Every one of us, author or not, has read a book and said, “I can do better than that.”

As an author, I have enjoyed books and thought I wrote just as well as the author. I’ve read really good books and thought one day I could write as well as that. Then there are the books that are so incredible that I could weep tears of both joy and vexation because I will never, ever, write as well as this book.

Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway is one such book.

It’s a classic private eye noir story set in a future where a select few can access a medical treatment called T7 that will make them young, strong, and healthy again. It also makes them bigger and taller than they were before which is good after the first dose but the growth spurts add up if you go back for more doses until theoretically you become too big to move around at all. People who have taken T7 are called titans because of their size.

Where does the detective come in? A titan is murdered, and titans tend to be a toxic mix of rich and powerful so investigating crimes involving them can be tricky. Enter a magnificently snarky detective with a hole in his heart as he mourns his lost love. He didn’t lose her to death, but she has become a titan. Sadly neither of them have moved on with their lives, so occasionally she will help him get information on titans for his cases.

And what a case! Twists and turns abound in this deeply satisfying who-done-it with healthy side order of why-did-they-do-it. I don’t want to spoil the story, so I’ll just end with this is easily the best book I’ve read in the last year. I then immediately went out to get another Harkaway novel. I don’t know how much harder a gal can recommend a book, but if I did know any other way to convince you to try this book I’d have put it in here.

Go. Get. This. Book!