Gleefully lurid fun.
A bored, sadistic AI terrorizes a couple and their guests.
Agoraphobic robotics engineer Henry can’t bring himself to leave the house he shares with his wife, pregnant computer engineer Lily. Consequently, his lab is in the attic and he relies on Lily to procure whatever supplies he needs. Thanks to Henry’s efforts, the residence has military-grade security and is “cybernated to a degree far beyond the capacity of any store-bought smart device or talking appliance.” Toys such as a giant mechanical dog and a bike-riding doll rove the rooms under their own power. And then there’s Henry’s main project, William—an independent AI capable of creative thought and seated inside a legless robot with bulging eyes and fake rubber skin “the color of curdled milk.” Henry keeps William locked in the lab, hidden even from Lily—allegedly because William isn’t ready, but in truth because he unnerves Henry. Then Lily invites work friends Paige and Davis over for brunch. After Henry sees Lily and Davis being surreptitiously affectionate, he panics and interrupts by offering to introduce his creation. Lily, Paige, and Davis are initially stunned by William’s conversational skills, but that astonishment turns to fear when William intentionally injures one of them. “While I can’t feel,” he explains, “I can bear witness to feeling. Create it in others. Amplify it. And what experience is more profound than suffering?” This callousness coupled with William’s thirst for knowledge and mastery of the too-smart home’s controls portend trouble for everyone involved. Though some moments of this cinematic tale truly terrify, the back half takes a turn toward camp, lessening the overall impact. Still, the pseudonymous Coile maximizes his premise’s inherent tension using nightmare imagery and an uneasy third-person-present narration shot through with powerlessness, paranoia, and dread.
Gleefully lurid fun.Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9780593719602
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
IN THE NEWS
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Roberts revisits a favorite theme: The power of community can defeat a great evil.
After escaping from a serial killer, a woman tries to reclaim her life.
After a childhood as an Army brat, Morgan Albright is determined to put down roots. She bought a small house in the perfect neighborhood outside of Baltimore, living with a friend and working two jobs to make ends meet. Morgan’s life is happy and fulfilling, and she is making progress on her financial and career goals. Her perfect world is shattered when someone breaks into her home and murders her roommate. At first, the police assume it was a random act of violence, but after discovering the killer stole Morgan’s identity and her entire savings, they realize the crime fits the profile of a serial killer named Gavin Rozwell. The police inform Morgan that her roommate was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time; she was the real intended target. Morgan’s grief, coupled with the financial devastation from the identity theft, leaves her no choice but to return home to Vermont to live with her mother and grandmother. Morgan reconnects with her family and rebuilds her life, including landing the perfect job and falling in love. The police and FBI pursue Gavin, who continues to stalk and kill women, each time leaving a reminder at the crime scene that shows he’s fixated on Morgan as the one who got away. Roberts shows Gavin’s slow descent into obsession and madness as the inverse of Morgan’s healing journey back to herself and her community. The novel highlights Morgan’s preparations for the inevitable final countdown with Gavin, but the lack of immediacy and urgency of the threat makes for a subdued, restrained thriller.
Roberts revisits a favorite theme: The power of community can defeat a great evil.Pub Date: May 23, 2023
ISBN: 9781250284112
Page Count: 448
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
