Henry Case is an addiction-addled ex-hacker yearning for a trade he can never return to---reduced to hustling his way toward a quick death in a futuristic dystopian Japan. When a mysterious military figure named Armitage offers to supply Case with a miracle cure that would allow him to reestablish a direct neuro-link with cyberspace, he has nothing to lose and everything to gain. He partners up with Molly, Armitage's hired muscle and all around augmented "razorgirl," with little idea of their boss' goals or endgame. As it happens, they may all be little more than pawns amid the enigmatic agenda of a powerful artificial intelligence. 
 I was initially excited to experience this book--after all, it's considered one of the original flagship works of the cyberpunk genre. But it quickly took on a neo-noir feel that I personally had trouble connecting with. Apathy toward characters and their fates is exacerbated by a lack of emotional depth and connectivity. This reviewer never could sympathize with the ever dispassionate character of Case...and while likely the most intriguing character, Molly didn't divulge any backstory until close to the end. Ultimately, the story became more of a detached observance of hard-to-follow scenes. 
 I appreciated a few aspects about the worldbuilding that were, more than likely, inspiration points for more recent works such as the movie 'The Matrix' and possibly the Japanese anime 'Ghost In A Shell.' But the cadence was jarring, almost in the sense of experimental poetry. The character growth seemed stunted, the writing style coarse, and the flow jerky. I found myself rereading many a sentence and paragraph to ensure the words hadn't gone straight through me. I didn't much enjoy Altered Carbon, either, but still found it a far smoother read by comparison. 
 (Perhaps this reader isn't the best judge of this particular sub-genre, but I do hope to have a few more to form more of a contrast in the coming months.)