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The Body Scout

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In "The Body Scout," Lincoln Michel presents a near future New York City where corporations control professional baseball, games are played in massive stadiums, and the world is plagued by pandemics, wealth inequality, and climate change. The story follows an investigation by an adopted brother into the mysterious death of a ball player, leading him through the ruins of New York City filled with dystopic elements like smog, underground tenements, and ocean walls. The book marries the tropes of cyberpunk and noir, reinventing familiar themes with a science fiction twist, creating a fast-paced and entertaining read that explores new ideas and fresh concepts.

Characters:

Characters are vividly drawn with complexity, enhancing the narrative's intrigue.

Writing/Prose:

The writing style is straightforward yet engaging, combining hardboiled elements with rich worldbuilding.

Plot/Storyline:

The plot centers around a mystery related to the death of a baseball player in a corporatized and cybernetically enhanced world.

Setting:

The setting is a richly imagined dystopian future with strong cyberpunk influences.

Pacing:

The pacing is quick, contributing to an engaging reading experience despite some convolutions.
When I couldn’t fall asleep, I counted the parts of the body. I used the outdated numbers. What they’d taught me back in school when only the ultrarich upgraded. Two hundred and six bones. Seventy-eig...

Notes:

The Body Scout is set in a cyberpunk future where body modifications and cybernetics are common in sports.
The main character, Kobo, is a body scout for professional baseball teams owned by pharmaceutical companies.
The story includes a mystery about who killed Kobo's brother, but some readers found it less engaging.
Worldbuilding in the novel is praised for being imaginative and detailed, reflecting a dystopian America.
The novel critiques capitalism and corporate culture, particularly in relation to sports and body modification.
Kobo is described as a relatable protagonist, equipped with cybernetic enhancements.
Baseball plays a significant role in the story, making it particularly appealing to baseball fans.
Readers appreciate the blend of hardboiled detective fiction with science fiction elements.
The novel includes themes such as wealth inequality, climate change, and pandemics.
The writing style is straightforward and accessible, making it easy to follow.
Critics note that it feels fresh and original within the sci-fi genre, despite some typical tropes.
The novel features vivid characters with deep secrets, similar to classic noir literature.
Lincoln Michel is acknowledged for striking a balance between imaginative ideas and plausible scenarios.
The setting includes a ruined New York City with underground tenements and a wall to keep oceans at bay.

Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings

Content warnings include themes of violence (related to the murder investigation), socioeconomic inequality, and body modification, which some readers may find disturbing.

From The Publisher:

In this “timeless and original” sci-fi thriller (New York Times), a hardboiled baseball scout must solve the murder of his brother in a world transformed by body modification, perfect for readers of William Gibson and Max Barry.

An Esquire Pick for the Top 50 Sci-Fi Books of All Time A New York Times Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Novel of 2021 "A breathlessly paced techno-thriller characterized by stunning, spiky worldbuilding." — Esquire In the future you can have any body you want—as long as you can afford it. But in a New York ravaged by climate change and repeat pandemics, Kobo is barely scraping by.

He scouts the latest in gene-edited talent for Big Pharma-owned baseball teams, but his own cybernetics are a decade out of date and twin sister loan sharks are banging down his door. Things couldn't get much worse. Then his brother—Monsanto Mets slugger J.J. Zunz—is murdered at home plate.

Determined to find the killer, Kobo plunges into a world of genetically modified CEOs, philosophical Neanderthals, and back-alley body modification, only to quickly find he's in a game far bigger and more corrupt than he imagined.

To keep himself together while the world is falling apart, he'll have to navigate a time where both body and soul are sold to the highest bidder. Diamond-sharp and savagely wry, The Body Scout is a timely science fiction thriller debut set in an all-too-possible future. "I devoured it." —Jonathan Lethem "Completely weird and still completely real.

Delightful—I couldn't put it down."—Shea Serrano

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