The novel is set in the United States 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). ==Reception==