In a Las Vegas hotel room, a man awakes to confront his destiny Dreaming, Jack hears voices: a frightened child in a hospital, a woman cheating on her husband, a death-row inmate. When he wakes, the voices recede, but they do not vanish. He is in a luxurious hotel room on the Vegas strip, and his body is covered in scars. Jack Strong is a patchwork man, his flesh melded together from dozens of men and women, and his mind is the same way. Countless lifetimes are contained within him: people whose time was cut short, and who see their place in Jack as a chance to make things right. On behalf of one of them, Jack reignites a feud with corrupt casino bosses. Drawing on the skills of another, he beats the life out of two bodyguards. Jack fights for control as he lurches from impulse to impulse, certain that somewhere within him exists a soul. The answers may lie with whomever is tailing him in a sleek black car-if Jack can somehow confront him.
"The only disappointment to be found in a novella by acclaimed author Mosley . . . is that it ends too soon. [Jack Strong is] a lively and deep foray into sf in a compact package that fans of Mosley's speculative fiction will enjoy."
Library Journal, starred review
"[Mosley] peoples his stories with working stiffs and scrappy fighters. Against a bleak landscape, their resilient spirits feel like rays of hope."
The New York Times Book Review
"[Mosley is] a writer whose work transcends category and qualifies as serious literature."
