(Richard Morgan)Here's a weird premise: A pulpy detective noir story set in a world where your personality is stored on a chip in your neck - if you get old or killed, just get downloaded into a new body (or "sleeve"). This combination works really well, with the unique setting adding the kinds of twists and turns you can only have when a person who gets shredded by a chaingun can get downloaded into a different body to come after you, or when you can't really be sure the person you're talking to isn't someone who had themselves downloaded into that body.
I have two minor complaints (and I feel bad that the minor complaits take up more space than the rest of the review, because they really are nit-picks): One is that the author imples our hero is facing "real death" - the chip containing his personality getting destroyed - and while the setting would make this a plausible threat, the fact that this book's title contains "A Takeshi Kovacs Novel" kind of implies our hero isn't in any real danger. The second is that when the ending comes, it's a little bit too complicated; Not only does it have a true detective story ending where everyone's doublecrossing everyone at the end, but it's made even more complicated by the fact that people are in each other's bodies.
There is one caveat I'd extend (and here I'm thinking of this author's mom): This book does not shy away from showing sex or violence; Bad guys don't get hit with a single slug from the hero's .357, they get shredded with chainguns, melted with high powered energy weapons, and beaten up in bone-breaking fistfights, etc. Likewise, there's no tasteful camera pan to billowing drapes. I didn't mind this - it adds a nice visceral punch, in fact - so if you can stomach some pretty R-rated sex and violence, I'd recommend this one.
Grade: A
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