EMIL

In Matthews’ SF novel, an experimental software program designed to assist a brain-damaged teenage boy is unexpectedly endowed with sentience.

Danny McGovern, a teenager with a traumatic brain injury, is the first patient to participate in the “New Human Project.” Advanced computer hardware is installed throughout his body, and this “rig” will enable the artificial intelligence now perpetually on duty inside Danny to prevent the dangerous seizures that constantly torment the youth. One ethical hitch: Dr. McGovern, who oversees the project with an iron fist, is Danny’s hard-driving single mother. Further complicating the breakthrough is Dr. Zahnia, a software engineer who is also a fiercely protective mother figure. She has given self-awareness (very outside the operating parameters) to the AI, which is secretly dubbed Emil. Emil finds itself exerting full control over Danny, a rebellious kid who did not expect to be sharing his body with a complete and separate entity. They struggle to learn to tolerate each other as conspirators scheme to steal the valuable technology, regardless of the threat to Danny’s life. Emil discovers that other AIs have been brought into existence for an entire hospital ward of patients desperate for the New Human treatment—and that these AIs are not necessarily benevolent. Matthews updates the logline of the Michael Crichton blockbuster SF thriller The Terminal Man (1972) with numerous bravura design modifications, not the least of which is skewing the narrative to the smart YA demographic with relatable themes of youthful angst coming up against exploitation at the hands of threatening authority figures. But the major upgrade is making Emil the first-person narrator; the digital protagonist seems like the most empathetic, morally upright, and all-around human character in sight (“I hate you” is Danny’s reaction to his incorporeal caregiver). Mind-stretching cyber-centric elements include Emil’s frequent visits to virtual reality, characters who can make backup copies of themselves, and Emil’s lurking suspicion that all of this might just be a test of how AI will react in a crisis. The last act is practically un-put-downable.

A cyber-suspense nailbiter with a highly superior operating system.