Down and Dirty is the fifth book in the Wild Cards

Wild Cards

Wild Cards is a science fiction and superhero anthology series set in a shared universe. The series was created by a group of New Mexico science fiction authors, but it is mostly pulled together and edited by best-selling author George R. R. Martin with assistance by Melinda Snodgrass, also a...

anthology series, set in the same shared universe

Shared universe

A shared universe is a fictional universe to which more than one writer contributes. Work set in a shared universe share characters and other elements with varying degrees of consistency. Shared universes are contrasted with collaborative writing, in which multiple authors work on a single story....

 as the other Wild Cards novels and collections. It was edited by George R. R. Martin

George R. R. Martin

George Raymond Richard Martin , sometimes referred to as GRRM, is an American author and screenwriter of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He is best known for A Song of Ice and Fire, his bestselling series of epic fantasy novels that HBO adapted for their dramatic pay-cable series Game of...

.

The stories in this volume tell of the events in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 involving two outbreaks; the outbreak of a gang

Gang

A gang is a group of people who, through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage, share a common identity. In current usage it typically denotes a criminal organization or else a criminal affiliation. In early usage, the word gang referred to a group of workmen...

 war between the Mafia

Mafia

The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...

 and the Shadow Fists

Shadow Fists

The Shadow Fist Society is the name of a fictional criminal organization in the Wild Cards book series. They were created by John J. Miller, and featured in many of his Wild Cards short stories, but have also been used by other Wild Cards writers. The Shadow Fists are composed of three major gangs:...

 gangs controlled by Kien Phuc

Kien Phuc (Wild Cards)

for the historical figure see Kien PhucKien Phuc is a fictional criminal from the Wild Cards anthology book series. He was created by John J. Miller in the short story Comes a Hunter, in the first book of the series, Wild Cards....

, a war which soon spills out of control into the streets of New York. Against this backdrop, the second outbreak occurs; the outbreak of a new, mutant strain of Wild Card virus, courtesy of the ever-shifting powers of The Sleeper

The Sleeper (Wild Cards)

The Sleeper is a fictional character from the Wild Cards series of books.In September 1946, ninth-grader Croyd Crenson, native of an unspecified borough of the New York City metropolitan area, was one of the first victims of the alien virus dubbed "the Wild Card", which generates random mutations...

, "Typhoid Croyd" Crenson. This version is different in that it can overwrite the original strain, so that even Aces and Jokers are not safe.

