Perfect for current fans and new readers alike, One Eyed Jacks is a classic Wild Cards adventure, edited by #1 New York Times bestselling author George R. R. Martin, and the first book in the Rox Triad. Something is stirring on Ellis Island, something strange and dangerous enough to subdue even the white-hot tensions between Wild Cards and normal humans. They call themselves the Jumpers: a vicious gang with the power to transport their minds into others' bodies, using them to commit acts of terror and violence, before abandoning them and leaving their victims to face the consequences. The Jumpers cutthroat ambition to control the Wild Card community will pit aces, jokers, and humans at odds like never before. One-Eyed Jacks features the writing talents of Walton Simons, Chris Claremont, Lewis Shiner, William F. Wu, Victor Milan, Stephen Leigh, Melinda M. Snodgrass, and John Jos. Miller, along with previously unpublished stories from Carrie Vaughn and Kevin Andrew Murphy. The Wild Cards Universe The Original Triad #1 Wild Cards #2 Aces High #3 Jokers Wild The Puppetman Quartet #4: Aces Abroad #5: Down and Dirty #6: Ace in the Hole #7: Dead Man’s Hand The Rox Triad #8: One-Eyed Jacks #9: Jokertown Shuffle #10: Dealer’s Choice #11: Double Solitaire #12: Turn of the Cards The Card Sharks Triad #13: Card Sharks #14: Marked Cards #15: Black Trump #16: Deuces Down #17: Death Draws Five The Committee Triad #18: Inside Straight #19: Busted Flush #20: Suicide Kings The Fort Freak Triad #21: Fort Freak #22: Lowball #23: High Stakes The American Triad #24: Mississippi Roll #25: Low Chicago #26: Texas Hold 'Em Praise for the Wild Cards series “Perhaps the most original and provocative of the shared worlds books.” ―Peter S. Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn "Delicious...Everything I hoped for in a new Wild Cards book. The character interactions and plot twists have exactly the complexity, surprise, and unsentimental realism I'd expect out of a George R. R. Martin project." ―Austin Grossman, author of Soon I Will be Invincible on Inside Straight “This is a wild ride of good, blood-pumping fun that packs a surprisingly emotional punch for a book that looks on the surface like just another superhero adventure.” ― Publishers Weekly on High Stakes “Emotionally powerful. Wild Cards deals up the variety of short fiction without losing the continuity of a novel.”― The Seattle Times “A delightfully imaginative speculation.” ― The Toronto Star "Martin has assembled an impressive array of writers. . . . Progressing through the decades, Wild Cards keeps its momentum to the end." ― Locus "The shared-world series known as Wild Cards has had a long and illustrious history of contributors and achievements." ―SciFi.com "New readers and fans of the long-running series will both love the fast-paced plotting and the ever-expanding history of the Wild Card virus on this alternate Earth, where even the superheroes are human." ―Shelf Awareness on Lowball "Highly recommended." ―SFRevu on Lowball The Wild Cards Trust is the creator of the Wild Cards series. George R. R. Martin has been a full-time writer for over 25 years. He is the author of the acclaimed, internationally bestselling fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire , which is the basis of HBO's popular Game of Thrones television series. Martin has won multiple science fiction awards, including 4 Hugos, 2 Nebulas, the Bram Stoker, the Locus Award, the World Fantasy Award, the Daedelus, the Balrog, and the Daikon (Japanese Hugo). Wild Cards VIII: One-Eyed Jacks By George R. R. Martin Tom Doherty Associates Copyright © 1991 George R. R. Martin and the Wild Cards Trust All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-250-16809-2 Contents Title Page, Copyright Notice, Dedication, Nobody's Girl, Luck Be a Lady, Nobody Knows Me Like My Baby, The Tower of Gold and Amber, Horses, Mr. Nobody Goes to Town, Snow Dragon, Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen, Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing, You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You, A Broken Thread in a Dark Room, "Nobody's Fool", Sixteen Candles, My Name Is Nobody, The Devil's Triangle, Nobody's Home, Dead Heart Beating, Nobody Gets Out Alive, The Wild Cards Universe, About the Editor, Copyright Acknowledgments, Copyright, CHAPTER 1 Nobody's Girl by Walton Simons THE LATE-AFTERNOON SUNSHINE WARMED them. She lay naked on the bed, hands folded on her stomach, eyes closed. He looked down the outline of her body, trying to hold on to the ecstasy and contentment he'd felt with her only moments before. But it was already slipping away. Women kept it a bit longer. Afterglow. But they lost it, too. "You could stay awhile," Jerry said. He tried to make the four words sound like it would be more fun than two people could stand. Not that they'd been pushing the limit in that area lately. "Nope." Veronica opened her eyes and sat up, her long, sweat-soak