Abrams’ AI is no HAL.
Onetime newsmaking Supreme Court clerk Avery Keene, now a corporate internal investigator at a private firm, probes a mysterious death at a giant tech company that promises to revolutionize patient care.
On the verge of going public, Camasca Enterprises says it will offer vastly improved treatment through its super-sophisticated AI technology, with an emphasis on eliminating bias toward veterans and other traditionally neglected groups. Excited to be investigating a crime after months of boring tasks, “adrenaline junkie” Keene quickly detects that something is amiss at the company. Far from embodying “the soul of Hippocrates,” the voice of its neural network, Milo, coldly resists following instructions and reveals its capability of using private information it has surveilled without permission. When two Vietnam veterans are stricken with carbon monoxide poisoning—supposedly caused by a faulty ventilation system—and other patients develop unusual symptoms, the investigation shifts into a higher gear. So does the deep institutional coverup that may or may not involve the CEO and founder of the firm, Rafe Diaz, “the industry’s Leonardo da Vinci,” whose charisma and good looks have a way of softening Avery’s judgments. For all its “dead bodies, missing people, [and] blackmailed police,” the novel is surprisingly light on suspense. Aside from an undercooked scene in which the network takes control of her car, Avery is never threatened. And though she quizzes Milo on moral relativism—”I have been quite intrigued by Immanuel Kant and his approach to deontology,” he says—this slow-starting book is far more involved with technical explanations than AI-instituted corrections to “the entire sweep of human civilization.” Abrams’ infelicities with language (“A knot she hadn’t noticed in her gut unraveled”) further weaken the third entry in the Georgia politician’s series, following Rogue Justice (2023).
Abrams’ AI is no HAL.Pub Date: July 15, 2025
ISBN: 9780385548342
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.
A struggling writer finds an unexpected muse when a mysterious man shows up at her cabin.
Petra Rose used to pump out a bestselling book every six months, but then the adaptation happened—that is, the disastrous film adaptation of her most famous book. The movie changed the book’s storyline so egregiously that fans couldn’t forgive her, and the ensuing harassment sent Petra into hiding and gave her a serious case of writer’s block. Petra’s one hope is her solo writing retreat at a remote cabin, where she can escape the distractions of real life and focus on her next book, a story about a woman having an affair with a cop. When officer Nathaniel Saint shows up at her cabin door, inspiration comes flooding back. Much like the character from Petra’s book, Saint is married, and he’s willing to be Petra’s muse, helping her get into her characters’ heads. Petra’s book is practically writing itself, but is the game she’s playing a little too dangerous? Does she know when to stop—and, more importantly, is Saint willing to stop? Hoover is no stranger to controversial movie adaptations and internet backlash, but she clarifies in a note to readers that she’s “just a writer writing about a writer” and that no further connections to her own life are contained in these pages—which is a good thing, because the book takes some horrifying twists and turns. Petra finds herself inexplicably attracted to Saint, even as she describes him as “such an asshole,” and her feelings for him veer between love and hate. The novel serves as a meta commentary on the dark romance genre—as Petra puts it, “Even though, as readers, we wouldn’t want to live out some of the fantasies we read about, it doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy reading those things.”
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781662539374
Page Count: -
Publisher: Montlake
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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
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