Revenge is a dish best served cold. California Voodoo Game Things have never been better for Dream Park. The Barsoom Project is in full gear, and promises to be the crowning jewel in the company's corporate crown. Further, they're hosting this year's LARP "superbowl", where five competing teams will race each other to discover the secrets of an abandoned "post-apocalyptic" arcology, way out in the desert. The California Voodoo Game promises to be so big, its actually lured some of the best players in the world out of retirement. Even better, the arcology is scheduled to be re-used as the center of the Barsoom Project, once California Voodoo ends. Coupled with various tax incentives, the savings promise to be equally astronomical. Some of the players, though, have more on their mind than just adventuring. One of the most ruthless and manipulative players ever, Bishop is a living legend, and self-proclaimed cheat at the Game. Never been caught, though, and bringing him in as one of the five captains ensures even more attention to this year's superbowl. But is he here to win? Or something else? Every interview he gives raises more eyebrows . . . As the players prowl through the arcology, battling zombies, bargaining with voodoo gods, and befriending giant alien catfish, Alex Griffin's life falls apart. He's never really recovered from the corruption he unearthed during the South Seas and Fimbulwinter Games, and the broken friendships that followed. Worse, Acacia Garcia (his former flame) is captaining one of the superbowl teams – and she looks amazing. Then he gets a call from the police. His current girlfriend (and coworker) has been found murdered in a sleezy love hotel. And a routine review of her computer records indicate that she was downloading files about California Voodoo, mere hours before her death . . . Back in the Game, all of the superbowl teams are behaving oddly. Has "the Bishop" struck again? Cultural references The novels Achilles' Choice and Saturn's Race, also by Niven and Barnes, are set in the 2020s and feature a quick reference to Dream Park technologies. The events of another novel, The Descent of Anansi, by the same authors, are referred to in the latter two books of the Dream Park trilogy. An antecedent to Dream Park is the 1973 movie Westworld, in which vacationers pay to spend time in one of several historical role-playing "worlds"