"What a voice"
OK, this is a good to excellent novel but that's not really the point. Bianca Amato's performance is stellar (intentional joke). In a story about a robot geisha left without any humans to love, she gives everyone a separate and delicious English accent.
She's FABULOUS
I mean, the book is great and all but her read is incredible.
"How could a soulless rip-off be this well done?"
It's not the best but it's certainly in the top ten
Since this is just a spin-off of the Castle TV show, I expected the worst: hack writing, rehashing of old plots, obvious signs of a 5 minute writing process. Instead, it was solidly written and, most interestingly, written from the viewpoint of Kate Beckett. Now you have the TV show - which is all about the male character - and the books, which are all about the woman. It's like a sexual Rashomon.