claiming Checkers is the missing link between the Rider Group and the Premier. Two photos are published; one of Checkers and one of the Premier''s dog, and it is revealed The Premier gave Checkers to her father as a gift. The girl returns home from school to discover the story, and finds her father has murdered Checkers with a carving knife. The events between that day and her admittance to the hospital are never revealed. At the end of the novel, the girl seems to have resigned herself to being in hospital forever, and she continues to blame herself for the death of her beloved dog. The novel also has many sub-plots which takes place in the psychiatric ward in real time. These sub-plots are mostly descriptions and backstories of the other teenagers in the ward, who all suffer from various types of mental defection. These characters include Daniel, who has Obsessive–compulsive disorder, Cindy, an emotionally damaged girl who self-injures and who tries to commit suicide towards the end of the book, Esther, a heavily medicated but honest and friendly "query psychotic" who believes there is an animal living inside her head, Ben, a boy with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Oliver, an anorexic and Emine, a Turkish-Australian girl who was driven to mental breakdown by the pressure of strict, Turkish parents. Each character is given considerable text and attention, up until the final chapter when the last of them leave the ward and return to normal life, leaving only the unnamed narrator, who suggests she means never to leave.

Checkers

The book starts by relating the biography of Chang''s grandmother (Yu-fang). From the age of two, she had bound feet. As the family was relatively poor, her father schemed to have her taken as a concubine to a high-ranking warlord General Xue Zhi-heng, in order to gain status, which was hugely important in terms of quality of life. After a wedding ceremony to the General, who already had a wife and many concubines, the young girl was left alone in a wealthy household with servants, and did not see her "husband" again for six years. Despite her luxurious surroundings, life was tense as she feared the servants and the wife of the General would report rumors or outright lies to him. She was not even allowed to visit her parents home. After his six year absence, the General made a brief conjugal visit to his concubine, during which a daughter, Chang''s mother, was conceived. General did not stay there for long, even to see his daughter but he named his daughter Bao Qin meaning precious zither. During the child''s infancy, Chang''s grandmother put off persistent requests for her to be brought to the General''s main household, until he became very sick and it was no longer a request. Chang''s grandmother had no choice but to comply. During her visit to the household, the General was dying. The general had no male heir, and Chang''s mother was very important to the family. Realizing that the General''s wife would have complete control over her life and her child''s, when he would die, Chang''s grandmother fled with her baby to her parents'' home, sending false word to her husband''s family that the child had died. With his last words, the General unexpectedly proclaimed her free at age twenty-four. Eventually she married a much older doctor (Dr. Xia) with whom she and her daughter, Chang''s mother, made a home in Jinzhou, Manchuria. She was no more a concubine, but a true, beloved wife. The book now moves to the story of Chang''s mother (Bao Qin/De-hong), who at the age of fifteen, began working for the Communist Party of China and Mao Zedong''s Red Army. As the Revolution progressed, her work for the party helped her rise through the ranks. She met the man who would become Chang''s father (Wang Yu/Shou-yu), a high-ranking officer. The couple were soon married but Communist Party dictates meant they were not allowed to spend much time together. Eventually, the couple were transferred to Yibin, Chang''s father''s hometown. It was a long and arduous trek. Chang''s mother traveled on foot because of her rank, while her father rode in a Jeep. He was not aware that Chang''s mother was pregnant. After arrival at Nanjing, Chang''s mother undertook gruelling military training. After the strain of the training coupled with the journey, she suffered a miscarriage. Chang''s father swore to never again be inattentive to his wife''s needs. In the following years Chang''s mother gave birth to Jung and four other children. The focus of the book now shifts again to cover Jung''s own autobiography. The Cultural Revolution started when Chang was a teenager. Chang willingly joined the Red Guards though she recoiled from some of their brutal actions. As Mao''s personality cult grew, life became more difficult and dangerous. Chang''s father became a target for the Red Guards when he mildly but openly criticised Mao due to the suffering caused to Chinese people by the Cultural Revolution. Chang''s parents were labeled as capitalist roaders and made subjects of public struggle meetings and torture. Chang recalls that her father deteriorated physically and mentally, until his eventual death. Her father''s treatment prompted Chang''s previous doubts about Mao to come to the fore. Like thousands of other young people, Chang was sent down to the countryside for education and thought reform by the peasants, a difficult, harsh and pointless experience. At the end of the Cultural Revolution Chang returned home and worked hard to gain a place at university. Not long after she succeeded, Mao died. The whole nation was shocked in mourning, though Chang writes that: "People had been acting for so long they confused it with their true feelings. I wondered how many of the tears were genuine". Chang said that she felt exhilarated by Mao''s death. At university Chang studied English. After her graduation and a stint as an assistant lecturer, she won a scholarship to study in England and left for her new home. She still lives in England today and visits mainland China on occasion to see her family and friends there, with permission from Chinese authorities.

