A new cell phone, which does everything an ordinary phone can do and many things it can't do, has entered the valley town of Clery. It's called the Pseudopod. Everybody who's anybody is getting one—including Dane Freitag. Within a week, he discovers that the Pseudopods may be influencing people in disturbing, frightening ways. That the devices may be responsible for changes in people's speech, behavior and desires. As a resident of the phone's test market, Dane must unravel the truth of the Pseudopod before its power becomes unbeatable. Will he succeed?