Afterparty

Afterparty
By Daryl Gregory

There are a lot of trips to enjoy in Afterparty, a novel set in the near future sometime after a revolution in the production of designer drugs. People can now download their fix of choice from the Internet and print it out with chemjets. Not all highs are equal, however, and when a drug dubbed “Numinous,” which induces heightened states of spirituality, is loosed upon the world (first hitting the ground in Toronto, of all places) the time has come to fight crazy with crazy. It’s up to our heroine Lyda, her guardian angel, and a couple of her psycho-ward friends, to put the God genie back in the vial.

Funny, fast-paced, and wickedly observant, Gregory has written a great SF thriller full of memorable moments, with a waterboarding in a day-glo hair salon being among the most inspired.