Wild Swans

While attempting to steal back an important work of art, Shedara discovers that the lord of the keep has been attacked and is dying. He mistakes her for a friend and mutters "The Hooded One" before he dies from his mortal but bloodless wounds. After returning to Armach-nesti and discussing the event with the Voice of the Stars, she is sent on another mission to retrieve the Hooded One, a statue of an evil Emperor of Aurim, Maladar the Faceless. Maladar''s soul has been imprisoned in the statue and evil forces are at work to try to free him. Meanwhile, across the Tiderun, on the plains north of Coldhope Keep, Hult has discovered that the Uigan leader, their Bolya, has been ambushed. Chovuk and Hult look for the Boyla, and discover that he is still alive. Chovuk kills the Boyla, to be named the next Boyla. Hult later discovers that Chovuk has been learning evil sorcery from a black robed mage, known only as the Teacher. Chovuk fights the other contestant for the position of Boyla, and wins because he used sorcery to shape change into steppe-tiger. The tribes have a superstition that the steppe-tiger is the avatar of their god, and so embrace Chovuk as the new Boyla. Chovuk recruits the goblins, as well as an elf, Eldako, from the wild elf tribes to help him attack the Imperial League. They burn, sack, and massacre the towns and villages of the Imperial League north of the Tiderun, while they wait for the moons to sink below the horizon, so that the Tiderun will become dry. In the Imperial League south of the Tiderun, Forlo is returning from many long years of war, when he discovers that the capital has been damaged by an earthquake, and that the emperor and almost all of his immediate blood relatives are dead. He also finds out that the keeper of the peace is Duke Rekhaz. Forlo meets Duke Rekhaz, and Rekhaz wants Forlo to help command his army, so that Rekhaz can defeat any opponents vying for the throne. However, Forlo has a writ of dismissal from the now dead emperor, so he refuses to serve, which angers Rekhaz. Forlo returns home, to discover a pirate raiding in his waters, whom he had previously signed a treaty with. He discovers that the pirate raided the ship only because the ship was carrying artifacts that hadn''t been taxed, and the owner of the ship was a rich merchant. In return for raiding the ship, the pirate gives Forlo a statue. After taking it home, he finds out that his wife is pregnant, and that they both feel the statue''s menacing presence. He decides to have it moved into the family vaults under the keep. Shedara discovers that the statue was stolen from a merchant, and that it has ended up in the hands of Barreth Forlo. She attempts to steal the statue, but is trapped and captured by Forlo''s guards. Forlo questions her, but she refuses to answer and he has her locked up in a tower. He learns that the Uigan are preparing to cross the Tiderun, and attack his fief. He calls for aid from Rekhaz, but Rekhaz questions his loyalty. Rekhaz agrees to give Forlo only six hundred men if he agrees to rejoin the army. Forced to act, Forlo agrees. Later, Grath, a friend of Forlo''s and the current commander of the Sixth Legion agrees to help Forlo. He decides to send the Sixth Legion to help Forlo, but they still can''t hold the fief. He then questions Shedara again, and agrees to give her the statue if she will contact Armach-nesti to send aid. She contacts Armach-nesti, but discovers that the evil forces intent on capturing the statue have murdered the Voice of the Stars and all her people. Forlo tells her she''s free to go, but she still wants to help him, so she forces Maladar to send a gigantic wave over the barbarian horde. The barbarian horde is destroyed, and she manages to force Maladar back into the statue. A small remainder of the Uigan horde is still alive, as well as Eldako, the Boyla, and Hult. The horde doesn''t present much resistance and are easily defeated by Forlo and his men, however, the elf escapes. The Boyla turns back into a human because the evil forces betrayed him, so he becomes mad. He fights Forlo in an attempt to regain his honor, but Forlo kills him. The Boyla''s protector, Hult, decides not to avenge his master and instead follows Forlo. Forlo discovers that Grath was killed during the fighting and that the Uigan were sent as a diversion so that the keep would be unprotected. Forlo, Shedara, and Hult return to the keep only to discover that Essana has been kidnapped, the statue is missing and the only thing left behind is a dragon''s scale.

