An arson investigator uncovers a conspiracy with world-shattering consequences in the explosive first book of a classic trilogy set in the Wild Cards universe created by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Game of Thrones.
Now featuring a stunning new cover and an all-new short story!
An alien virus ravages the world, with effects as random as a hand of cards. Those infected either draw the black queen and die, draw an ace and receive superpowers, or draw the joker and are bizarrely mutated. The uninfected are known as nats.
When a fire destroys a Jokertown church, killing and injuring more than a hundred jokers, nat arson investigator Hannah Davis suspects foul play. Following leads throughout Jokertown, she stumbles on the Card Sharks conspiracy: a decades-spanning plot to eradicate the wild card virus-and everyone affected by it.
But Hannah´s findings alone won´t be enough to expose the Sharks; it´s her word against that of powerful and well-connected government figures, who don´t much care about a threat that affects only jokers. She´ll need to trace the Sharks´ conspiracy all the way back to humanity´s first exposure to the virus, learning from those whose lives were forever altered by the Card Sharks. And she´ll need to do it quickly, before the Sharks´ plans come to fruition-and bring about the end of all wild carders forever.