The Confessions by Paul Bradley Carr (2025)
I'm torn in all directions about how assess this book. Some of it's brilliant, in the way it taps into the immediate fear loathing and embrace of today's technology. And some of it's tiresome, overwritten and populated with characters not worth caring about. And holy micropchip, that obtuse, maddening ending...... guaranteed to make readers scream, "Are you kidding me? That's IT?"
We 're not too far in the future, where we're all suffering infantile dependence on A.I. Suuper-Dooper Computer LLIAM. We ask the Big L what to wear, what to eat for breakfast, who to date, who to marry, whether we should super-size our Big Mac and fries and so on and so on.
But LLIAM, in the great tradition of HAL 9000, and 'The Terminator's 'Skynet and my own laptop, has a mind of its own. It not only shuts itself down but sends out zillions to letters to everyone around the world revealing personal scandalous secrets, driving recipients into a frenzy of rage, shock, murder, depression and suicide. (We'd all be better off if we just opened the package of weekly supermarket coupons.)
Chaos reigns and LLIAM's corporate CEO Kaitlin Goss is forced to go on a cross country odyssey in search of one of the A.I. legendary reclusive co-creators. But also on her tail is a lawyer with hidden agendas and the FBI. And thousands of those really ticked off letter recipients who've seen Kaitlin on TV aren't exactly her biggest fans either.
Yes, the topic of A.I. and its accompanying problematic issues couldn't be more timely, but for a book designed as a breathless thriller. the pacing stagnates. Author Paul Bradley Carr relies more heavily on long blocks of description instead of dialogue. Twists abound, but you've got to plow through a whole lot of excessive verbiage to reach them.
The clock-is-ticking suspense and action of the finale are nicely orchestrated but might have come off more effectively if any of these characters generated at least a small amount of sympathy.
And don't get me started again on the ending, a pseudo Kubrick/'2001' Hail Mary that reads as if tacked on for a punchy fade-out to generate a movie deal. For a book that takes a lot of time devoted to thoughtful discussions about the blessings and curses of A.I, it cries out for an equally thoughtful epilogue.......which you'll not find here.
A very uneven read, but every so often nails its intent as an up-to-the-minute thrill ride.
We 're not too far in the future, where we're all suffering infantile dependence on A.I. Suuper-Dooper Computer LLIAM. We ask the Big L what to wear, what to eat for breakfast, who to date, who to marry, whether we should super-size our Big Mac and fries and so on and so on.
But LLIAM, in the great tradition of HAL 9000, and 'The Terminator's 'Skynet and my own laptop, has a mind of its own. It not only shuts itself down but sends out zillions to letters to everyone around the world revealing personal scandalous secrets, driving recipients into a frenzy of rage, shock, murder, depression and suicide. (We'd all be better off if we just opened the package of weekly supermarket coupons.)
Chaos reigns and LLIAM's corporate CEO Kaitlin Goss is forced to go on a cross country odyssey in search of one of the A.I. legendary reclusive co-creators. But also on her tail is a lawyer with hidden agendas and the FBI. And thousands of those really ticked off letter recipients who've seen Kaitlin on TV aren't exactly her biggest fans either.
Yes, the topic of A.I. and its accompanying problematic issues couldn't be more timely, but for a book designed as a breathless thriller. the pacing stagnates. Author Paul Bradley Carr relies more heavily on long blocks of description instead of dialogue. Twists abound, but you've got to plow through a whole lot of excessive verbiage to reach them.
The clock-is-ticking suspense and action of the finale are nicely orchestrated but might have come off more effectively if any of these characters generated at least a small amount of sympathy.
And don't get me started again on the ending, a pseudo Kubrick/'2001' Hail Mary that reads as if tacked on for a punchy fade-out to generate a movie deal. For a book that takes a lot of time devoted to thoughtful discussions about the blessings and curses of A.I, it cries out for an equally thoughtful epilogue.......which you'll not find here.
A very uneven read, but every so often nails its intent as an up-to-the-minute thrill ride.
3 stars (***).
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