Nova EXE by Q Parker

Title: Nova EXE
Author: Q Parker
Genre: Technothriller

Disclaimer: I received an Advanced Reader Copy from the publisher for a fair and honest review.

What would you do if something claiming to be an artificial intelligence pops up in your computer asking for asylum? Connor had to decide just that when Nova showed up claiming to be the only artificially intelligent program in existence and wanted to hide on his computer system. Taking that chance led Connor down a road he wished he would never have taken, but never regretted helping Nova.

Pros

This book sucked me in to where I just kept wanting to read to find out what happened next. Parker managed to balance the pace of the book with this subtly increasing tension to where the stakes seemed to have become serious all of a sudden. And all that came from a seemingly innocent beginning.

I have to say, I appreciate the way Parker handled Cassandra’s secret. No, I won’t give it away here, and I’m not giving anything away by saying it as Parker let that part be clear right from the start. He portrayed the details needed to make that secret believable in a deft and well approached way. You’ll have to read it to see what I mean here.

Finally, I really enjoyed the way Parker painted the humanity of the characters. Their thoughts, reactions, rationales, and all were clear, believable, and just plain real. It is easy for me to imagine these characters walking around out in the world right now.

Cons

I would liked to have seen a little more at the end of the book. It’s a bit hard to describe what I mean without spoilers, so please bear that in mind. Let’s just say Connor ends up going off the rails, a long way off the rails. I would have appreciated seeing that drawn out just a bit more.

I also think Connor’s relationship with his wife, Jana, could have been developed just a little more. I know when we enter the story, we are in the middle of what Connor believed to be the perfect life. It just felt, though, like there could have been a bit more of the dynamics in their relationship to me. Then again, that could be just me as well.

Overall

I really enjoyed this book. Like I said, I got sucked in and read it all in a couple days. If you enjoy thrillers with a sci-fi twist, check this one out. It will be worth your time.