Life in Paradise City
has taken a turn for the disastrous. A new superpowered
version of the Fantasy drug has hit the streets, and
users from all walks of life are turning up with their
minds permanently relocated to their own private Fantasy
world. Law and order are casualties as the fabric of
society unravels faster with each passing day.
Easy-go-lazy private eye Jack Chance finds his own world
upended when he is conscripted by an overwhelmed police
force and placed on the trail of missing UniPharm
scientist Dr. Robert Woodburn. An encounter with aging
hippie Eddie Rodgers sidetracks the detective's
investigation, sending him off on a whirlwind trip
through a maze of pop-culture settings in a quest to
learn the identity of the mysterious Red Octopus who
lurks behind the spreading chaos.
The reader is taken along on a journey both fast-paced
and far-ranging, from a terrifying thrill ride with a
little old lady from Pasadena, to the Sunset Grill in
Chicago in search of deceased gangster Leroy Brown. From
the tranquil lawns of Pleasant Valley to the clamor of
Terrapin Station, from the savory confines of Alice's
Restaurant to the dusty courtyards of the enigmatic
Hotel California, Chance and his companions must race
against time and the gathering storm as they seek to
uncover a trail of clues stretching back thirty-five
years into the past. Each new piece of the puzzle seems
to raise as many questions as it answers, and as they
dig deeper only one thing becomes certain - that
somehow, the Red Octopus, Dr. Woodburn, and UniPharm are
all inextricably linked together in the dark web of
conspiracy which threatens to destroy the city. |