A review by rlaferney
The Body Scout by Lincoln Michel

5.0

The Body Scout seems like it was specifically written for me. You see, I'm a sucker for both baseball and the cyberpunk genre and this novel is basically a cyberpunk novel about the murder of a New York Mets (I mean The Monsanto Mets) player in the near-distant future. (You see, in Michel's near-future New York, Big-Pharma runs the world and baseball). Sly, smart, weird, and fizzy, The Body Scout is scifi/noir tale following Kobo,who is a former baseball player turned scout investigating the murder of his best friend (adopted brother) JJ Sunz, the famed star of The Monsanto Mets, who dies suddenly in the middle of a game. Kobo is determined to find the killer and plunges into the world of genetically modified CEOS, Neanderthals, and back-alley modifications (not to mention weird, virtual realty orgies) to do so. Where it leads Kobo is somewhere he never dreamed possible, and the revelations that come to light, are in many ways shocking.

The novel is also a bit tender and touching.

The main question this novel asks, like the work of Philip K. Dick and the film maker, David Cronenberg, is : What does it mean to inhabit a body? The Body Scout raises fascinating questions about the nature of cloning. It also asks how far would we allow corporations to control us?

This book was a thrilling journey that featured strange, eye-popping tech. It's also a terrifying (but fun) look at where we could be headed.

Lincoln Michel is a talented author. I'll be anticipating his next novel with glee.