Blades of the Tiger

As Holly points out, the story is told from She’s perspective, and since She claims to have lived for over two thousand years, since Ancient Egypt, there is no way to compare her story with any other sources, or witnesses. She Who Must Be Obeyed says that she was Arabian, by birth; and, given the name Ayesha. Although, in the introduction, Sir H. Rider Haggard, links the name Ayesha to Mohammed''s wives, and Arabic or Arabic names, (Arabic: عائشة‎, Āʾisha), stating that it should be pronounced "Ash/ -ha"; A·ye·sha/ äˈ(y)ēSHə/, is perhaps more common. She claims that her natural beauty and wisdom was so great, it caused wars between the princes, who wanted to marry her. She says that while this was at first a great source of pride among her Father’s people, they soon began to resent her, and spread vicious rumours that she was cursed. Ayesha leads her Father’s people into victory, and revels in the battle; but, the women envy her, and the men lust after her. So, she decides to go into hiding, with her tutor, an Egyptian priest; rather than be turned over to the approaching armies of Pharaoh. She tells about travelling through the ancient world, encountering all the major artists, who want her to model for them; as well as philosophers, and religions of the time, from Ancient Greece and fledgling Ancient Rome to Palestine and Jerusalem. Finally, they return to Egypt, where once again, her beauty and wisdom become a source of contention. She swears an oath of celibacy, to serve Isis the Goddess of the Spirit of Nature, and turn away from Aphrodite the Goddess of Love. But, soon a Greek soldier of fortune, Kallikrates, formerly employed by the Pharaoh comes to her, for sanctuary. He takes an oath to serve Isis; but, the Pharaoh’s daughter pursues him; and, seeing the way Ayesha looks at him, she determines to destroy her, as a rival. The Princess mocks Ayesha’s prophecies as mere parlor tricks. She goads her Father into giving Ayesha away, as a sex slave, to one of his allies. Repeatedly, Ayesha is in danger; but, even in the midst of fire and battle, Isis and her followers save her from ruin and rape. Ayesha’s fame grows so great, that she is called “Isis Come To Earth” and “Wisdom’s Daughter”. Finally, the King of Kings, of the Persian Empire, comes to see her. He laughs that anyone would be afraid of what must be an old hag, as Isis’s Priestess. He spits on Isis’s statues, and burns the old gods. However, again her beauty, which the King glimpses beneath her veil; betrays her; and, he determines to rape her, with the rest of the country. Isis saves her; and, they escape, to reunite with her old Captain, Kallikrates, and the Princess. Ayesha is inspired that Isis wants to rebuild her cult and usher in a new Golden Age, in the world, through herself. She is led to the hidden kingdom of Kor, in Africa, to begin. Once there, Ayesha meets her former tutor, who has been guarding The Flame of Eternal Life, which will make a person young and powerful, for as long as the world endures. He passes this one last mystery onto Ayesha, warning her of its temptation to her vanity. The Princess mocks Ayesha’s fading youth; and feeling ashamed, in front of Kallikrates, Ayesha determines to break her oaths, and make herself and him both immortal, to rule the world, like Gods, by stepping into The Flame. This way she feels she will be as "Isis Come To Earth", indeed. But, "Wisdom''s Daughter" is Fortune''s Fool, and falls by Love''s Folly. Kallikrates is afraid when he sees Ayesha, in her preternatural beauty, after she has bathed in The Flame; and, dies. The others either flee in terror or are killed, overwhelmed by her beauty. Aphrodite laughs at her, and Isis. Now, Ayesha cannot die, or her will be opposed. She is as terrible, beautiful, and deadly as lightning. After Kallikrates'' death, the Princess flees, urging Leo’s ancestors to revenge themselves on She, through the artifacts, she passes down, which Holly and Leo find, in the first book, She: A History of Adventure. Ayesha is doomed to wait, in Kor, for his return, through the centuries, becoming weary of the world. She has learned everything the world and Nature has to offer; but, still she must wait, for love and redemption.

