Busted Flush (Wild Cards Series #19) Book

There are two reasons why I persevered all the way through this well-written but incredibly dull "mosaic novel." The first is that I've heard the overall story gets better once you make it past this book, and the second is that, being in paperback, it was something I could actually read in the tub for a change (most books I own these days are on my Kindle).
What made BUSTED FLUSH such a disappointment was that I really enjoyed the previous WILD CARDS installment, INSIDE STRAIGHT. In that book, the unlikable characters and disjointed narrative were appropriate for its reality show setting. INSIDE STRAIGHT struck me as more of a superhero parody than a serious novel. The whole time I read it, I was reminded of the Ben Stiller movie MYSTERY MEN.
But there's nothing even remotely funny about BUSTED FLUSH, a book so desperate to be relevant that it explores such obvious hot-button issues as war-for-oil in northern Africa and hurricane disaster relief in New Orleans. At least the authors manage to avoid haranguing us with their partisan political views, and for that I am grateful.
However, stripped of their reality show setting, the main characters' unlikability becomes a problem. I never cared what happened to any of them before, nor do I care now. Only now, they aren't just selfish TV brats anymore but global peacekeepers, which makes their self-centered melodrama all the more unbearable. Plus, the inherent absurdity of many of these "heroes" and their corresponding superpowers is jarring in light of the book's straightfaced tone and deadly-earnest plot. For example, there's a scene in which Hoodoo Mama uses her army of re-animated corpses to rescue potential drowning victims in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. As a reader, how the heck am I supposed to respond to such a scene?
The story is a mess, too. Every time things get even a little bit interesting, the section ends, and we once again change authors/perspectives. It took me more than half the book just to figure out what the basic plot thread was.
On top of all that, there's no story contribution from George R.R. Martin (whose name is basically what sells these books), and we get an anti-climatic ending besides.
I would have been better off with a rubber ducky.