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Thirteen by Richard K. Morgan
01/07/2007 . Source: Tomas L. Martin 
Pub: Del Rey/Ballantine Books. 525 page hardback. Price: $24.95 (US). ISBN: 978-0-345-48525-0. Buy Thirteen in the USA - or Buy Thirteen in the UK  check out website: www.delreybooks.com
There are a few writers I immediately sit up and take notice if they have a new book. After his electrifying debut 'Altered Carbon', Richard Morgan was definitely on that list. The sequels to his Takeshi Kovacs series were competent and the excellent satire 'Market Forces' cemented his position without raising the bar much higher than his excellent start.
I can say with full authority that 'Thirteen' is the book where Morgan does just that. This book is a significant step up, with more subtle political elements and an interesting new near-future imagining of Earth.
It is the start of the twenty-second century. A colony has been established on Mars. The United States has been wrenched asunder into two distinct countries: the liberal Rim States and the central, radicalised country, known in slang as 'Jesusland'.
The core issue of the day is genetically altered humans. There are many forms of tweaked men and women, including those that don't sleep one half of the year and hibernate in the winter. Many are tolerated if not accepted but the 'Thirteen' of the title is a strain that makes the person more like a Neanderthal man, full of testosterone and violence, with much less moral control.
To say this makes people wary would be an understatement. Thirteens like the hero Carl Marsalis are kept under tight watch by security agencies and the media. Carl exists outside of the normal system by offering his skills to help track down, capture or kill other escaped thirteens.
When a transport from Mars crashes into the sea, many of its occupants eaten by a thirteen that sneaked aboard, Carl is called in to help find the criminal. What follows is an action-packed chase across much of Morgan's future world.
Richard Morgan has always written well with a crisp, slightly sardonic style reminiscent of Raymond Chandler, packed with huge bombastic action sequences. Two of his novels have been bought by Hollywood and I would imagine this one will be, too. It's a fast paced, exciting and tense ride.
As well as enjoying the plot and dynamic characters, I was thoroughly impressed with the world of 'Thirteen', with some fantastic technologies and great extrapolation of the big political problems of the modern world. It serves as a subtle rebuke and warning to the right-wing government in the US as well as hinting at other trouble facing us over the coming century.
Richard Morgan has always been good. He just got better. 'Thirteen' took him two years to write and it shows, with a very polished feel. This book will likely elevate him even further than his electric debut. Hopefully, his next novel will be just as accomplished. Read this book.
Tomas L. Martin
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