Streetlethal, by Steven Barnes

I’d read several of Barnes’ collaborations with Larry Niven, but this was my first time reading a solo novel by him – also I think his own first solo novel, published in 1983. It’s a decent techno thriller set in a degenerated California in about 2020, the protagonists a zero-gravity MMA fighter and a dancer, both black in a world that is still ruled by racism. Gangs, dubious technology and medicine, and self-realisation all feature large in the narrative. I have the sequel and will read it.