Novel by Michael Marshall Smith first published in 1996, Spares is the follow-up to his highly acclaimed debut Only Forward.

Set in a futuristic fantsay world, and we are accompanied with the first person narration of Jack Randall an ex cop and Gap war veteran (nothing to do with America's most annoying clothing company). As in his other works, the narration is both laugh out loud funny and extremly readable, while you are conveyed through a series of disturbing and horrific scenes. Jack has been working as a caretaker in an isolated "Farm" hiding away from the world he has abandoned. The Farm is a place where clones (Spares) of the mega-rich and powerful and kept as the ultimate insurance policy - you lose an eye, hear or limb, you can get a replacement from your Spare. However when Jack starts to interact with the Spares he realises that they could have lives for themselves, so when one of them is due to be mutilated for the benefit of her double, Jack must go on the run with the Spares and confront the past of pain, loss and addiction he has been hiding from.

Steven Spielberg has bought the rights for Spares in an alleged seven-figure deal and I have heard rumours that Dreamworks are planning an animated movie, but nothing concrete, and I imagine that some of the scenes in the book would have to be toned down. It will probably just languish in Development Hell.