San Francisco, 2008: an urban sprawl where cash is no longer acceptable tender and the populace are threatened by Mob interference and brutal mass vigilantism. Leading face on the club scene is Stu Cole, fortyish owner of Anesthesia, a venue where computer-composed dance tracks throb mindlessly between live sets by the more authentic bands of the Angst-Rock genre. The clashing aesthetics of the two attracts a diverse clientele to Anesthesia, their hipness boosted by Stu's history as a former political lobbyist willing to challenge Bay Area corruption. One evening at his club, Cole clocks a striking, trench-coated figure standing motionless at the bar, impassive behind his shades. Cole asks Catz, a mildly telepathic singer with the night's band, to scan the individual for information. Conveying sense-impressions through improvised song lyrics, Catz spits out a number entitled City Come A-Walkin', indicating to Cole that the implacable stranger is nothing less than a materialized avatar of San Francisco itself. A gestalt entity borne of the merged will and energy of human minds and machines, this being can only be called one thing - City. As Cole follows City into the night to witness the reality of Catz's claim, he takes a stand alongside the merciless might of the metropolis itself with the intention of righting the wrongs that have blighted the streets which are its veins.

Gritty, gleaming and impassioned, City Come A-Walkin' is acknowledged by William Gibson as the immediate precursor (or possibly the seminal work) of the cyberpunk school. Combining the influence of poetic alt.rock icons like Patti Smith with prescient visions of the coming IT era, this is one of several vivid, heartfelt novels of attitude from Shirley - who fronted several Californian bands himself - to feature punk characters. Best known for his screenplay for The Crow, Shirley has also written some alarming horror novels that complement his steely, methedrine-laced SF.

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