Dreamer came back to Austin, Texas, from a bad banana war with a souvenir slug in his head. No big deal, just a minor side effect: Now, every safe, every lock, every fancy alarm, takes a nap when he's around.

Dreamer's not tempted, he's straight arrow and doesn't need the dough. He's happy selling guppies, hanging out at Mama Lucy's Vishnu and Jesus Barbecue. And, when the days are long and the AC's blowing cool, spending lazy afternoons with his breathtaking, irritating, mean-mouthed lover and big-time attorney, Eileen. Still, a secret like Dreamer's doesn't stay secret long. A lot of people want to know what his talent's all about. People like Detective Avery Asher, who makes wrongdoers move up to New York. Abn-el-Yusuf, who wants to buy Fort Worth. Zillionaire Gus Brauweiler, who owns nearly everything there is, and Houston mobster Mako Binder, who steals all the rest. Only Neal Barrett, Jr., author of The Hereafter Gang, heralded as "one of the great American novels," could stir up this special mix of outrageous mayhem and unadulterated black-hearted fun, you'll find in Interstate Dreams.