SHELLI: The Android Detective

by Doug Brode

HUMANS HAVE FOUR MOTIVES FOR MURDER:
Passion, Panic, Prejudice, and Greed

MACHINES HAVE ONLY ONE:
Purpose

Meet Shelli, a synthetic investigator that hunts defective and often dangerous machines. In its years of service to Homeland Security, Shelli has never questioned its purpose, never doubted its mission, and never failed in its task.

Until now.

Partnered with young analyst Jake August, Shelli finds itself wading into deep political waters after a US senator is brutally murdered, presumably by a synthetic. In their search for answers, Shelli and Jake race across America, from Washington DC’s halls of power to the vast, frigid plains of Alaska. But every clue they discover only creates more troubling questions, because what they are hunting is neither human nor machine. It is something far more dangerous . . . the next evolution.

Genres: Science Fiction

356 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 10, 2024

About the author

Doug Brode is the author of five novels, including the SHELLI mysteries and the Ship Saga. He was the creator of Cinemax’s sexy sci-fi series Forbidden Science, as well as a storyboard/concept artist on such popular films as Star Trek, Iron Man, Thor, Looper, Van Helsing, Planet of the Apes, MIB: International, among many others. He lives in California with his wife, Pamela, and their two children, Hayden and Leia.

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an advanced copy for an honest review. Shelli is a fast paced detective story that pulls on the stress between Synthetics and Humanity. This was an amazing read! The seriousness of Shelli’s determination to solve cases and the interactions between partners Shelli and Jake are some of my favorite parts. There is always a thrill when it comes to synthetics in the workforce and Shelli gives you the satisfaction of such a novel. 10/10 will recommend!

[Elise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! Loved seeing Shelli's progression and her finding humanity at the end

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jake August is a young agent of Homeland Security who has just been welcomed into a special subsection devoted to investigating crimes committed by replican- errr, synthetics. Synths have been integrated into society as intelligent, humanoid tools oriented toward a particular purpose, and it appears that one of them has just crushed the heart of a US senator — quite literally. A synth shouldn’t be able to perpetuate deliberate murder: at most, his new department has dealt with synths which were malfunctioning because of technical issues — like a cleaning synth deciding that the easiest way to keep the house clean was to remove the elements (i.e. the humans) that kept cluttering it up. And yet, as August and his new partner Shelli (named for Mary Shelley, naturally) discover, this latest murder was no accident. The senator was investigating the unsanctioned manufacture of experimental synths whose functionality went far beyond those approved by regulation, and it appears someone wanted her out of the picture August has never even fired a gun before, but now he’s a field agent who will soon be in trouble well over his head.. The deeper the investigation goes, the more trouble Shelli and August find for themselves — and that trouble is coming from behind them, too, because higher ups in the government aren’t too enthused about the direction things are going, and as the story develops Jake has the sense that he can’t trust anyone — perhaps not even Shelli, for whom her Purpose is more important than anything else, like the law. What begins as a detective story with a cool premise turns into a techno action thriller that touches on themes like technohumanism and distributed intelligences. Given Shelli’s attributes — a machine-logical mind and a physical form that is arrestingly attractive– I immediately voiced her with Jeri Ryan, and I have a strong suspicion that Brode was drawing on her Seven of Nine, as well: she has two lines[*] that are word-for-word repeats of Seven’s dialogue. Granted, it could be a coincidence, but I choose to believe Brode is a major Trekkie and working in subtle references. This was a cool find: not groundbreaking conceptually, but it’s a fun action thriller in a SF setting.

[Joe W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heard about this book from the Good Bad Flicks YouTube channel. They did an episode about Forbidden Science, a sci-fi show on Skin-emax (aka Cinemax), and mentioned the creator basically took his ideas he had for the show and turned them into a script, which he then turned into this book.

I was doubly surprised by this book because I went in expecting something a bit more saucy and I read his early book The Ship and did not like it. But this book isn't some cyber smut with a meh mystery. But from the start this book had me hooked.

It feels like a one-and-done story but I would love to read more tales in this world.

[Karl]

Deserves a tv mini series

Excellent story with a great finish. The story works off standard AI and robot tropes but takes a very interesting approach to those basic concepts. With the action and suspense keeping you hooked all the way through, I struggled to put the story down each night as I read it. The best books are definitely the ones that you don't want to finish because when you do, you will no longer be with the characters. It would truly make a great Prime/Netflix/Apple mini series. And maybe at the very least, the author will write a sequel.

