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
Maybe not the most thrilling thriller, but the role of AI in coping with grief gives this novel pathos and interest.
A widowed and disgraced plastic surgeon is drawn into a Russian oligarch’s evil schemes.
Witherspoon’s adult fiction debut, co-authored with thrillermeister Coben, opens as heart surgery performed by Dr. Marc Adams in a North African refugee camp is interrupted by the explosive invasion of armed militants. It's the last we will see of Marc in this dimension. The next chapter jumps ahead one year to a ceremony at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore where his widow, Maggie McCabe, is supposed to be presenting an award in honor of her mother. Miserable and anxious about appearing in public after having lost her medical license, she consults with her late husband on her phone—not via supernatural means, but using a "griefbot," an amazingly lifelike and functional AI app created by her genius sister, Sharon. Once the griefbot coaxes her to brave the sneering masses, she learns she’s been replaced on the podium anyway. But she runs into a former professor, a celebrity plastic surgeon, who requests a meeting with her at his office in New York and won’t take no for an answer. Next thing she knows, there’s $10 million in her bank account and she’s on a private plane heading to a palace outside Moscow where she’s been engaged to perform off-the-record surgery on billionaire Oleg Ragoravich (new face) and his girlfriend, Nadia (new boobs). And…we’re off. A whirl of surgeries, chases, and escapes ensues as Maggie gradually comes to understand who these people are and what they have in mind for her, and how it connects to Marc and their missing friend and business partner, Trace Packer. She is aided by her delightful father-in-law, Porkchop, owner of a biker bar in New York City and a very handy guy to have on your team if you've run afoul of an international criminal organization. From the palace in Rublevka the action moves to Dubai and then Bordeaux, climaxing in a high-stakes illegal heart transplant. But wait—is Marc really dead? What happened to Trace? Who is Nadia really? Though these smoldering questions don’t quite catch fire, it's a good first try for Witherspoon.
Maybe not the most thrilling thriller, but the role of AI in coping with grief gives this novel pathos and interest.Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2025
ISBN: 9781538774700
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
A grim yet gleefully gratifying tale of lost innocence and found family.
A woman fears she made a fatal mistake by taking in a blood-soaked tween during a storm.
High winds and torrential rain are forecast for “The Middle of Nowhere, New Hampshire,” making Casey question the structural integrity of her ramshackle rental cabin. Still, she’s loath to seek shelter with her lecherous landlord or her paternalistic neighbor, so instead she just crosses her fingers, gathers some candles, and hopes for the best. Casey is cooking dinner when she notices a light in her shed. She grabs her gun and investigates, only to find a rail-thin girl hiding in the corner under a blanket. She’s clutching a knife with “Eleanor” written on the handle in black marker, and though her clothes are bloody, she appears uninjured. The weather is rapidly worsening, so before she can second-guess herself, former Boston-area teacher Casey invites the girl—whom she judges to be 12 or 13—inside to eat and get warm. A wary but starving Eleanor accepts in exchange for Casey promising not to call the police—a deal Casey comes to regret after the phones go down, the power goes out, and her hostile, sullen guest drops something that’s a big surprise. Meanwhile, in interspersed chapters labeled “Before,” middle-schooler Ella befriends fellow outcast Anton, who helps her endure life in Medford, Massachusetts, with her abusive, neglectful hoarder of a mother. As per her usual, McFadden lulls readers using a seemingly straightforward thriller setup before launching headlong into a series of progressively seismic (and increasingly bonkers) plot twists. The visceral first-person, present-tense narrative alternates perspectives, fostering tension and immediacy while establishing character and engendering empathy. Ella and Anton’s relationship particularly shines, its heartrending authenticity counterbalancing some of the story’s soapier turns.
A grim yet gleefully gratifying tale of lost innocence and found family.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781464260919
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
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