Wisdom''s Daughter

Senior government official, Mr Mistry, requests Ghote''s assistance on a "private matter". Mr Mistry''s neighbour, Miss Daruwala, is blackmailing a Mr Pipewalla. Ghote is told to break into Daruwala''s flat, spy on her then use what he sees to force her to leave India. Ghote considers this housebreaking and blackmail but cannot refuse. At home Ghote''s son, Ved, attempts to blackmail Ghote into buying a computer by threatening to tell Protima, Ghote''s wife, their television was bought on the black market. The next day Ghote blackmails a locksmith to get keys to Miss Daruwala''s apartment, which Ghote''s searches until she returns with Dr Edul Commissariat, a famous scientist. Ghote hides overhears that Commissariat submitted someone else''s thesis as own work. Miss Daruwala demands "one lakh in cash" (100,000 rupees). Commissariat murders Miss Daruwala with a swordstick and burns the documents that incriminate her victims. Afterwards, Ghote leaves his hiding place. He did not arrest Commissariat because the Doctor is a humanitarian and Miss Daruwala''s was a blackmailer. Feeling responsible Dr Commissariat''s fate, Ghote tells Mr Mistry that Daruwala is dead but not who murdered her. Inspector Arjun Singh of Crime Branch investigates the murder, reported by Ghote''s anonymous phone call. Ghote''s is assigned to a blackmail case. Tabloid newspaper, Gup Shup, has blackmailed people into paying for an entry in Indians of Merit and Distinction. Freddy Kersasp is the ringleader but the evidence points to his office manager, Shiv Chand. Ghote arranges a sting operation, in which two people witness the payment. Ghote returns home and finds Mr Ranchod, Mr Mistry''s servant, waiting. Ranchod believes Ghote is blackmailing the murderer. Unwilling to tell Ranchod the truth, Ghote pays him one hundred rupees. Ghote''s sting operation goes well and Shiv Chand is arrested. Chand refuses to testify against Freddy Kersasp who is in the USA. Days pass. Inspector Singh''s investigation makes no progress. Ranchod demands more money. Kersasp returns and fires Chand. Chand tells Ghote everything, but Kersasp''s blackmail victims refuse to testify. Ghote learns that Kersasp was the prime suspect in a robbery and murder thirty-seven years ago. Enquiries in England reveal that Kersasp did not raise the funds to start his newspaper by running a magazine there, as he claimed. There is insufficient evidence to convict Kersasp, but Ghote is ordered to blackmail him into leaving the country. Ghote does so. Ghote refuses to pay Ranchod when they next meet and several weeks go by. Then Inspector Singh is transferred to the Vigilance Branch of Bombay Police (Internal Affairs) and the Daruwala murder case abandoned. The next morning a notorious gangster, Mama Chiplunkar, approaches Ghtoe. Ranchod has spoken to Chiplunkar who intends to blackmail Ghote for confidential information. The following day Chiplunkar repeats his demand and Ghote gives in. In court Shiv Chand is found guilty. Ghote plans to push Chiplunkar under a train and arranges a meeting with Chiplunkar at Grant Road Station, using information about a raid as bait. A perfect opportunity to kill Chiplunkar arises but Ghote cannot bring himself to do it. Ghote rejects Chiplunkar''s blackmail attempt and escapes on a train. Ghote considers suicide, as he believes Chiplunkar will soon expose and disgrace him. He waits two days then learns Chiplunkar has fled to Ahmedabad. Ghote is called to the assistant commissioners office where he learns Chiplunkar has purchased Daruwala''s flat as a hideout. Ghote deduces that Ranchod is hidden there, waiting for Chiplunkar''s order to testify against Ghote. In spite of this, Ghote assists the search team in entering the property. Inside they find Ranchod dead from an overdose of narcotics. Chiplunkar returns home and is arrested for drug possession. Anything Chiplunkar says about Ghote will be ignored without Ranchod. Ghote goes home and tells Ved that he can have the computer.

