In 1985, Prior is diagnosed with AIDS and his lover Louis deserts him. Powerful lawyer Roy Cohn tempts Mormon and closeted gay Joe Pitt to the dark side. Joe and Louis get it on while Joe's wife Harper hallucinates an imaginary friend.

God has abandoned Heaven. It's 1985: the Reagans are in the White House and Death swings the scythe of AIDS. In Manhattan, Prior Walter tells Louis, his lover of four years, he's ill; Louis bolts. As disease and loneliness ravage Prior, guilt invades Louis. Joe Pitt, an attorney who is Mormon and Republican, is pushed by right-wing fixer Roy Cohn toward a job at the Justice Department. Pitt and Cohn are in the closet: Pitt out of shame and religious turmoil, Cohn to preserve his power and access. Pitt's wife Harper is strung out on Valium, aching to escape a sexless marriage. An angel invites Prior to be a prophet in death. Pitt's mother and Belize, a close friend, help Prior choose.—<[email protected]>