Thirteen

By: Richard K. Morgan

Narrated by: Simon Vance

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)

Riveting

Intriguing plot, interesting charactization, suspenseful. A lot of fun to "read". Reader is excellent as well.

I agree with Rusty

I agree with Rusty. If you like the other books by this author, you will like this one too. His characters are complex mixtures of good and bad.

Pass this one by.

It was just kind of boring. It dragged on. I really enjoyed Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan, but this is far from his best effort. The narrator does a decent job, but the story barely held my interest.

Powerful and Current

Richard K. Morgan's Thirteen has aged well since its publication a decade ago. Its dystopian elements, the disintegration of the United States in the 21st century, might have seemed a bit harsh, oh, five years ago, but something about post-2016 life makes the depiction of Jesusland a bit on the nose. Maybe too much so.

I came to this after enjoying the Netflix adaptation of Altered Carbon, and it is very much of a piece with that, in its depiction of a world stratified by wealth, in which technology has wrought fundamental changes, while failing to remedy deep-seated problems in the human condition.

I want to particularly laud the performance of Simon Vance. His narration of the book is splendid, both as the omniscient narrator, but especially as the voice of the laconic, world-weary Carl Marsalis. This version of the book has to be a step above the printed text, if only because Marsalis gains a rich voice and a London-area accent.

The murder-mystery setup, present as well in Altered Carbon, serves the plot well. I suppose the payoff was a bit smaller than I'd expected, but this is not a major problem. In the end, there's a lot of rich character work here: particularly with Marsalis and the distinct Sevgi Ertekin.

It is unfortunate to see so many people drawing offense from this fine work of science fiction. Then again, when one reads the following Q&A within a one-star review, it's easy to see the benighted shadow of Jesusland looming over us:

"What could Richard K. Morgan have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?
"NOT SLANDERED MOST OF THE CONSUMERS IN THIS COUNTRY FOR LOVING GOD..."

Great listen!

This is an exciting and well thought out book. It's unexpected twists make it hard to put down. I was reluctant at first to spend a credit based on some of the reviews but, I think it's a first rate story that I'll listen to again. I can't wait to listen to more of this author's work.

Third listen, love it every time.

I wish there were a sequel, or better, another trilogy. I'm going to restart the Altered Carbon trilogy on Audible and start the Netflix series.

Frickin Awesome

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

Action packed, well written, entertaining and involving.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Marsalis, duh

What about Simon Vance’s performance did you like?

Good story teller

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Cant keep a good man down

A bit complicated towards the end

As a casual listener (while walking the dogs, chores) there were times this story was hard to follow, especially when they referred to the main character, sometimes by his last name, others by his first name... The story was good but it lost me often enough that I will pay close attention in the future to comments before going another round with this author.

Vintage Morgan!

A very entertaining picture of a pronounced dystopian future. The backstory is a rich tapestry of interesting pieces of information: vintage Morgan. A troubling aspect of Mr. Morgan???s works is that he seems to lack the vision to give his stories any satisfying meaning. They are elaborate, highly detailed ??? brilliantly detailed! ??? tapistries that ultimately have no particular point. After a fascinating and extremely violent romp from Mars to The Rim Countries and Jesusland, ???Thirteen??? peters out with an ending reminiscent of ???Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid???. This is unsatisfying because Mr. Morgan???s creative genius deserves more. His works to date are strongly based on a philosophy of scientific realism: All biology is portrayed in electro-chemical-mechanical detail. All living things are deterministic. No Steve Talbot here! As in ???Altered Carbon,??? where the ???Catholics??? are portrayed as unscientific, dogma-ridden simpletons for their belief that a digitized personality lacked a soul and therefore ???sleeved??? humans were basically zombies, here the residents of Jesusland are portrayed with unremitting disapproval. In Mr. Morgan???s works to date, religious impulses and ideas are universally repellant and destructive. The lives of his non-religious characters, though, are hardly attractive; more ???Clockwork Orange??? than desirable. Still, the rich detail of the story is worth your time.

Razor sharp intelligence

After hooking into the Altered Carbon series, I wanted more of Morgan’s work. Happily, it exists, and does not disappoint. Morgan is obviously incredibly intelligent & plugged into the worlds of politics and technology at high function levels. He writes both subjects as a master, as well as character and human interplay. And sex. Writes that pretty well, too.
Simon Vance excelled as he always does. Uber talented & masterful delivery. Again.