The plot has many surprises. I don't want to reveal too much. Backscatter is a near term futuristic story, starting in Bell County Texas in the 2040's. It's a story of epic adventure, lots of hard SF, and it starts with something as simple as a grocery shopping list.
A Blues Story Bobby Washington got hit by a car when he was fifteen, leaving him in a coma that lasted three years. When he did wake up he had epilepsy and needed to get a GED so an in-home physical therapist/caregiver was needed. Mai Li MacIntosh was born in Vietnam but raised in the U.S. Her very first job as a physical therapist was to rehab Bobby Washington's wasted body. It was supposed to be a three to six month job. She wasn't supposed to fall in love with her patient. But she did.
He's a businessman raised by a pool hustler and an ex-showgirl, a poker player taught by experts on how to cheat and spot cheaters. He falls in love and faces the ultimate cheater.