Wild At Heart: A Wild Cards Retrospective- Book VI: Ace in the Hole

"Wild Cards Book VI: Ace in the Hole" and it follow-up, "Wild Cards Book VII: Dead Man's Hand", are the series at its best. To talk about why, we need to talk a little bit about the history of the book. The original plan with Wild Cards Book VI was to structure it much like Book III: As a novel with multiple POV characters whose stories would intersect rather then the anthology format of the previous two books.

Book VII was conceived as a much more complex novel: with eight characters and seven writers divided up into two major plot arcs. Six of the stories would primarily deal with  the first major plot arc which would see Greg Hartman, the evil ace known as Puppetman, attempt to become the Democratic nominee for president. Two of the stories would deal with the second plot arc, a murder mystery of sorts where the heroes investigated the death of long time supporting cast member, Chrysalis.

It was, ultimately, to much to contain in a single book. (The original manuscript was supposedly over 1,000 pages long.) Fortunately, the two writers handling the murder mystery story had written enough material to fill a book on its own. And thus, what was one once one book became two.

This means that, unlike Book III, Book VI has the benefit of a singular focus: the heroes and villains of Wild Cards attending the 1988 Democratic Convention. Gregg Hartman, the emotion manipulating Puppetman, (written by Stephen Leigh) is finally making his play for the Democratic nomination. His public commitment to jokers' rights and his public persona as a compassionate politician have duped the heroic aces and convention delegates Jack Braun, aka, Golden Boy (written by Walter John Williams) and Dr. Tachyon (written by Melinda Snodgrass) into supporting him. Meanwhile, Hartman has sent his henchman, the intangible killer who calls himself Mackie Messer (written by Victor Milan) to tie up any loose ends that can expose his alter-ego. Unfortunately, he also has to deal with Sarah Morganstern (also written by Milan), a reporter who is one of the last living people to know his secret, and Demise (written by Walton Simons), an ace assassin who has been hired to kill him.

This book manges to effectively combine political thriller with superhero story, a combination that yields excellent results. It is the perhaps the only superhero book to take an in-depth look at the back room deals and compromises that go into selecting a presidential nominee. However, the book also doesn't skimp on the superhero action with multiple great fight scenes and an unconventional ending thats a little more nuanced then the usual "hero beats villain."

This is not to say that everything is great. Dr. Tachyon is at his worst here, willfully ignoring signs that Hartman is evil including several characters outright telling him so until you want to reach into the book and slap him. (His treatment of women, while never great also reaches an all time low here). Furthermore, the decision to split one book into two has an impact on the narrative structure: The discovery of key evidence against Hartman occurs during the murder mystery plot line which means that it is covered in the next book. In practical terms, that means that Book VI has a deus ex machina where a character who has not previously been in the book suddenly appears with an important plot device.


Really, this book is the villain's show the whole way through. In some ways, Gregg Hartman's greatest ability is not his super-powers, bur rather his ability to make other people believe he is a good man. This actually leaves the heroes in the position of having to oppose a beloved public figure, one whose defeat may ironically cause irreparable damage to aces and jokers alike, but whose victory would be even worse. This leaves the heroes genuinely having to struggle with a genuinely impossible choice.

However, the real stand out character this time is Demise. The eternally put-upon ace assassin has never been more relatable, operating by a twisted code of honor which renders him somewhat sympathetic while still being a completely irredeemable lunatic. (The fact that, by this point in the series, he only kills irritating people helps. One of the best sequences involves him disposing of a street mime in a hilarious fashion). He also gets a few moments which provide some insight into who he was before he became a killer and give him an oddly touching motivation for his actions in the story.

All in all,  the weaker parts of the book are minor and the excellent parts are really excellent.  This book is definitely one of the strongest book in the series. Book VI is a good read but would Book VII be able to keep up the energy. To find out, read the next part.

Addendum: To say too much would count as a spoiler. Really the only major character introduction of note is the ace Topper who can pull any item she needs out of her top hat. She appear in later books and play a major role in a story in the later book "Deuces Down."