ISBN 0-445-20506-7 (US pbk, 1987)

"There had been no time to fight... no time to resist... no time to rebuild.

"The Soviets invaded. NATO retaliated. The limited nuclear strike had stopped the Soviet advances; it had even forced them back, but the price was high. The great cities of Europe were dead. And no one seemed to want to claim the survivors.

"Until NATO turned over the policing of the wreckage to the Second Alliance -- a right-wing, fundamentalist, supposedly neutral, international security corporation.

"Then, out of the rubble, the New Resistance was born. They were a motley crew of freedom fighters with few resources. Misfits, drop-outs, patriots, and partisans, they had nothing at all in common except their enemy, the Second Alliance and its soon-to-be-revealed purpose -- a single-minded determination to control the world". [jacket blurb, US pbk, 1987]

"A complex, bizarre and unique vision of the coming century, with a kaleidoscope mix of politics, pop and paranoia. John Shirley accomplishes things...that most writers would not dare to attempt". --Bruce Sterling.

"...Couples his surreal intensity with a new realism, a global extrapolation of neo-fascist rule in the near future". --William Gibson.

"If you're into cyberpunk and all things 'edge', then Shirley is your man". --Henry W.Targowski (in Mark/Space , 1995).

Hardcore cyberpunk.
Highly recommended.