Exit Strategy by Martha Wells - 5 stars

[Theresa]

The story arc started in All Systems Red ends in this 4th entry in the Murderbot Diaries when Murderbot sets out to deliver the evidence it has gathered of corporate criminality and greed to her human friend Dr. Mensah only to find itself designing and deploying a rescue and exit strategy on the fly. This is just as action and humor filled as the earlier diary entries. I loved it. It also has Murderbot embracing the idea that it is OK to feel connection with others. Maybe.

I don't know if I'm just picking up more as I read deeper into the series, or if Wells has just now emphasized it with her writing, but certain behaviors and reactions of Murderbot seem taken from the aspergers/autism spectrums: not being comfortable sustaining eye contact, need to stare at blank wall or in a still space to calm down, and aversion to being touched. That coupled with the racist subtexts regarding part humans considered to be robots or chattel with no right to citizenship or personhood add an interesting subplot that I suspect will be explored in future diary entries.