Black Man Morgan, Richard

Earth in the 22nd century: genetically engineered humans called "thirteens" were bred for aggression and sent to colonize Mars. When the colony failed, they were left stranded—or brought back and segregated. Carl Marsalis is a thirteen, working as a bounty hunter tracking down others like him who've escaped to Earth. When a thirteen kills his way across continents, Marsalis is pulled into a conspiracy that stretches from corporate boardrooms to off-world detention camps. Richard Morgan writes hard-edged sci-fi with noir sensibility—think Blade Runner meets The Bourne Identity, soaked in cynicism and moral ambiguity. The action is brutal, the politics are messy, and the questions about human nature cut deep. For fans of Altered Carbon's grit or anyone who likes their space opera grounded in earthbound paranoia.