It was announced last week that the winner of the Philip K. Dick Award for most distinguished original science fiction paperback book published in 2022 is The Extractionist by Kimberly Unger. Special citation was given to The Legacy of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson.

The Extractionist by Kimberly Unger

In her breakout new technothriller, virtual reality expert Kimberly Unger has created the iconic nerd-heroine that we need: Eliza McKay, a disgraced underground hacker trying to take back her career one dangerous job at a time. When rich or important people get stuck in the Swim it’s McKay’s task to quietly extract them. But when her latest contract throws her into the middle of a corporate power struggle, she finds herself fighting for her life.

The Legacy of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson

Whenever Molly Southbourne bled, a murderer was born. Deadly copies, drawn to destroy their creator, bound by a legacy of death. With the original Molly Southbourne gone, her remnants drew together, seeking safety and a chance for peace. The last Molly and her sisters built a home together, and thought they could escape the murder that marked their past.

But secrets squirm in Molly Southbourne’s blood—secrets born in a Soviet lab and carried back across the Iron Curtain to infiltrate the West. What remains of the Cold War spy machine wants those secrets back, and to get them they’re willing to unearth the dead and destroy the fragile peace surrounding the last copies of Molly Southbourne.