Frozen Heat (Richard Castle)

Sorry. I love the Castle TV show, and I am tickled at the joke of having the Nikki Heat novels actually published by "Richard Castle," but I don't actually want to read them. What is good fun on TV comes across as too formulaic as a novel. Oh, well.

Afterparty (Daryl Gregory)

I loved this science fiction story about a near-future world where everyone with a couple of bucks and an Internet connection can develop and produce their own designer drugs. A few years ago an enthusiastic group of young entrepreneurs in a budding start-up were working on something that they hoped would treat many of the ills that plague so many of us, and it went horribly wrong. The narrator of the story was one of the developers, and one of the initial victims, living out her life in a mental institution until she becomes convinced someone is recreating that drug and putting it out on the street again, and she goes on a mission to find out who is doing it and stop them. Her quest involves a Toronto drug cartel, an ex-spy, a dual-faced assassin, and a mixed crew of the folks from the original start-up. The writing is taut, the narrator's voice convincing and engaging, the action gripping, and most of all everything was clearly informed by the best thinking in  neuroscience. How could I not love it?

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Ransom Riggs)

This is an interesting enough story about a teen who discovers that his grandfather's stories about strange creatures and children with magical powers were real, when something nobody else can see tears his grandfather apart. He goes on a quest to the island where the grandfather lived as a child to try to uncover what is true and what is imagination, and uncovers who the peculiar children are and how Miss Peregrine keeps them safe. An assortment of weird vintage photos illustrate the story, bringing an element of the surreal. The ideas are interesting and the stakes are high, but somehow I couldn't really get into the story or feel much of a connection to the characters. Perhaps that's because I'm such a long way from being a young adult myself.

Orange is the New Black (Piper Kerman)

The book on which the Netflix series is based contains virtually no sex, drugs, or violence. Kerman was a rebellious young woman who got involved briefly in the drug trade after college, once carrying drug money for her girlfriend who arranged transport for the ring. She got out of the business quickly and went on with her life, but five years later the feds caught up with her, and then five years after that she was in a minimum-security Federal women's prison. What I found most striking about her story is that there was almost none of what I would have most feared, but was still worse than I dreamed. She was never attacked or even threatened, physically or sexually, though there were occasional moments of harassment. The only drugs she saw people using were those handed out by the medical staff at the prison. Until the last few weeks of her stay she never actually wore orange or shackles. Still, the system was brutal, demeaning, and dehumanizing on a level that seems carefully calculated. I was moved by this view of what life was like for her on the inside, and almost want to try the recipe for prison cheesecake.

A Highly Unlikely Scenario (Rachel Cantor)

This is an odd story, set in a strange future where the main social conflicts are between philosophies of  fast food chains and the nature of time and reality are breaking down. A few people are thrown together to save the world: Leonard, a Pythagorian who handles phone complaints for Neetsa Pizza; Felix, his nephew with unexplained super powers; Sally, a book guide from the university; and an assortment of dead people, including Leonard's grandfather, Marco Polo, and Roger Bacon. The action is absurd, funny, and, in the end, satisfying. Nothing happens the way you think it will, but it all works out. I enjoyed it.