Thirteen

By: Richard K. Morgan

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 22 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Marsalis is one of a new breed...literally. Genetically engineered by the U.S. government to embody the naked aggression and primal survival skills that centuries of civilization have erased from humankind, Thirteens were intended to be the ultimate military fighting force. The project was scuttled, however, when a fearful public branded the supersoldiers dangerous mutants, dooming the Thirteens to forced exile on Earth's distant, desolate Mars colony. But Marsalis found a way to slip back and into a lucrative living as a bounty hunter and hit man before a police sting landed him in prison - a fate worse than Mars, and much more dangerous.

Luckily, his "enhanced" life also seems to be a charmed one. A new chance at freedom beckons, courtesy of the government. All Marsalis has to do is use his superior skills to bring in another fugitive. But this one is no common criminal. He's another Thirteen, one who's already shanghaied a space shuttle, butchered its crew, and left a trail of bodies in his wake on a bloody cross-country spree. And like his pursuer, he was bred to fight to the death. Still, there's no question Marsalis will take the job. Though it will draw him deep into violence, treachery, corruption, and painful confrontation with himself, anything is better than remaining a prisoner. The real question is: can he remain sane and alive long enough to succeed?

©2007 Richard K. Morgan (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.

Critic reviews

"Stellar." ( Publishers Weekly)

Mature writing and story, not an adolescent word in it.

Vivid story painted with excellent writing. His selective inclusion of descriptive detail expertly fills in scenes and characters and is a pleasure to hear in this genre.

I liked it, but beware!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

The tech was cool, the concept was as well. though not the most original idea, it was executed well. so, yes.

What other book might you compare Thirteen to and why?

Blade runner. its the same concept for the most part.

Have you listened to any of Simon Vance’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

He does a great job at whatever he gets into. i like his style.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Moved me? no. I will say there are some pretty descriptive sex scenes in this book and anybody who may be put off by that may want to skip this one. There are quite a few... Also anybody of the "Christian faith" may be offended by some of the slang terms and ideas of the author. Not me, but i know you're out there...

Any additional comments?

I got this one from the paperback sale. Five bucks was more than worth it! thank you once again, audible!

favorite

loved it. more books in a series would be great. looking forward to the next one

Really Enjoyable Listen

This was a great road-trip book for us. Rich Story, interesting characters. It dragged a little in the middle while he explored his ideas about the future of civilization. They were interesting and definitely a possible real outcome, but not necessarily critical to the story. We definitely would recommend it to anyone who is open-minded and not easily offended.

More good work

I've enjoyed each of Morgan's novels. Thirteen/Black Man continues his good work. He has a talent for creating worlds that immerse the reader. Thirteen has more characters than his earlier work and each character has flesh and unique personalities. The tech is brilliant. He sets up some of the Takeshi Kovacs novel's tech earlier in its evolution. I think it follows the world created for Market Forces. He follows genetic engineering through a very probable societal extrapolation if the technology becomes possible.

Don’t mess with a variant 13.

Great character development throughout the entire story. It’s a great cyberpunk mystery. As with all this authors works. I wish you would write more about Karl and the other variance.

Another Splendid Read.

Written a little in the cyberpunk style, but that is not where the treat really lives in this book. Richard K. Morgan plays against today’s society in such a way that 'Thirteen' is reminiscent of the crucible.

Mr. Morgan has written a fantastic book about the future we live with right now. He asks of his characters questions you and your friends are, or should be asking right now. This is a terrific listen, which will leave you thinking, and entertained.

The reader does a good job of maintaining his characters, and their accents. This makes for a smooth transition between characters.

A wonderful surprise, Mr. Morgan, one I will read/listen to several more times before I answer the questions the book brought forth for me. I hope you will continue to write these entertaining, and thought provoking era pieces.

Bible Thumpers need not apply

This book will sink its teeth into you and challenge you long after you finish it. Morgan is the best at creating anti-heroes (and a plausible future corporatist dystopia to boot) I've ever read.

If you're a Fill-In-The-Blank Fundamentalist of any stripe, you'll loathe this book.

And that's the highest praise I can give.

Excellent start of a new series

I have listened to most of Richard K. Morgan's stories from Audible.com, and looked forward to this one with some doubt after reading the reviews. I was pleasantly surprised. This was a very good story. If you enjoyed his Kovaks books, you'll like this one as well. Same tortured grayish protagonist. Same complicated twisting story. It is violent, dark, a little dirty. Not as bad as some of the reviews I have read suggest, though. Great cyberpunk-SciFi fiction. I can't wait for the next one.

author could have

gotten off his soapbox for about a third of the novel and shorted this read to a more tolerable and acceptable 2 parts. At least one third of the narration involved the authors personal views on what he feels is/will be wrong with the world.

Reader did a great job with the variety of accents and voices and really gave the characters life. Great job by the reader but again the author could have saved us from listening to his personal preach of social mores dissolving and made this a much more enjoyable listen rather than a unabridged sermon.