“Cyberpunk’s first lyrical poem, mixing Kabbalah, manga, pop-culture trivia and Zen with enough style and dexterity to actually pull it off . . . [McDonald] does more in a page than most writers do in a chapter.” —Neal Stephenson

Words can control you, words can make you act against your own will...and words can kill.

Ethan Ring discovers computer graphics with profound effects on human minds—fracters. Dark political forces want his power, and Ethan must face the consequences of his creation, and his actions.
In search of redemption, he embarks on an ancient thousand-mile pilgrimage, but can he ever escape the forces that once controlled him, and can he resist the power of the deadly images tattooed onto his hands?