Pembroke Hall

A young 21st-century ad writer, Boddekker, cuts a deal to put him on the fast track, with a million-dollar dream house, promotion, and the affections of Honniker in Accounting, but when he is mugged by a group of ruffians known as Ferman's Devils, he realizes the secret of his success.

Boddekker's not just a faceless copywriter anymore, grinding out ads for VR simulators and mood/attitude orienters. Now he's the "500-pound gorilla" of the Pembroke Hall agency, lumbering toward fame, fortune, and a fabled house in Princeton with shapely Honniker in accounting. All thanks to Ferman's Devils, the four New York City street thugs whose record-breaking (and bone-breaking) commercial has won them billions of fans and made gangster chic the latest rage. Yet Boddekker's new protégés are on the fast track to hell. First they assault a famous talk show host. Then they murder a former child celebrity in cold blood.