One hundred years from now, and against all odds, Earth has found a new stability; the political order has reached some sort of balance, globalised commercial interdependence and cooperative co-existence are the order of the day, and a new nanotech-aided colony on Mars is growing. But the fraught years of the 21st century have left an uneasy genetic legacy. The failed results of science's early excursions into twisting the human genome to advantage now live among us as barely tolerated variant outcasts - licensed, monitored and cordially despised.
Sevgi Ertekin, ex-NYPD homicide detective turned security executive for the colony corporations, is no stranger to the issues surrounding human variants. But when a Variant 13, a genetically engineered hyper-male cultured to fight the century's last conflicts, survives a mysterious crash landing in mid-ocean and a series of brutal slayings erupts across America, she discovers that sometimes you can only fight fire with fire.
Carl Marsalis, a genengineered ex-soldier himself, hunts down rogue hyper-males for the UN. It's not an easy gig; he's hated and feared by his fellow 13s as a traitor and a bringer of death, and by the rest of humanity as a genetic freak and an unwelcome reminder of all that is dark in the human psyche - he is, in every sense of the word, the Black Man. And at the moment he's beyond even UN jurisdiction or help, banged up in a Florida jail for intent to procure an abortion. So when Sevgi comes calling, Carl is only too ready to cut a deal.
The sensational new thriller from the international bestselling star of SF combines a savage man-hunt with speculation on the dangers of genetic engineering.
