Going, Going, Gone

"Futurist wunderkind Womack concludes his heralded Ambient series with this intriguing, clever novel set in an alternate, semi-historical 1968" (Publishers Weekly). It's 1968, and Walter Bullitt, part-time US government freelancer and collector of "race records," stays busy testing new psychotropics on himself and unsuspecting citizens. Walter's conscience never interferes with his work—until he's asked to help sabotage Bobby Kennedy's presidential campaign. The ghosts who've moved into his apartment aren't much comfort. Then two outré femmes fatales show up and frog-march Walter out of Max's Kansas City before the Velvet Underground can finish their first song. The ladies have a mission. They need to save New York—both his and theirs. Bringing his acclaimed Ambient series to a close, "Womack has crafted a fast-moving, hipper-than-hip science fiction novel meshing the exuberant wordplay of Anthony Burgess with...