A thousand years ago humanity's dissidents fled, leaving behind a peaceful, unified world content to exist in a state of perpetual hedonism. Then a daring escape plunged civilization into chaos, forcing its rulers to expand outward to maintain order. Now all that stands between a newly imperial Earth and the rest of the solar system is a loose coalition of Maasai tribesmen, cloned feminists, shape-shifting humannequins, and vengeful Berbers led by the least likely hero in human history: a young woman with Down syndrome and a bad attitude.

In the desert life is hard. It can also be surreal. In the absence of congestion and convention, imagination takes you by the hand... or the balls. In this macabre collection of riveting tales, Jason Walters grabs the reins of storytelling as if it were a wild stallion. The minds of mistreated animals and people are turned inside out for us to peruse and rubberneck. He leads the reader into ambushes and acrimony, desperation and sorrow. Under or behind every rock in his wilderness lurks something hideous or heinous, building your fear upward to pinnacle heights. The actions taken by his victims, whether villains or visitors, are uncompromising and often fatal. There is no neutral ground in his western Mecca for misfits.