Altered Carbon

by Richard K Morgan, ISBN:9780345457691

start of Takeshi Kovacs series

The personal, as everyone's so fucking fond of saying, is political. So if some idiot politician, some power players, tries to execute policies that harm you or those you care about, take it personally. Get angry. The Machinery of Just Ice will not serve you heare - it is slow and cold, and it is theirs, hardware and soft-. Only the little people suffer at the hands of Justice; the creatures of power slide out from under with a wink and a grin. If you want justice, you will have to claw it from them. Make it personal. Do as much damage as you can. Get your mesage across. That way you stand a far better chance of being taken seriously next time. Of being considered dangerous. And make no mistake about this: being taken seriously, being considered dangerous, marks the difference - the only difference in their eyes - between players and little people. Players they will make deals with. Little people they liquidate. (Power)