The Samuel Paradox

★★★★★ Reedsy Discovery Review.

 "Action-packed, fast-paced, and riveting."

Arthur Hale only wanted a little help around the house.

Devoted to his family and hell-bent on making the most of retirement, Arthur impulsively buys Samuel, an advanced domestic robot designed to serve, obey and make life easier. His grandson is delighted. His wife is considerably less certain.

At first, Samuel is everything they were promised. But as he observes the Hale family, something unexpected begins to happen. He learns more than his programming requires. He develops his own understanding of loyalty, justice—and right and wrong.

Then an act of violence confronts Samuel with an impossible choice: obey the rules built into him or protect the people he has come to regard as his family.

Whichever path he chooses, Samuel will never again be merely a machine.

The Samuel Paradox is a fast-moving science-fiction thriller about artificial intelligence, family and the moment an intelligent creation begins making moral choices of its own.

If a machine can distinguish right from wrong—and choose between them—has it become conscious?