george r. r. martin presents wild cards: card sharks: book one of the card shark triad

An arson investigator uncovers a conspiracy with world-shattering consequences in the explosive first book of a classic trilogy set in the Wild Cards universe created by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Game of Thrones.

Now featuring a stunning new cover and an all-new short story!

An alien virus ravages the world, with effects as random as a hand of cards. Those infected either draw the black queen and die, draw an ace and receive superpowers, or draw the joker and are bizarrely mutated. The uninfected are known as nats.

When a fire destroys a Jokertown church, killing and injuring more than a hundred jokers, nat arson investigator Hannah Davis suspects foul play. Following leads throughout Jokertown, she stumbles on the Card Sharks conspiracy: a decades-spanning plot to eradicate the wild card virus--and everyone affected by it.

But Hannah’s findings alone won’t be enough to expose the Sharks; it’s her word against that of powerful and well-connected government figures, who don’t much care about a threat that affects only jokers. She’ll need to trace the Sharks’ conspiracy all the way back to humanity’s first exposure to the virus, learning from those whose lives were forever altered by the Card Sharks. And she’ll need to do it quickly, before the Sharks’ plans come to fruition--and bring about the end of all wild carders forever.

Book One of the Card Shark Triad
CARD SHARKS - MARKED CARDS - SHOWDOWN

George R. R. Martin is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of many novels, including those of the acclaimed series A Song of Ice and Fire--A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, and A Dance with Dragons--as well as related works such as Fire & Blood, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, The World of Ice & Fire, and Rise of the Dragon (the last two with Elio M. García, Jr., and Linda Antonsson). Other novels and collections include Tuf Voyaging, Fevre Dream, The Armageddon Rag, Dying of the Light, Windhaven (with Lisa Tuttle), and Dreamsongs Volumes I and II. As a writer-producer, he has worked on The Twilight Zone, Beauty and the Beast, and various feature films and pilots that were never made. He lives with his lovely wife, Parris, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.