Review: What the Hell Is AI? by Abhishek C George

 

Genre: Non-Fiction

Description:

“You hear the word AI a hundred times a day now. Your boss mentions it in meetings as if everyone already understands. Your friends nod along when somebody talks about ‘models’ and ‘agents’ and ‘context windows,’ and you sit there nodding too, pretending you understand.

You don't. And most of the people nodding along with you don't either.

This is a short book for the rest of us — anyone who has spent the last few years feeling like the world quietly took a class you didn't sign up for.

It starts at the beginning. Not the beginning of artificial intelligence — the beginning of computers, because AI doesn't make sense until you understand what's underneath. You'll learn what a computer actually is. How it makes pictures and sounds out of nothing but electricity and switches. How the internet really works. How software has worked for the last seventy years, and what just changed.

Only then does the book get to AI itself, and the surprisingly simple idea at the heart of it: AI is the moment the computer finally learns to listen to humans, in human language.

No jargon. No hype. No lectures about the future of humanity. Just a plain story, told by someone who has watched a lot of smart people get confused by this and decided the bad explanations were the problem, not the subject matter.

By the end, you'll be able to hear a sentence like ‘the model has a 200k context window and uses tools through an agent loop’ and have a real mental picture of what it means.

You can stop nodding along.”

Author:

Information about the author is skimpy, but from a bit of internet stalking it appears that he is a Singapore based businessperson with experience in a variety of areas.

Appraisal:

I found this to be a quick and enlightening read to understand Artificial Intelligence. It starts by describing in simple terms that an average layperson should be able to understand how computers work and have evolved over the years. Understanding older computers and the evolution over time gives proper context and a good foundation for the things that are changing with AI. As a person who worked in the computer field several decades spanning much of this foundational time the author discusses, I found his explanation to be correct, but written at a high level in a way that a person without an understanding of the inner workings of a computer could get. The explanation of artificial intelligence, the benefits, the legitimate concerns, and the things to be aware of were also well done. If you’re looking for a way to quickly reach a high-level understanding of this technology, this book is an excellent resource to do that. It also makes a case for the positives of AI, but doesn’t deny the need for some caution as well.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 15-20,000 words

Review: Between You Me, and the Fence Post by Hunter Snow

 

Genre: Women’s Fiction/Psychological Suspense

Description:

“A poignant, emotionally honest story about love, addiction, and the quiet bravery it takes to choose yourself.

Actress Claire Davis has spent her life pretending—on screen and off. When she meets Reed Hart, the charismatic frontman of a once-popular band, she believes she’s found something real.

But Reed is addicted to more than fame. And loving him means living in the space between who he is and who he swears he’ll become.

Claire waits. She hopes. She tries to save him. When Reed finally seeks help, she thinks it’s their turning point.

Instead, it’s her wake-up call.”

Author:

“Hunter Snow survived (just barely) a wild ride through the music industry and now channels those experiences into writing rock-and-roll stories from her home in the Pacific Northwest. Any resemblance to actual people, events, or places is purely coincidental—mostly.”

For more, check out her website.

Appraisal:

I read Hunter Snow’s first two books and loved them. They could both be described as romantic comedies. They also both had protagonists that were involved in the music business which is something that makes a book likely to draw me in too. This book has neither of those with the only music business tie being the protagonist’s love interest who was once in a big-name band, but more of a has been now. The romance in this isn’t romantic comedy either. And yet I think I might have enjoyed this book even more than the first few. Actually, enjoy might not be the right word. But I was engrossed every step of the way. The protagonist, Claire, goes through experiences involving an on again/off again romance that is very intense, that drew me in like a good book does, had me wondering how it was all going to shake out in the long run, not being sure what the end of the story might hold. The author anticipated that readers might be surprised at how the story resolves and starts the book off with two things, a note saying “To everyone who is about to read this book, I apologize in advance.” The other, a long list of trigger warnings. If a story with characters dealing with mental health struggles or emotional abuse or consuming … no, make that over consuming … alcohol is going to be an issue for you, this isn’t the book for you. But if you’re looking for an intense read, this might be exactly what you’re looking for.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Besides plenty of adult language and adult content it has oodles of mental health struggles from characters that might be triggering to some.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 95-100,000 words

Review: Control Room: Never a Day Off by Bo Park

 

Genre: Literary Satire/Magical Realism/Humor

Description:

“Running a country is hard. Running a human body is worse.

Deep inside you—or someone very much like you—the Brain clocks in every morning to run a very small, very noisy nation.

