Lewis Shiner

Ray Shackleford is trying to deal with the death of his father and the collapse of his marriage when the impossible happens: music that no one has ever heard before begins to play from his stereo speakers. It is only the first step on a journey that will take him to Los Angeles, London, Cozumel, and points far beyond, and that will bring him face to face with Jim Morrison, Brian Wilson, Jimi Hendrix-and his own mortality.

"The journey into high adventure soars on! Let the secret history of the world be told--of the alien virus that struck Earth after World War II, and of the handful of survivors who found they now possess superhuman powers. Some were called Aces, endowed with powerful mental and physical prowess. The others were Jokers, tormented by bizarre mind or body disfigurements. Some served humanity. Others wreaked terror. Now, forty years later, under the streets...

"It struck in the wake of World War II, a mysterious disease that killed almost 90 percent of those infected. A few of the survivors gained extraordinary powers while others were blighted with severe disabilities. Some of those afflicted chose to use their new abilities to help the human race. But some took a different path. In Aces high, it's the 1980s, but a 1980s both like and unlike our own. Now, after centuries of travel through space, an extraterrestrial...