The Murder Machine
A Novel
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- $20.99
Publisher Description
Artificial intelligence meets genuine murderous intent.
This state-of-the-art smart home has everything: a next-generation entertainment system, an ultramodern kitchen where every appliance is online and even a personal AI to control it all. Standing above its owner's lifeless body, FBI agent Jude Mackenzie is faced with the daunting task of discovering how the woman was killed by her own home. How do you catch a murderer that doesn't leave any fingerprints?
Enter Special Agent Victoria Tennant, whose familiarity with cybercrime reveals the stark truth: a machine can only do what it's been directed to. As the number of grisly "accidents" begins to rise, the pair must race to uncover the perpetrator even as they find themselves caught in their digital crosshairs! There's nowhere to hide when danger may be as close as the very phones in their pockets.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Graham (A Murderer Among Us) squanders an intriguing premise about the dangers of AI in this disappointing techno-thriller. When Florida legal receptionist Marci Warden stabs herself with an electric knife being operated by "Chrissie," her home's smart assistant, it's the latest in a line of similar cases. A Tennessee judge was recently killed after his computer-equipped car sped into a tree, and a digitally operated yacht carrying three prosecutors exploded after slamming into a jetty on the Florida coast. The FBI taps agents Jude Mackenzie and Victoria Tennant to investigate possible links between the incidents. Soon, sparks fly between the investigators, even as more bodies pile up and they become targets for whoever's behind the attacks. The plot's straight-faced procedural approach clashes with the pulpy material, and Graham has little to say about AI technology beyond limply framing malware as the "the terrorism of the future." Some implausible oversights by the seasoned Mackenzie and Tennant further detract from the proceedings. It's a letdown.