They call him the Boss.

The Stomach files complaints. The Liver pulls unpaid overtime. The Bladder calls emergency sessions at the worst possible moments. And the guileless Heart hasn't taken a day off in years.

The departments have questions. So many questions.

The Boss has an answer for every one of them.

Except one.

Control Room: Never a Day Off— everyday life, as seen from inside your own body.”

Author:

Bo Park is a South Korean author. Prior to this book he wrote a six book science fiction series.

Appraisal:

This is a clever book. Just imagine your brain (aka “the control room”) as the boss of a bunch of employees who are all on a team to run the system (aka “your body”). In a way, that’s the reality. But if you’ve ever been the boss you know that being the boss isn’t as great as some people think it is and that comes through here in an amusing and clever way that had me laughing, but also got me thinking.

The author of the book is South Korean and throws a few South Korean terms in occasionally where I had no clue what they meant. However, I was able to understand well enough from the context to get the point in most instances and there is a glossary that defines these words if you need to refer to it, so if the story appeals otherwise this shouldn’t be a deal breaker.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 45-50,000 words

Review: Final Dawn by DV Berkom

 

Genre: Thriller

Description:

“When a messianic terrorist puts a target on the federal justice system, elite operator Mackenzie ‘Mac’ Reynolds is all that stands between order and total chaos.

Mac Reynolds knows how to read a room, spot a threat, and keep a client alive. What she doesn’t know is how to protect a federal judge when a domestic terror campaign begins and every layer of security starts to crack.

Victor Hale has activated sleeper cells, breached government networks, and turned the Pacific Northwest into a blood-soaked battlefield. But for Mac, the nightmare becomes deeply personal when her mentor and her father suddenly vanish—straight into Hale’s trap.”

Author:

“DV Berkom is the USA Today bestselling author of action-packed, riveting adventure and crime thrillers. Known for creating resilient, kick-ass female characters and page-turning plots, her love of the genre stems from a lifelong addiction to reading spy novels, action/adventure stories, and thrillers.”

For more, visit her website.

Appraisal:

If you’ve read the first two books in this series then you know what the protagonist of the trilogy, Mackenzie Reynolds, Mac for short, is up against and the stakes. If she doesn’t stop Victor Hale and his minions it won’t be good for anyone, no matter what some of his followers are deluded enough to think. Not to mention the much more personal things at stake with her father being at extreme risk. I wasn’t sure how this was going to shake out which kept me turning pages, eager to see how it worked out. Long time DV Berkom fans are going to have an unanticipated character show up to help out, which just made this that much better for me. As always with DV Berkom’s books, we’ve got strong female characters with an extremely engaging story.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

This is the end of a trilogy. While you could probably follow the story in this book without having read the first two books in the trilogy, to get a full sense of this book I’d advise not doing that, instead reading all three books in order.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 80-85,000 words

Reprise Review: The Field Where I Died by Melissa Bowersock

 

Genre: Historical

Description:

“Devon Muir has always been fascinated with the Civil War. When he discovers that his fourth great-grandfather fought at pivotal battles like Antietam and Gettysburg, he is compelled to follow in his ancestor’s footsteps and experience the battlefields on his own. What he doesn’t count on is dreaming about a battle every night—and being killed every time. Now his exploration of battlefields becomes a different kind of quest as he struggles to understand who is the soldier he becomes in his dream, and who is the woman whose face he sees as he lays dying.”

Author:

“Melissa Bowersock is an eclectic, award-winning author who writes in a variety of fiction and non-fiction genres: biography, contemporary, western, action, romance, fantasy, paranormal and spiritual. She has been both traditionally and independently published and is a regular contributor to the superblog Indies Unlimited. She lives in a small community in northern Arizona with her husband and an Airedale terrier. She also writes under the pen name Amber Flame.”

Appraisal:

A story with an interesting and unique mix of contemporary, historical, and supernatural genres. (It might feel a bit like time-travel figures in this as well.) This was a quick, fast moving, and entertaining read. I liked the characters, both the protagonist Devin, and the other supporting cast. Where the story was going was never clear as the mystery of why Devin was dreaming what he did every night slowly unfolded. If the story appeals at all, this is well worth your time.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

A small amount of adult language.

Format/Typo Issues:

My review is based on a pre-release copy and I’m unable to judge the final product in this area.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 35-40,000 words

Review: A Murder at Cheeseburger by David Vizard

 

Genre: Mystery/Crime Fiction

Description:

“When beloved Bay City nurse Terry Powers dies during Caseville's famous Cheeseburger Festival, his twin sister refuses to believe it was an accident. When his body goes missing after exhumation, reporter Nick Steele agrees with her.

