“The Hospital at the End of the World” is as much a warning to the world as it is a medical/mystery novel. Justin C. Key implies (or sometimes says boldly and unequivocally) that Artificial Intelligence presents a potential danger to humanity that we ignore at our own very real peril. Though the book deals specifically with the effects of a future AI on our medical systems and beliefs, we can see all too clearly the frightening effects that the technology poses for all of us.
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Author Paul Bradley Carr has written a scary novel called “The Confessions.” It will not make you jump out of your seat or scream. There’s no Count Dracula, no one-eyed monsters, no murderous criminals suddenly appearing behind their unwary victims. But “The Confessions” is more frightening than all those traditional horror tropes put together — because it demonstrates all too clearly the simple fact that we human beings are in the process of destroying ourselves. And reading this novel also makes clear that that simple fact is not a prediction, not an opinion. It is clear proof that our self-destruction is happening right now.
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Author Bruce Holsinger’s novel, “Culpability,” boasts several unique features, all of which are very effectively conceived and even more effectively executed. Reviewers are often asked to place a given book in a particular genre. But “Culpability” fits securely and comfortably in three different genres.
One is “family drama.” The entire novel offers information about the adventures, tribulations, sadness, and love that characterize the Cassidy-Shaw family. The second, every bit as significant as the family theme, is the character study. And in this novel, unlike others, we are offered deep and detailed character studies, not about one main member of the cast, as is usually the case, but about all five family members. The studies are, in each case, complete and detailed. We learn all about the strengths, flaws, concerns, wishes, and hopes of each one as pile upon pile of unfortunate events overwhelm them — some of those events resulting from outside problems over which they seem to have little or no control, and some of them due to the various character flaws from which each family member suffers.
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