[D · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 - Intriguing and frankly almost plausible given the moment we’re living in. The machine/synthetic characterizations were quite strong. Though I often wanted more of the inhumanity of what synthetics could do unhindered. I did get some ick from the Jake biological response to Shelli. I’m sure we’re meant to accept it as natural but it seemed almost mindless. Though it was one of several likely inevitable outcomes of human machine “relations”. Also, I did question Simon’s purpose and frankly illogical logic for his purpose.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining futuristic mystery listening 🎶🔰

This kindle e-book novel is from my Kindle Unlimited account a stand alone book. Hoping for more!

Shell is a detective in an android working in a two people and her. They end up involved in the death of a woman 🚺 senator. They solve the case moving on to others.

I would highly recommend this novel and author to 👍readers of mystery novels 👍🔰 2025 👒😀

[Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than expected

A bit more backstory on Jake would've been nice. As this book continues you do learn more about Shelli.
Could this science fiction become science fact? I'm not smart enough to know. But Shelli is correct, humans aren't created to live here on earth forever. But we will live forever, through Christ alone.
Good story and I'd like to see Jake and Shelli together in the next book.

[Mike Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun read

There be subtle spoilers here. It is reminiscent of Asimov's caves of steel - 1st in the robot series. Asimov's book has a faster pace and is one of my favorites. This book digs deeper into mind-brain relationship, faint hints at gender but but in depth. It ultimately focuses on the mind brain so many philosophers seem to struggle with, as opposed to the evidence that makes it pretty clear. Enjoyable read and does not get too deep. No woo here.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

couldn't put it down

SHELLI: The Android Detective by Doug Brode

I really enjoyed the story & especially the characters. Shelli is a unique high functioning android working in the Synthetics (AI robots) Crimes division of Homeland Security. She has her boss recruit profiler analyst Jake to be her assistant. He accepts because he really wants to be out in the field.

[Melvin Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Enjoyable Read.

I liked this book. I was a little disappointed at the end but all in all it was very enjoyable. I'm hoping the author will do a sequel. There was one typo at the end but otherwise a very enjoyable read.

[BJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The h is AI, relies on logic and algorithism to identify and capture baddies. H is assigned to work with 'it' and is horrified at first. They build some trust, he begins to admire it. The h identifies the baddies, but is changed by the outcome. Intersting intro to series.

[Julie Malcolm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Think I preferred the 2nd book but still enjoyable

[Michael Slavin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the story, another bent on AI, androids, etc.

[Scott Shjefte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kindle unlimited book. One dimensional characters. Bureaucratic violent mess.

[Pete Herr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doug Brode’s High Tech Sci-Fi Thriller “Shelli” Has Me Hoping For More

A few weeks ago I read an article in Popular Mechanics about Ray Kurzweil, a computer scientist/futurist who predicted that “Singularity”, the point where humans and AI “merge”, will happen in 21 years. That’s 2045 for those of you bad at math.

Not long before that the novel “Shelli” by Doug Brode crossed my radar. Near future science fiction is my jam. If you’ve read any of my reviews you know that my favorite authors include Michael Crichton, Andy Weir and Eliot Peper. While this is my first foray into the writing of Doug Brode, I am adding him to my list of authors to follow.

“Shelli” is a buddy cop story with some familiar themes and some great twists. The book features Shelli, a synthetic investigator who specializes in hunting other synthetics that have malfunctioned and committed crimes. The crimes in this novel all include murder. Much like the robots in Isaac Asimov’s “I, Robot”, the robots or “synthetics” in this book cannot harm humans. When that goes wrong, the Department of Homeland Security brings in Shelli to solve the case.

The buddy in this buddy cop story is Department of Homeland Security Special Agent Jake August, who is not happy about hunting malfunctioning robots, and would much rather be doing the real thing hunting terrorists. As a character, he does not start out strong, but grows as the story goes on, which I felt Brode handled well. It was both enjoyable to see and quite believable.

At its heart, “Shelli” is a police procedural, but it also has a political thriller vibe as an underlying theme. Garnish the whole thing with some high tech, near future possibilities, and in my world you have a winner. With the interesting twist at the end, I hope that Brode has a second installment in mind. I’d really like to see how the story continues.

[Darren Haverstick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fantastic! I have read many, many books about AI, synthetic humans, androids, etc. and I thought the author brought something fresh to the genre with the Shelli character. "She" offered the readers all the turmoil and mixed emotions that one finds in any believable "human" character. The passages involving the interaction between her and her flesh-and-blood partner were superb. I also loved her matter-of-fact manner when dealing with situations that were far from being common or mundane. This is a great murder mystery with a protagonist who just happens to be made in a lab instead of a womb.

Mr. Brode, I am anxiously awaiting the next installment!