HUMAN.4 by Mike A. Lancaster

Okay, so another sci fi today, and this one is great. I had HUMAN.4 sitting on my table for probably two months before I picked it up. I didn't know what it was about, because I make it a point NOT to read the backs of books before I read. I want to go in cold.

So I hadn't heard of HUMAN.4 and I didn't know what it was about. That's probably why it took me so long to pick it up. Because once I did, I couldn't stop. It's a very fast read, complete with a well-fleshed character and compelling storytelling.

I guess I'll tell you a little bit about it.

Kyle Straker volunteered to be hypnotized at the annual community talent show, expecting the same old lame amateur acts. But when he wakes up, his world will never be the same. Televisions and computers no longer work, but a strange language streams across their screens. Everyone’s behaving oddly. It’s as if Kyle doesn’t exit.

Is this nightmare a result of the hypnosis? Will Kyle wake up with a snap of fingers to roars of laughter? Or is this something much more sinister?

Narrated on a set of found cassette tapes at an unspecified point in the future, Human.4 is an absolutely chilling look at technology gone too far.

I mean, dude. DUDE. The last book I read that was narrated on tapes was Thirteen Reasons Why, and I loved that book too.

And this is futuristic recordings on tape. Win/WIN. I thought the plot was smart; the author feeds the reader in perfect-sized bites of information, pulling them along to the conclusion. And I'm a fan of smart storytelling and smart plotting.

If you like science fiction at all, you'll like HUMAN.4.

So...do you like science fiction at all? What's your favorite sci fi read?

Check out what the other Bookanistas are up to this week at the Reading Room.

Or on their blogs:

• LiLa Roecker glories in The Goddess Test
• Shannon Whitney Messenger delves into The Future of Us – with giveaway
• Carolina Valdez Miller shivers over The Eleventh Plague – with giveaway
• Scott Tracey and Shana Silver are wild about Wildefire
• Jessi Kirby celebrates A Scary Scene in a Scary Movie
• Stasia Ward Kehoe embraces All the Things You Are
• Corrine Jackson sneaks into Sean Griswold's Head
• Christine Fonseca is impressed by Imaginary Girls