The Iciest Sin

In New York City of the 1930s, Ilana Davita Chandal is the child of a mixed marriage: a Polish Jewish immigrant mother and a Christian father from an old and wealthy New England family. Both of her parents are haunted by bitter and violent memories from their youths, and both have, in consequence, turned their backs on their pasts in order to become active members of the Communist Party. Ilana''s early childhood is fraught with mystery and struggle as the neighbors eye the Chandal family with suspicion. When Michael Chandal, already wounded once in the Spanish Civil War, returns to Spain, Ilana begins to look for answers at the local synagogue and in friendship with observant Jews, including her neighbor Ruthie Helfman and her distant cousin, David Dinn. Michael Chandal is killed in Spain, at Guernica, and Ilana and her mother both struggle to cope with their grief. They are often at odds with each other as Ilana becomes more and more interested in traditional Judaism—even asserting her right to say kaddish for her non-Jewish father—while Anne Chandal devotes herself to the Party and becomes involved in a new relationship with a young Communist historian, Charles Carter. When Stalin signs a non-aggression pact with Hitler, Anne struggles with reconciling the communist cause with the geopolitical reality and leaves the Party. Soon after Carter breaks off their engagement. Ultimately Anne returns—though not with her daughter''s fervor—to religious observance and marries her cousin Ezra Dinn, whom she had rejected many years before. Ilana becomes a star student at her Jewish day school. She is devastated when she is unjustly denied an academic award on account of her gender, but she remains determined to make her mark on the world. A subplot involves the mystical European Jewish writer Jakob Daw, another former suitor of Anne Chandal. He is deported from the United States against his will— in spite of the best efforts of his lawyer, Ezra Dinn—and dies in Europe soon afterwards. Anne Chandal, now Dinn, unconventionally decides to say kaddish for her old friend, even though she is a woman and women did not say kaddish in Orthodox synagogues in the 1940s.

Davita''s Harp

The novel is set in the United States of America in 2014, when interracial tensions have passed the breaking point. A Mafia-like cartel, the Gottschalks, are exploiting this situation to sell weapons to anyone able to buy them. A split develops within the cartel, between the conservative old men and ambitious underlings prepared to use new computer technology to pull off some spectacular coups. There are several separate strands of narrative following particular characters. James Reedeth is a young psychologist at New York''s major mental health institution who is disenchanted with his job and his employer, the revered Elias Mogshack. Lyla Clay is a "pythoness," a young woman capable of metabolising certain psychedelic drugs to enter a trance in which she makes unconscious predictions. Matthew Flamen, a "spoolpigeon" (a variety of investigative journalist), is struggling to hold onto his job, and by his obsessive behaviour has driven his wife into Mogshack''s asylum. The plot is contrived to bring the strands together and resolve matters by a lengthy discussion between Flamen, Reedeth, Lyla Clay, Pedro Diablo (Flamen''s African-American counterpart), Xavier Conroy (a long-time critic of Mogshack), and Harry Madison (a former patient at Mogshack''s asylum).

