SALVATION HAS A PRICE.

An enthralling murder mystery with a vividly realised future world, forcing readers to grapple hard hitting questions about the climate crisis, our relationship with Artificial Intelligence and the price we would be willing to pay, as a species, to be saved. Perfect for fans of Blake Crouch, Neal Stephenson, Philip K Dick, Kim Stanley Robinson and RR Haywood.

Genre: Crime | Thriller | Mystery
Pages: 386
Publisher: Chainmaker Press

It’s 2050, a decade after a heatwave that killed four hundred million across the Persian Gulf, including journalist Marcus Tully’s wife. Now he must uncover the truth: was the disaster natural? Or is the weather now a weapon of genocide?

A whistleblower pulls Tully into a murder investigation at the centre of an election battle for a global dictator, with a mandate to prevent a climate apocalypse. A former US President campaigns against the first AI politician of the position, but someone is trying to sway the outcome.

Tully must convince the world to face the truth and make hard choices about the future of the species. But will humanity ultimately choose salvation over freedom, whatever the cost?

My Review

This brilliant book is now out in paperback!

I’m a huge fan of crime fiction and mysteries, but I don’t usually read techno thrillers. However, this one revolves around the climate crisis and what might happen if we don’t tackle it now. And that is something I am very interested in.

I don’t know anything about AI though and I found some of the concepts like ‘egospace’ and NR (Neuro Reality) a bit beyond me. Someone I was chatting to tried to explain that it’s like a TV series I’d never heard of and a bit like those virtual reality headsets. Well, I’m still none the wiser, but I think I get the egospace. It’s your own personal space, like the desktop on your computer before you go into the apps.

But back to the plot. Basically, it’s 2050 and a heatwave has killed four hundred million people across the Persian Gulf. Journalist Marcus Tully believes that it wasn’t inevitable – it was ‘pushed’ there from the US – and he has a vested interest in uncovering the truth. His wife Zainab died, carrying their unborn child. Were scientists and politicians using the weather as a weapon of mass destruction?

By now, the world will be governed by a single dictatorship, with just one leader. But who will it be? There are two candidates left from the original twenty – the former US president Lawrence G. Lockwood and Soloman, a highly sophisticated ‘artilect’, the first AI politician in the world. Which one would you trust? Imagine Lockwood was Donald Trump or Boris Johnson, but your only other choice is basically a machine, a robot to you and me, however cleverly put together.

I’d love to say this is total fiction, but it could really happen if we don’t address the climate crisis now. Instead of nations and religions fighting against each other, we all need to work together. But do we need a single dictator in charge of our salvation, or is that too high a price to pay? I’m not sure any price is too high if the alternative is the end of our species. Or is it?

For fans of technology, there’s a lot to get excited about, but whether they happen or not, they are just a distraction. The real crux of the story is the climate crisis. Followed by Artificial Intelligence (because it does have a good side), and the loss of our freedoms (will they be taken away if we keep making bad decisions). This book will certainly make you think.

Many thanks to @LiterallyPR for inviting me me to be part of the #ArtificialWisdom paperback blog tour.

About the Author

“I write stories about tomorrow to help make sense of today. My debut novel, Artificial Wisdom, launches in the UK in October 2023. Aside from writing, I’m a tech entrepreneur. My last startup was acquired by Just Eat Takeaway; my new one is still in stealth but backed by a major Silicon Valley tech accelerator.”

Buy Links
https://geni.us/49AAxnT
www.amazon.co.uk

Goodreads
www.goodreads.com

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