Cover Art | Version 43 by Philip Palmer (Orbit)

The Exodus Universe.

Your odds of surviving quantum teleportation are, more or less, fifty/fifty. The only ones crazy enough to try it are the desperate, the insane, and those sentenced to exile for their crimes.

Belladonna is home to the survivors of the fifty/fifty—and is therefore a planet run by criminals and thieves. But when a horrific and improbable murder catches the attention of the Galactic Police force, one cyborg cop—Version 43—is sent to investigate.

Version 43 has been here before and has old friends and older enemies lying in wait. The cop was human once, but now, he is more program than man and will find a way to clean up this planet once and for all.

Here's the cover and blurb for Philip Palmer's next novel from Orbit, Version 43 (due in October). I can see that Orbit have chosen a direction for Palmer's books and I think it's quite a nice style for this book, although until reading the blurb I wasn't convinced of it. The plastic toy image is definitely something different and one that worked very well for Red Claw, I'm just not 100% sure it works here, at least not as an instantly recognisable sci-fi cover. Still, I applaud Orbit for going down an unconventional route and this book is definitely one to look forward to!