Spin Control

Spin Control is the 2nd book in the Spin trilogy by Chris Moriarty. It won the Philip K. Dick award in 2006, which is why it was on my TBR shelf. I could've sworn I'd read the 1st book, but now I can't find any record of that. It's a good thing I didn't need that background in order to understand this one. This book reads fine as a stand-alone novel. It was an enjoyable read, but I'm not interested enough in this sub-genre -science fiction/political thriller- to seek out the other two in this series.

from the back of the book:

In this stunning follow-up to the critically acclaimed novel Spin State, Chris Moriarty depicts a grim future in which the final frontier may well be extinction. For as far-flung planets are terraformed and earth's age-old conflicts are contracted out to AIs, Humanity is losing the only war that counts: the war for survival.

Call Arkady a clone with a conscience. Or call him a traitor. A member of the space-faring Syndicates, Arkady has defected to Israel with a hot commodity: a genetic weapon powerful enough to wipe out humanity. But Israel's not buying it. They're selling it -and Arkady- to the highest bidder.

As the auction heats up, the Artificial Life Emancipation Front sends in Major Catherine Li. Already drummed out of the Peacekeepers for "war crimes," Li has now literally hooked up with an AI who has lived many lifetimes and shunted through many bodies. And while they each have their own definition of victory, together they have only one chance of survival....

Eyrie has a positive review. SF Site concludes, "This is not a book for everyone, though -- there's a lot of complicated, unfamiliar material that has to be grasped very quickly. I doubt that Spin Control has the broad appeal to make it a bestseller, but it will certainly reward the discriminating SF reader."