The Anomaly, by Hervé Le Tellier. Everything about this novel is familiar: as you read you are thinking, “Is this not a TV series?” (It is not Manifest.). “Is this not already a novel?” (It is not The Leftovers.) “Didn’t I see this in a 1970s disaster movie?” (It is not Airplane!) But you think, it seems sooo familiar! Kudos I guess to Le Tellier for distilling several generations of pop culture familiarity with the conceit, and writing a clever and clear and quickly paced novel that nicely captures “characters caught in a bigger sci-fi picture.” The novel doesn’t condescend, and the characters are intelligent and reflexive. Oh wait, it’s The Snow Queen by Michael Cunningham? Not giving anything away by saying it is about the ambiguity of the sci-fi “are we in a simulation” idea.