The Body Scout by Lincoln Michel (Review)

Title: The Body Scout
Author: Lincoln Michel
Type: Fiction
Genre: Adult, Science Fiction,
Mystery, Dystopia
Publisher: Orbit
Date published: September 21, 2021

A complimentary physical copy of this book was kindly provided by the publishers in exchange for an honest review.

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 He scouts the latest in gene-edited talent for Big Pharma-owned baseball teams, but his own cybernetics are a decade out of date and twin sister loan sharks are banging down his door.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.

⤖ My Review ⬻

I read the short story “Johnny Mnemonic” by William Gibson while completing my undergrad way back when, and I’ve been looking for stories and books with that vibe ever since. Funny enough, I own the full-length novel Neuromancer by William Gibson for years now, but have been scared to read it because I worry it won’t have the same vibes…

Anyhow! The point I’m trying to make here is that The Body Scout synopsis and cover gave me “Johnny Mnemonic” vibes (minus the baseball of course) and I felt very drawn to it even though this is not the type of book I normally go for anymore.

I might have also been influenced by the fiance playing Cyberpunk since its release…add in the mystery and sleuthing that The Body Scout is filled with, and I was hooked! And that’s before even diving into the super cool idea of mixing pharmaceutical companies, cyborgs, and baseball!

This was a super interesting concept for me and I found that it was also very well executed. To make things even more interesting, the mystery and sleuthing gave me film noir vibes, which was so fun! And it doesn’t end there…there was a bit of body horror due to the cyborg bit, I didn’t need extensive baseball knowledge to keep up—overall, I laughed out loud, felt engaged by the action scenes, and also teared up a bit at the more heartfelt moments. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for more books by this author!

⤖ About the Author ⬻

Lincoln Michel was born in Virginia and lives in Brooklyn. He is the author of Upright Beasts and the co-editor of the anthologies Gigantic Worlds and Tiny Crimes. His work appears in The Paris Review, Granta, Strange Horizons, Tin House, and elsewhere. You can find him online at lincolnmichel.com and @thelincoln.