Stories turn corners. They bump into you: You take them!"" So New York writer Benjamin Kohlman has been told by one of many former bosses. Alone again and desperate, Kohlman has finally found his: Janice Stewart, recently acquitted of the grisly arson/murder of her father-in-law. Kohlman follows Janice to Las Vegas where she works as a keno runner. Anxious to start his book, Kohlman offers Janice, now known as Angel, a contract. The elusive, innocent Angel construes it as a marriage contract, and Kohlman's bizarre adventures begin.

Mysteriously treated like a high-roller in the casinos, Kohlman is beaten, stabbed, and shot. His wounds are salved by a doctor and his wife who offer a kinky interpretation of the Hippocratic oath. A black messianic boxer known as Challenger teaches Kohlman the meditative art of psychokinesis, and together they perform amazing feats. Angel, who introduces the resistant Kohlman as her husband, loves him with an unconditional devotion he has never known.

But after all his trials, Kohlman may be redeemed through shedding his own blood and through his growing love for Angel. Western Literature Series.