Stories

Story	Author(s)	Description
"Only the Dead Know Jokertown"	John J. Miller John J. Miller (author) John Joseph Miller is a science fiction author known for his work in the Wild Cards shared universe. He has published four novels, as well as a handful of short stories. He also wrote GURPS Wild Cards, a supplement for the GURPS role-playing system published in 1989...	Yeoman Yeoman (Wild Cards) Yeoman is a fictional character in the Wild Cards series of books. He was created by John J. Miller and first appeared in the short story Comes a Hunter in the first book of the series...  infiltrates Kien's gang as things heat up in New York's underworld.
"All the King's Horses"	George R. R. Martin George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin , sometimes referred to as GRRM, is an American author and screenwriter of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He is best known for A Song of Ice and Fire, his bestselling series of epic fantasy novels that HBO adapted for their dramatic pay-cable series Game of...	The Great and Powerful Turtle The Great and Powerful Turtle The Great and Powerful Turtle is a fictional character from the Wild Cards series of books. Created by series editor George R. R. Martin, Turtle has appeared in several stories penned by his creator as well as a supporting character of varying levels of importance in stories by other Wild Card...  must find a way to get back into his shell.
"Concerto for Siren and Serotonin"	Roger Zelazny Roger Zelazny Roger Joseph Zelazny was an American writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for his The Chronicles of Amber series...	The Sleeper The Sleeper (Wild Cards) The Sleeper is a fictional character from the Wild Cards series of books.In September 1946, ninth-grader Croyd Crenson, native of an unspecified borough of the New York City metropolitan area, was one of the first victims of the alien virus dubbed "the Wild Card", which generates random mutations...  is hired by the Mob to do a few "special" hits, but is unaware of his contagion.
"Breakdown"	Leanne C. Harper	Mafia princess turned district attorney District attorney In many jurisdictions in the United States, a District Attorney is an elected or appointed government official who represents the government in the prosecution of criminal offenses. The district attorney is the highest officeholder in the jurisdiction's legal department and supervises a staff of...  Rosemary Muldoon gets Bagabond and Sewer Jack unwillingly involved in the growing gang war.
"Jesus Was an Ace"	Arthur Byron Cover Arthur Byron Cover Arthur Byron Cover is a science fiction author.Cover attended the Clarion Writer's SF Workshop in New Orleans in 1971, and made his first professional short-story sale to Harlan Ellison's The Last Dangerous Visions...	Reverend Leo Barnett saves Quasiman Quasiman Quasiman is a fictional character from the Wild Cards anthology series. He was created by author Arthur Byron Cover.Quasiman is a Joker, a person mutated by the Wild Card virus. He does not remember his past or his real name, or indeed any information prior to his transformation. He is large and... 's life.
"Blood Ties"	Melinda M. Snodgrass Melinda M. Snodgrass Melinda M. Snodgrass is a professional writer best known for her work in science fiction for print and television media....	Dr. Tachyon Dr. Tachyon Dr. Tachyon is a character from the Wild Cards series of books. He was created for the books by Melinda M. Snodgrass. Tachyon is a geneticist from the planet Takis, whose people naturally developed various telepathic powers...  helps Jokertown prepare to defend itself during the gang war.
"The Second Coming of Buddy Holly"	Edward Bryant Edward Bryant Edward Winslow Bryant Jr. is a science fiction and horror writer sometimes associated with the Dangerous Visions series of anthologies that bolstered The New Wave....	An Aids AIDS Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus... -Wild Card awareness concert may bring rocker Buddy Holly Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley , known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll...  -- who is still alive in this universe—out of retirement, and will change his life more than he knows.
"The Hue of a Mind"	Stephen Leigh Stephen Leigh Stephen W. Leigh is an American science fiction and fantasy writer, artist, and musician. He also works as a lecturer at Northern Kentucky University, teaching creative writing.Steve Leigh lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.- Works :...	An Arab woman with precognition Precognition In parapsychology, precognition , also called future sight, and second sight, is a type of extrasensory perception that would involve the acquisition or effect of future information that cannot be deduced from presently available and normally acquired sense-based information or laws of physics...  sees the secrets of Puppetman Puppetman Puppetman, the alias of Gregg Hartmann, a U.S. Senator and Candidate for the Democratic Presidential Nomination, is a fictional character from the Wild Cards series of books. He first appeared in the story "Strings" by Stephen Leigh in the first book in the series, and plays an important role in... .
"Addicted to Love"	Pat Cadigan	The parasitic Ti Malice Ti Malice (Wild Cards) This character is named after the Vodou Loa, Ti Malice.Ti Malice is a character from the Wild Cards anthology series. He first appeared in the fourth book of the series, Aces Abroad, in the short story "Beasts of Burden" by John J. Miller....  has come to New York, looking for new "mounts" to live through.
"Takedown"	Leanne C. Harper	The Mob turns against Rosemary as the war goes against them.
"Mortality"	Walter Jon Williams Walter Jon Williams Walter Jon Williams is an American writer, primarily of science fiction.Several of Williams' novels have a distinct cyberpunk feel to them, notably Hardwired , Voice of the Whirlwind and Angel Stationn...	Being killed once has given Modular Man a fear of Death that propels his efforts to hunt down The Sleeper.

The stories "Only the Dead Know Jokertown", "All the King's Horses", "Concerto for Siren and Serotonin", and "Blood Ties" are told in recurring chapters which alternate with the other stories throughout the book.