San Francisco is preparing for the premiere of a new staging of the Puccini opera, Turandot. The passionate story of the Chinese princess Turandot, and the mysterious three riddles which are the key to her heart, are on the lips of opera buffs throughout the city. At the same time, a serial killer is haunting the gay bars of the city and is killing HIV positive long-term survivors. Stefan, a young gay East German medical student, arrives in the city for a medical congress and is following the trail of his dead father, a once high ranking AIDS researcher in the East. Stefan is investigating whether the HIV virus was an incremental result of secret human experiments that were conducted in US prisons in the seventies - a thesis of the Berlin professor Jakob Segal, which was spread by state agents of former East Germany. Secret lists involving these biological experiments are rumored to have surfaced in San Francisco.
Sudden fame and a self-destructive lifestyle were taking a toll on Jack Kerouac's mind and body following the unparalleled success of the groundbreaking novel, On The Road. Once the handsome literary maverick and hero of the Beat Generation, Kerouac now sees only a vestige of his former self, ravaged by alcohol and drugs, aged beyond his years and tormented by self-doubt. Questioning his talent, his faith, and his mortality, Kerouac leaves New York for California, on a quest for redemption at an isolated, fog-banked cabin in the primitive landscape of the Big Sur woods. What ensues in those fateful 3 weeks of August, 1960, is both terrifying and revelatory. While Kerouac is able to find beauty and elation in his surroundings, the dichotomy of his psyche renders him unable to face his demons alone. He sets off on a visceral collision course of paranoia, sex, delirium tremens, misery and madness. His desperation culminates in an intense, hallucinatory breakdown, but the duality of his ... Written by Anonymous
Derek Bradshaw, a 33-year-old lawyer, courts and wins Amy Miller, an 18-year-old high school cheerleader. The affair progresses until she learns that he is married and has a family. During this period, she has been receiving anonymous notes, been the victim of vicious pranks and ultimately, life threatening attacks. Written by Herman Seifer alagain@aol.com
Jasmine French used to be on the top of the heap as a New York socialite, but now is returning to her estranged sister in San Francisco utterly ruined. As Jasmine struggles with her haunting memories of a privileged past bearing dark realities she ignored, she tries to recover in her present. Unfortunately, it all proves a losing battle as Jasmine's narcissistic hangups and their consequences begin to overwhelm her. In doing so, her old pretensions and new deceits begin to foul up everyone's lives, especially her own. Written by Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)