Chin Music

Raymond Zajak, star pitcher for the Chicago White Sox, is in the hospital recovering from a head injury when missiles are launched that mark the nuclear destruction of the city and the beginning of World War III. As Chicago goes mad with panic, Zajak awakens from his coma and wanders into the streets on his way home, although home is only a vague concept in his muddled brain. Wandering into the Loop Area of Chicago, where panic has precipitated looting, murder, rape, and destruction, Zajak is guided by a personal Guardian Angel who sees him safely home to wife and son, who have themselves had to deal with crisis. Classic references are interspersed with 1980s pop culture and baseball lingo in a stream of consciousness novel that is true to its locale, but shows the city in less-than-perfect light.