ALTERED CARBON by Richard K. Morgan

The best noir crime novel I've read this year won't be found in the mystery section of your local bookstore. It's a science fiction novel that came out a few years ago which takes place several hundred years in the future with a setting that feels like Blade Runner and a narrative that is pure Raymond Chandler.

Some of the questions this book raises about what it means to be alive, let alone human, will keep you awake nights long after you finish the book. This was Morgan's first novel and it's extraordinary. I'm now reading everything this guy has written, including the graphic novels. His standalone novel Thirteen is also essential reading.