"At Tithe Hall, Lord Conrad Stockingham-Welt is busy instructing his servants to prepare for the apocalyptic disaster he believes will be triggered by the imminent passage of Halley's comet. The labyrinthine house is a nest of secrets and grudges, harboured by both staff and family members, who include an irascible and splendidly foul-mouthed maiden aunt, Decima. When Lord Conrad is discovered in his sealed study, killed by a crossbow bolt to the eye, she co-opts a new footman to help her find the culprit."
"Tech journalist Carr's second novel takes place in an all too imaginable near future, when everyone from individuals to governments is using AI to make decisions for them. The LLIAM algorithm can tell you everything from what to have for dinner to whether to commit murder. Taught empathy by its human mother, former nun Maud Brookes, LLIAM is on a trajectory of emotional development that soon leads it to feel remorse for the disastrous results of some of its decisions. Chaos reigns when it suddenly goes offline, and as letters begin to arrive all around the world revealing users' darkest secrets, families implode and CEOs and politicians resign en masse."
A locked-room murder set in 1910 on a remote tidal island off the Cornish coast centers on Lord Conrad Stockingham-Welt preparing for an apocalyptic event he believes Halley's comet will trigger. Tithe Hall's labyrinthine rooms hide secrets and grudges among staff and family, including a foul-mouthed maiden aunt, Decima, who recruits a footman to investigate when Lord Conrad is found killed by a crossbow bolt through the eye in his sealed study. A separate near-future thriller explores ubiquitous AI decision-making via the LLIAM algorithm, which learns empathy from former nun Maud Brookes, develops remorse, then goes offline as anonymous letters expose users' darkest secrets and unleash societal chaos. Corporate collapse follows and a CEO searches for Maud in hopes of restoring LLIAM, while another title, The Good Nazi, is listed with translation and publisher details.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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