Thirteen

Starred review from May 14, 2007
T
his 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.

June 15, 2007
Morgan, author of "Altered Carbon", for which he won the 2003 Philip K. Dick Award, describes a harrowing world set just before the turn of the 22nd century in which artificial intelligence, shuttles to Mars colonies, and a fractured political and economic landscape that resembles that of Neal Stephenson's "Snow Crash" provides the backdrop. Antihero Carl Marsalis is a "thirteen," whose genetic makeup, the result of a tissue-culture breeding program, enhances his survival and fighting abilities. A government hit man, Carl is hired to help solve a particularly horrific crime and teams up with a tough female. Originally published in Britain under the title "Black Man", the novel effectively explores questions about human behavior, motivations, and altruism. Recommended for large public libraries and academic libraries with sf or popular reading collections.Sara Rutter, Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa Lib., Honolulu

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