The Jagged Orbit

The book begins with the death of Cass’s grandmother, whom she calls Bunty. Seemingly simple, the story starts to show the attitudes of the people around her, and is an introduction to the characters themselves. At the beginning of chapter one, the family is back in their home, going about their normal routine, when Cass mentions to her brother that Bishop Todd, Bishop of the One Church, is missing. Griffin, or Griff, being a seventeen year old cynic, shrugs it off, ignoring his little sister and continuing to play black market video games. Later, when they go to deal with their family, Griff creates a spark. The family argues and the father admits to more than he wants known publicly, leading to everyone going about their own ways. Cassandra decides to meet up with her boyfriend, Ming, despite the fact that she has homework due, but first overhears a revealing conversation between her parents. Things start to fall into place in her mind at that point. She hurries off to meet her boyfriend, and they discover a body. Neither wishes to be involved, so they do not report it. They hide the body in a cave, where they hope it will not be found. Ming makes a reference to Orpheus and Eurydice, begging her not to look back, but she does. The story continues with Cassandra''s father leading a church service, also making a reference to Orpheus and Eurydice. Cass asks for an explanation. She and her family then end up back at their home, with Ming appearing shortly. After seeing a press conference with Ma Baxter, they are all disgusted, but manage to go eat. The children end up parting ways after a run-in with an unpleasant acquaintance. Cassandra is mad at Ming because he has been using her as a pawn, as she describes it, in his little twisted games with Jeremiah. Cass ends up in the vestry searching around for things, where her brother finds her not long after she arrived. They then find their Aunt Abby, who has it in for Cass and is determined to give her a lesson in love.

Bad Faith

Hack, a low level employee at Nike, is contracted by one of his higher ups, John Nike, Vice President of Guerrilla Marketing, for an ambitious marketing campaign. The company is planning to release the new Nike Mercurys -- which sell for thousands of dollars but cost pennies to manufacture -- and in order to drum up interest in the items, John Nike plans to increase "street cred" in the worst way possible: by having Hack kill people who try to buy them. Hack, bound by his contract but unable to contemplate murder on his own, subcontracts to the Police, now a mercenary organization, beginning a chain of business transactions which could land Nike in hot water should word of the plot leak. After several children are murdered at various Nike chains on opening day, agent Jennifer Government takes it upon herself to track down the perpetrators, even if she can''t get the funding for it. Along the way, readers are also introduced to Billy NRA, an athletic man who gets in over his head, and Buy Mitsui, a former French stockbroker. Also involved is Hack''s unemployed girlfriend, Violet, who engineers a dangerous computer virus to sell to the highest bidder. Billy NRA is caught up in the illegal business of the NRA. He is forced to tag along on NRA operations involving murder and even attempt (and fail) to assassinate the President of the United States. Throughout the novel Billy teeters between helping the NRA and helping the government. Buy Mitsui starts the novel as a successful stockbroker who just made a big break. Feeling good about it, he gives a girl some money in the mall only to find out that the girl is killed after she uses the money to buy Nike Mercurys. Feeling personally responsible for the girl''s death, Buy''s life begins to go downhill. He contemplates suicide until he gets help from Jennifer Government, who he then begins dating. He becomes a part of both Jennifer and her daughter''s life. Violet eventually sells her software to ExxonMobil who take her all over the world to exploit the software''s power. This sudden disappearance leads Hack to turn to Claire, Violet''s sister, which in turn destroys Violet and Hack''s relationship. After the company uses Violet''s virus, they never pay Violet the sums due. Angered, Violet joins ranks with John Nike who could help her get revenge. John Nike tells her to kidnap Jennifer Government''s daughter to keep the government off his back. She is able to kidnap Kate, Jennifer Government''s daughter, but in the end, Jennifer Government and Hack are able to retrieve her and ultimately, bring John Nike to justice.

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