Somebody killed Terry Powers. Somebody moved his body. And somebody is hoping Nick Steele minds his own business.

He won't.

The deeper Nick digs, the clearer it becomes — the greed and depravity behind Terry's death reach further than anyone in Caseville wants to admit. This story runs through layers of corruption, exploitation, and secrets that someone is willing to kill to protect.”

Author:

“Dave Vizard is a former award winning newspaper and magazine writer and editor. He has taught journalism and writing at the college level. Each of his murder mysteries is rooted in Michigan and revolves around the exploits of news reporter Nick Steele.”

Vizard and his wife live in Michigan’s Thumb region where his books take place.

Appraisal:

The latest mystery featuring newspaper report Nick Steele. Figuring out what happened along with Nick is an interesting experience as a reader. I like that many of the books in the series, this being one of them, happen in the “thumb region” of Michigan and have a lot of focus on the landscape and culture of that area which adds a lot to the story. I’ll admit that when Nick gets to the bottom of this story, what he finds isn’t something I’d have guessed, but the clues were there. If you’re into mysteries, this one might be worth checking out.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Review: The Building by Kevin G. Chapman

 

Genre: Thriller/Mystery

Description:

“For ten years, the Utopia Tower experiment has been a resounding success. Conceived by a tech billionaire, the state-of-the-art apartment complex offers a life-changing opportunity: rent-free living for residents who adhere to the ‘Five Pillars of Harmony’ and maintain the building's pristine reputation. It is a tight-knit community where neighbors look out for one another, ensuring that nothing endangers their sanctuary and their right to continue living there.

Antonio, a young lawyer, moves into the tower to care for his grandmother, eager to join this idyllic social experiment. But the veneer of perfection cracks when two young men—both considered bad apples and threats to the community's serenity—die in unusual circumstances within a single month. Despite warnings to leave well enough alone, Antonio suspects a connection and digs deeper. He discovers that, in a building designed for total harmony, asking the wrong questions can make you the next problem to be handled. Is there a killer hiding among the residents? Is the billionaire founder protecting his investment? Or is the truth far more terrifying?

In an environment where preservation of the collective is the prime directive, how far will the community go to protect itself?

Author:

A lawyer specializing in labor and employment law by day, Kevin Chapman describes his real passions as playing tournament poker, rooting for the New York Mets, and writing fiction. For more, visit Mr Chapman’s website.

Appraisal:

I’ve read and enjoyed many of Kevin Chapman’s thrillers featuring detective Mike Stoneman, so I was eager to give this one a try in spite of it being different. Literally after reading the first sentence, I made a note that the person it was talking about, the tech billionaire Jameson Z. Conrad, sounded evil. Yet when I saw what he was behind, The Building at the center of this book, it seemed like its name, Utopia Tower, was an excellent description. Mr Conrad was obviously doing what few billionaires are good enough to do, helping others, in this case by providing affordable housing for people who otherwise would at best be living in a slum and in many cases homeless and living on the streets. In addition, the rules of the community are designed to help lift everyone up and to encourage mutual support of others in the community.

But like many things that seem great on the surface, with the cosmetics on the outside hiding the rot on the inside, we find out that all is not as good as it seems. Antonio, a new resident who is helping his grandmother as he’s just starting his career in the law starts to question the things he’s seeing. Maybe utopia is more of a dystopia. But is stirring things up going to backfire in the worst way possible for Antonio? Or maybe he’s seeing things wrong. Possibly any issues will get fixed. That’s the mystery that kept me turning pages to the very end, enjoying every word.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

A small amount of adult language

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 75-80,000 words

Review: Cipher by Allison Boley

 

Genre: Espionage/Thriller

Description:

“A burned out young scientist. An unbreakable code. Time counts down to an impossible choice.

Forget computers. How do you break a code based on human expertise?

Patrick’s life is upended when he’s recruited to decipher messages between two experts in his niche field, messages encrypted with a code they made up. But as he works undercover, he rediscovers the joy of curiosity and friendship, and the cipher reveals the bad guys may not be who he originally thought. Can Patrick reconnect with himself in time to know what to do when he finally breaks the code?”

Author:

A resident of Arizona, Allison Boley worked for a time in Los Angeles in various jobs relating to movie making before returning to Arizona and school, eventually earning a PhD in Physics. This is her first novel. For more, check out her website.

