Black Man

Product Description

Richard K. Morgan's Thirteen is near-future science fiction, very much in the vein of Bladerunner. A failed government program to produce a more violent, aggressive form of military fighter has resulted in the U.S. rounding up most of the test subjects and isolating them on Mars, a place where no one with any sense would wish to spend their days. But not all of the government subjects have been caught and shipped out to Mars. Enter Carl Marsalis, a hit man who would like nothing more than to stop killing and put his past behind him-and when he's eventually captured in Miami, it seems like the government might take care of his problems for him.Unfortunately, around the same time a transport from Mars arrives back on earth. The entire crew has been killed by a stowaway who turns out to be one of these violent superhumans-and maybe something worse. Now Marsalis is given a choice: use his heightened powers to hunt down the killer, or face a fate worse than death.

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. This stellar new stand-alone from Morgan, known for his compelling future noir thrillers (Altered Carbon, etc.), raises tantalizing questions about the nature of humanity. Future governments have used genetic manipulation to create subhumans twisted to fit specialized tasks. Normal people are intrigued as well as repulsed, but they instinctively dread variation thirteen, an aggressive, ruthless throwback to a time before civilization. When a thirteen escapes from exile on Mars and apparently goes on an insane killing spree, Carl Marsalis, a soul-weary freelance thirteen hit man, is hired to help track him down. Morgan goes beyond the SF cliché of the genetically enhanced superman to examine how personality is shaped by nature and experience. Marsalis is more empathetic than the normal people around him, but they can see him only as an untrustworthy killer. At the same time, surveying corrupt, fractured normal society, the novel questions whether the thirteens are just less successful at hiding their motives. Without slowing down the headlong rush of the action, the complex, looping plot suggests that all people may be less—or more—than they seem.
(July)
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Review
Praise for Richard K. Morgan

Market Forces

“Morgan is one of science fiction’s bright young lights, a crisp stylist who demonstrates equal facility with action scenes and angst.”
–The New York Times Book Review

“Forces is turbo-injected with moral ambiguity, Wag the Dog political scenarios, and action sequences fit for a Bruckheimer movie. [Grade:] A.”
–Entertainment Weekly

Altered Carbon

“Compelling . . . immensely entertaining . . . full of duplicitous characters, murky motives, and a detective who’s as tough as he looks.”
–The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Gritty and vivid . . . Looks as if we have another interstellar hero on our hands.”
–USA Today


Broken Angels

“Clearly the work of a gifted, ambitious story teller.”
–The Washington Post Book World

“A superior, satisfying cyberpunk noir adventure.”
–Publishers Weekly

Woken Furies

“[A] fiercely intelligent new cyber-noir thriller.”
–The Washington Examiner

“Breathtaking suspense and action.”
–SF Reviews



From the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Carl Marsalis, a genetically engineered soldier (a "variant thirteen"), is busted out of jail to help track down a serial murderer who escaped from the Mars colony and crash-landed a spaceship into the ocean--but not before killing and eating everyone onboard. Now the psychopath is on a rampage, slaughtering seemingly unconnected innocents with no apparent reason or pattern. Partnered up with a female Colony Initiative investigator, Carl soon learns that finding his prey will take him to places he would rather not visit and will teach him things about his own past that he would rather not know. Published