Danger can’t be locked out if it’s already inside: William by Mason Coile #ReadWilliam #NetGalley

Psychological horror meets cyber noir in this delicious one-sitting read — a haunted house story in which the haunting is by AI.
Henry is a brilliant engineer who, after untold hours spent in his home lab, has achieved the breakthrough of his career — he’s created an artificially intelligent consciousness. He calls the half-formed robot William.
No one knows about William. Henry’s agoraphobia keeps him inside the house, and his fixation on his project keeps him up in the attic, away from everyone, including his pregnant wife, Lily.
When Lily’s coworkers show up, wanting to finally meet Henry and see the new house — the smartest of smart homes — Henry decides to introduce them to William, and things go from strange to much worse. Soon Henry and Lily discover the security upgrades intended to keep danger out of the house are even better at locking it in.

❤️❤️❤️❤️.5

Hi and welcome to my review of William!

Well, that was… an experience. Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I appreciate this quirky little book of sci-fi horror.

In recent years, there has been an influx of technological thrillers, often with a bit of a dystopian vibe to them. I never can resist a techno thriller, the mention of Black Mirror in the blurb draws me to a book like a moth to a flame. But I can honestly say, however many cyber noir novels I’ve read, I’ve never encountered one quite like William.

William has everything I enjoy in a horror novel. It’s short and snappy. Less is often more in horror, I feel. As much as I can enjoy those long, spun-out Stephen King novels, there’s something to say for horror that does not beat about the bush, think Marcus Kliewer or A.M. Shine. The chapters are short and snappy as well, luring me into the just-one-more-chapter trap, which meant I flew through it. It has a twist I did not see coming, even though I felt something was off, I never quite figured it out. And most importantly: it has a number of elements that creep me out, animated inanimate objects always do the trick, and let’s face it, there is something scary about AI, that’s not just me, right?

William definitely was a winner for me and if you’re a horror fan, or a techno thriller fan wanting to dip their toes into a similar genre, I would happily recommend you pick up William.

William is out in digital formats, audio and hardcover on 3 October.

Massive thanks to John Murray Press (Baskerville) for the digital review copy. All opinions are my own.