In an alternate world, where the existence of God has been scientifically proven and magic has been harnessed for the practical needs of the adept by the degaussing of cold iron, the United States is part of an alternative Second World War in which the enemy is not Germany but a resurgent Islamic Caliphate, which has invaded the United States. Werewolf Steven Matuchek and witch Virginia Graylock meet on a military mission to stop the invading Islamic army from unleashing a secret superweapon, a genie released from a bottle in which it had been sealed by King Solomon. Together, they fight against the demon and incidentally fall in love with each other. After the end of the war the two of them continue and deepen their liaison and have various additional adventures. Among other things they stop an elemental summoned as a student prank which had gone amok, confront a succubus/incubus on their honeymoon, and enter the Hell dimension to save their daughter. While in Hell the protagonists are at a loss to understand the identity of a moustached man with a strange armband who speaks with a strong Germanic accent, and why the most powerful demons tremble at the sight of him, or why he uses the "ancient and honorable symbol of the fylfot". Their alternative history never had a Nazi Germany. Another part of the book features a magical analogue to the counterculture of the 1960s, presented rather facetiously. Given the supernatural metaphysics of this world, however, it takes the form of gnosticism, within a "Johannine Church" that is based on either an esoteric reading of the Gospel of John, or an alternative gnostic gospel version of that canonical New Testament book. In his werewolf form, Matuchek does not suffer many of the liabilities of a werewolf of folklore or, indeed, the werewolf of Anderson's Three Hearts and Three Lions. He remains himself while turning into a wolf, and is able to fully use his four-leg incarnation to fight various enemies; and in this magical world, there is no social stigma attached to lycanthropy. Dependence on the moon is lightly tossed aside with a comment that the necessary components of moonlight have been isolated, and his Polaroid "Were-flash" lets him turn into a wolf or back to his human form at any time, its controls having been designed to be operable even with paws and no opposable thumbs. However, his invulnerability to silver is limited. Conservation of mass makes him a rather large wolf, although other weres in the book, taking far more drastic forms, have more serious problems. The couple's daughter, Valeria Matuchek, appears as a minor character in Anderson's A Midsummer Tempest - where she is a self-assured young woman, exploring by herself the various timelines. In a mysterious "Inn Between the Worlds" she meets with Prince Rupert of the Rhine, the main character of Midsummer Tempest, as well as meeting Holger Carlsen, the protagonist of Three Hearts and Three Lions and helping him in his own quest.