Appraisal:

This was an interesting read that while a thriller and a bit of a spy novel also gets into scientific issues that are pertinent in our current world and for nerds like me will really get you thinking and possibly learning a bit as well. Even for those just looking for a good spy thriller it will stretch your mind trying to figure out what is going on and how our hero protagonist can figure it out. For those who finish reading and have an urge to know more about the details of what happens in the story, there is an appendix that can help you go down that rabbit hole, but if you’re not interested, you’ll still get a good read and can move on to the next book.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Some adult language.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues

Rating: **** Four Stars

Review: A Bad Deal in Mormon Land by T.I.M. Wirkus

Genre: Historical Fiction

Description:

“It’s 1908, and itinerant spirit medium Madame Ilsa von Hoffmann is at the end of her professional rope, facing down two unappealing options: join an ill-conceived commune founded by some fellow trans ex-vaudevillians, or take on a high-paying but mysterious job offered by a religious extremist in Salt Lake City. Madame Ilsa opts for Utah and the employ of one Roger Marsh who, it turns out, wants her to summon the ghost of Joseph Smith, Mormonism’s founder, to give his blessing to Marsh’s fledgling offshoot of the mainstream church.

Unsure how she’ll pull off this near-impossible task, Ilsa finds an ally in Francie Bream, an East Coast journalist in town to profile Mormon women at the dawn of the twentieth century. Bream’s motives remain obscure to Ilsa, though she begins to suspect the journalist has an agenda far more sinister than she could have imagined. Complicating the situation further are an inept and volatile henchman, a relentlessly orthodox Mormon apostle, a copper magnate with a fetish for polygamists, Marsh's rogue third wife, and a vengeful private investigator from Ilsa's past. As dead bodies accumulate around her, Madame Ilsa worries less and less about saving her career, and more about making it out of Salt Lake City alive.”

Author:

T.I.M. Wirkus (they/them) is an award-winning author with several novels and novellas available as well as some short stories that have appeared in various publications.

Appraisal:

This story takes an interesting blend of historical reality (the early 1900s in Salt Lake City, a growing town, and the Mormon culture that permeated it) with some interesting twists and scams being perpetrated by Roger Marsh and others, like our main protagonist, Madame Ilsa von Hoffmann. Those familiar with Utah history and Mormonism will be amused in spotting the clever mashup of reality (some of which many would assume wasn’t true) with things that really are fictional. Sometimes the truth really is stranger than the fiction. I was never sure where the story was going to go or how it would resolve in the end which is what I’d expect from a story of this type. A fun and interesting read that isn’t quite like anything I can remember having read before.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

I’m sure some devout members of the Mormon aka LDS Church would be triggered reading this if they’re bothered by mixing things not so true (aka fictional) into a story about their church. They might also be triggered by some things that are true. The author has some references to articles at the end of the book that point to those.

Format/Typo Issues:

Review is based on an advance reviewer copy, so I can’t gauge the final product in this area.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 70-75,000 words

Reprise Review: Secret Relations by Rebecca Forster

 

Genre: Police Procedural/Thriller

Description:

“They're illegal. They're undocumented. They're disappearing. The last thing Finn O'Brien wants is to come between his partner and her daughter, but Amber Anderson is desperate for his help. Her new boyfriend, an undocumented immigrant, is missing. Uneasy about keeping a secret from his partner and hindered by the prejudice and politics of the LAPD, Finn is tempted to turn a deaf ear to the girl's plea - until the first body is found. Fighting a system that wants to turn a blind eye, Finn tracks a serial killer who preys on the most vulnerable, one with a gruesome secret that has been buried under decades of shame. To stop him, Finn O'Brien must navigate a shadowy world where life is cheap - even his own.”

Author:

The author of numerous thrillers in multiple subgenres, USA Today bestseller Rebecca Forster lives in Los Angeles with her husband.

Appraisal:

This is the third book in this series. I raved about the first two and this latest installment is no different. LA police detective Finn O’Brien and his partner, Cori Anderson, are great characters. They have faults and at times make questionable decisions that show they’re imperfect, but both strive to make their city a better and safer place.

The story in Secret Relations is an intense thriller that had me on edge throughout. Much of the story is focused on the undocumented alien population, targeted by the serial killer, and I found the story thought provoking as I considered their situation.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

While part of a series, each book in the Finn O’Brien Thriller series can be read as a standalone.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 90-95,000 words