An exciting and complex thriller that offers a rumination on humanity in an age of technological domination.
Donoghue crafts an SF adventure novel, set in a near future with AI bots deeply integrated into everyday society.
The story features an ensemble cast of compelling characters but centers on three in particular. First, there’s David Erdogan, a tech firm CEO who’s content to go along with the whims of his AI boss, Big Al, even if it means putting up with blackmail and any other number of dehumanizing attacks on his agency. Then there’s Katie, the morally gray hacker who steals bots’ memories and sells them on the black market; her latest victim is connected to an enormous conspiracy surrounding a major terrorist attack on Silicon Valley, some years before the start of the narrative. This victim is Livingstone1813, an AI academic researcher who studies humans and the dynamics of their relationship to artificial-intelligence technology. His missing memory, which was stolen by Katie, will prove vital to unpacking what’s behind a violent movement to push a constitutional amendment for AI personhood—although there’s clear pushback, as well: “Don’t cede to those who can’t bleed. Vote ‘NO’ to Personhood!” reads some acid-etched graffiti. Donoghue unfolds the narrative via the perspectives of these characters (along with a smattering of others), weaving a complex yet deeply intimate vision of a quickly emerging future in which capitalism and artificial intelligence conspire to rob both humans and bots of any remaining control over their own lives. The SF conceits merge with worldbuilding that’s revealed slowly but inexorably, resulting in what emerges as a memorable entry in the growing genre of AI thrillers. The clearly drawn characters, complex sociopolitical discourse, and, especially, Donoghue’s deep empathetic imagination for both humans and AIs makes the work feel like far more than the sum of its parts. Other novels have played in this high-tech sandbox, to be sure, but few have done so in a way that makes a reader think and care for both people and artificial entities in such strong and equal measure.
An exciting and complex thriller that offers a rumination on humanity in an age of technological domination.Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781069545008
Page Count: 409
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: July 31, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Suspenseful, frightening, and sometimes poignant—provided the reader has a generously willing suspension of disbelief.
A man walks out of a bar and his life becomes a kaleidoscope of altered states in this science-fiction thriller.
Crouch opens on a family in a warm, resonant domestic moment with three well-developed characters. At home in Chicago’s Logan Square, Jason Dessen dices an onion while his wife, Daniela, sips wine and chats on the phone. Their son, Charlie, an appealing 15-year-old, sketches on a pad. Still, an undertone of regret hovers over the couple, a preoccupation with roads not taken, a theme the book will literally explore, in multifarious ways. To start, both Jason and Daniela abandoned careers that might have soared, Jason as a physicist, Daniela as an artist. When Charlie was born, he suffered a major illness. Jason was forced to abandon promising research to teach undergraduates at a small college. Daniela turned from having gallery shows to teaching private art lessons to middle school students. On this bracing October evening, Jason visits a local bar to pay homage to Ryan Holder, a former college roommate who just received a major award for his work in neuroscience, an honor that rankles Jason, who, Ryan says, gave up on his career. Smarting from the comment, Jason suffers “a sucker punch” as he heads home that leaves him “standing on the precipice.” From behind Jason, a man with a “ghost white” face, “red, pursed lips," and "horrifying eyes” points a gun at Jason and forces him to drive an SUV, following preset navigational directions. At their destination, the abductor forces Jason to strip naked, beats him, then leads him into a vast, abandoned power plant. Here, Jason meets men and women who insist they want to help him. Attempting to escape, Jason opens a door that leads him into a series of dark, strange, yet eerily familiar encounters that sometimes strain credibility, especially in the tale's final moments.
Suspenseful, frightening, and sometimes poignant—provided the reader has a generously willing suspension of disbelief.Pub Date: July 26, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-90422-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
PROFILES
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
A somewhat fragmentary nocturnal shadows Jim Nightshade and his friend Will Halloway, born just before and just after midnight on the 31st of October, as they walk the thin line between real and imaginary worlds. A carnival (evil) comes to town with its calliope, merry-go-round and mirror maze, and in its distortion, the funeral march is played backwards, their teacher's nephew seems to assume the identity of the carnival's Mr. Cooger. The Illustrated Man (an earlier Bradbury title) doubles as Mr. Dark. comes for the boys and Jim almost does; and there are other spectres in this freakshow of the mind, The Witch, The Dwarf, etc., before faith casts out all these fears which the carnival has exploited... The allusions (the October country, the autumn people, etc.) as well as the concerns of previous books will be familiar to Bradbury's readers as once again this conjurer limns a haunted landscape in an allegory of good and evil. Definitely for all admirers.
Pub Date: June 15, 1962
ISBN: 0380977273
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 20, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1962
© 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.
