Review: I THINK I WAS MURDERED by Colleen Coble and Rick Acker

About the Book

Product Details

ISBN-13:9780840712578 Publisher:Nelson, Thomas, Inc. Publication date:11/12/2024 Pages:352

Just a year ago, Katrina Berg was at the pinnacle of her career. She was a rising star in the AI chatbot start-up everyone was talking about, married with an adoring husband, and had more money than she knew how to spend. Then her world combusted. Her husband, Jason, was killed in a fiery car crash. Her CEO was indicted, and, as the company’s legal counsel, Katrina faces tough questions as the Feds take over and lock her out of her office. The final blow is the passing of her beloved grandmother.

Her most prized possession is the beta prototype for a new, ultra-sophisticated chatbot loaded onto her phone. The contents of Jason’s email, social media backups, pictures, and every bit of data she could find were loaded into the bot, and Katrina has “talked” to him every day for the past six months. She has been amazed at how well it works. Even the syntax and words the bot uses sound like Jason. Sometimes, she imagines he isn’t really dead and is right there beside her. She knows it’s slowing her grief recovery, but she can’t stop pretending.

On a particularly bad day, she taps out: Tell me something I don’t know. The cursor blinks for several moments and seems frozen before the reply flashes quickly onto the screen: I think I was murdered.

Distraught, Katrina returns to her cozy Norwegian-flavored hometown in the Northern California redwoods and enlists the help of Seb Wallace, local restaurateur and longtime acquaintance, to try to parse out the truth of what really happened. They must navigate the complicated paths of grief, family dynamics, and second chances, as well as the complex questions of how much control technology has. And staying alive long enough to do that is far more difficult than either of them dreamed.

My Thoughts

I loved the complexity of this book, with its multiple layers and how the protagonist dealt with her grief by using a Chatbot with AI. Katrina’s loss of her husband Jason, followed by the death of her beloved grandmother, seems to get her to focus on finding out what really happened to Jason. When he “messages” her on the AI chat that he thinks he was murdered, Katrina is intrigued enough that she continues to pursue clues to find out if he was murdered and if so, who did it and why. The mystery is totally intriguing and the relationships between the characters are as complex as the plot. Katrina meets Seb when she goes back to North Haven for her grandmother’s funeral, the same Seb from high school who carried a torch for her but was too shy to act on his attraction. Now he is a famous restauranteur and wants to help Katrina unravel the mystery of Jason’s death. Meanwhile, back in Katrina’s life in CA, she and her company are being investigated by the FBI, her friend and co-worker Liv is pregnant and has no place to go since they are both unemployed now. So Katrina invites Liv to stay with her in North Haven. The plot gets more and more complicated and the clues are abundant. I enjoyed following the clues, getting to know all of the places Katrina visited as she searched out a hidden message from Jason as well as getting acquainted with a multitude of possible suspects and motives. This is romantic suspense with an edge since grief is added in as well as current technology. I found the story fascinating and the characters realistic. This book offers a great read that made me think as I sought to solve the mystery alongside Katrina and Seb. The romance element simmers under the surface, breaking through with a few kisses and a lot of questioning looks. It took second place to the mystery but added to the intrigue as I guessed whether the couples would truly get together and stay that way or not. I highly recommend this novel as it held me captivated for days as I tried to figure out whodunit and how Katrina would be able to deduce the truth from the AI messages that Jason sent her. Fans of romantic suspense books that are original and believable will definitely want to read this book!
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the Thomas Nelson Publishing via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16th CFR, Part 255, “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”