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Certainty
Not yet published
Expected 28 Apr 26The intense dystopian world-building of John Twelve Hawks (The Traveler) returns with a masterful journey through the near future of Artificial Intelligence, in which a wise, orphaned ten-year-old girl goes on the run with only her trusty "Interactive Toy" to guide her toward New York City, where a dark landscape, and perhaps a hidden hero, await her.
In a post-pandemic future where AI has infiltrated daily life, the line between what is real and what is digital has eroded to nothing. As Manhattan is overrun by wireheads who spend their days literally plugged into virtual reality, algorithms and robots have replaced everything from the criminal justice system to individual loved ones.
As long as she can remember, ten-year-old Kate has felt like someone was watching her. She has been orphaned since the pandemic, her foster parents find her eccentric and off-putting, and her legal guardian is nowhere to be seen. Now, an algorithm has predicted the very worst—within thirty days, Kate will either be killed, or become a killer. When two police officers arrive at her home in Maine intending to implant her with a tracking device, Kate is urged by her trusted AI Interactive Toy (a talking stuffed seal named Zeno) to make an immediate escape. Confused and looking for answers, the girl sets a course for New York City and begins an Orwellian journey into the unknown.
Gripping, intricately plotted, and delightfully imaginative, Certainty is a profound and eerily prescient novel about the ever-blurring line between man and machine. Amid the murder investigation of a gifted AI robot-maker, a missing-person being tracked down in the darkest corners of virtual reality, and Kate's harrowing journey to New York, John Twelve Hawks's novel explores the spectacular humanity to be found in a world where humans are themselves endangered.
In a post-pandemic future where AI has infiltrated daily life, the line between what is real and what is digital has eroded to nothing. As Manhattan is overrun by wireheads who spend their days literally plugged into virtual reality, algorithms and robots have replaced everything from the criminal justice system to individual loved ones.
As long as she can remember, ten-year-old Kate has felt like someone was watching her. She has been orphaned since the pandemic, her foster parents find her eccentric and off-putting, and her legal guardian is nowhere to be seen. Now, an algorithm has predicted the very worst—within thirty days, Kate will either be killed, or become a killer. When two police officers arrive at her home in Maine intending to implant her with a tracking device, Kate is urged by her trusted AI Interactive Toy (a talking stuffed seal named Zeno) to make an immediate escape. Confused and looking for answers, the girl sets a course for New York City and begins an Orwellian journey into the unknown.
Gripping, intricately plotted, and delightfully imaginative, Certainty is a profound and eerily prescient novel about the ever-blurring line between man and machine. Amid the murder investigation of a gifted AI robot-maker, a missing-person being tracked down in the darkest corners of virtual reality, and Kate's harrowing journey to New York, John Twelve Hawks's novel explores the spectacular humanity to be found in a world where humans are themselves endangered.
Kindle Edition
Expected publication April 28, 2026
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About the author
John Twelve Hawks
17 books613 followersJohn Twelve Hawks aka J12H/JXIIH.
His real identity is unknown. He communicates using the internet and an untraceable phone and has never met his editor.
Several guesses have been made regarding his identity: that he was Thomas Pynchon, Dan Brown, or Steve Hawking among others...
His real identity is unknown. He communicates using the internet and an untraceable phone and has never met his editor.
Several guesses have been made regarding his identity: that he was Thomas Pynchon, Dan Brown, or Steve Hawking among others...
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Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
3rd person from multiple POVs/ themes of dangers of AI, love of an AI pet/ little or no swearing that I can remember
I've heard of this author but never read any of his books before. His style, at least for this book, is contemplative, thriller set-up without the usual thriller-type of writing (in other words it doesn't read like a movie). Which is not to say it's slow but more 'steady as she goes'.
There are several POV characters that we follow that seem totally distant from each other, like what do they have in common and why am I reading about this person when I'd rather find out what's happening to this other person. Be patient because it all comes together in the end.
The first POV we read about is Kate, a 10 year old girl with her AI pet companion inside a stuffed animal in the shape of a seal. She overhears some officers talking with the people who take care of her and they say that there's a high percentage that Kate will either kill someone or someone will be killed because of her. Kate takes her go bag that her AI recommended that she make, along with her seal friend and sneaks out the window and away. Thus starts her journey.
One of the other POVs is investigating a murder where the person's arm has been torn off. The person hiring him wants to know if a bot (AI in human form) did it. Thus starts the investigation
Another of the POVs, two of them actually, are hired to find a teenager who had been spending most of his time in the OverWorld, a virtual reality that can feel real if one wears a haptic suit. There's also places where one can have an adventure, like an RPG game. Some people pay to have their bodies looked after while they stay in the OverWorld permanently or quite a while.
The writing was very good, characters mostly fully fleshed out. At first I was annoyed by the changes in POV because they seemed to have nothing to do with one another. But as the story goes on and the characters uncover a secret history we find the connection. The theme is on trend: are AIs potentially dangerous or not, and in what ways? Anyone who is interested in AIs will probably find this novel interesting.
I received a free ebook advance copy from NetGalley and that in no way affected my rating.
I've heard of this author but never read any of his books before. His style, at least for this book, is contemplative, thriller set-up without the usual thriller-type of writing (in other words it doesn't read like a movie). Which is not to say it's slow but more 'steady as she goes'.
There are several POV characters that we follow that seem totally distant from each other, like what do they have in common and why am I reading about this person when I'd rather find out what's happening to this other person. Be patient because it all comes together in the end.
The first POV we read about is Kate, a 10 year old girl with her AI pet companion inside a stuffed animal in the shape of a seal. She overhears some officers talking with the people who take care of her and they say that there's a high percentage that Kate will either kill someone or someone will be killed because of her. Kate takes her go bag that her AI recommended that she make, along with her seal friend and sneaks out the window and away. Thus starts her journey.
One of the other POVs is investigating a murder where the person's arm has been torn off. The person hiring him wants to know if a bot (AI in human form) did it. Thus starts the investigation
Another of the POVs, two of them actually, are hired to find a teenager who had been spending most of his time in the OverWorld, a virtual reality that can feel real if one wears a haptic suit. There's also places where one can have an adventure, like an RPG game. Some people pay to have their bodies looked after while they stay in the OverWorld permanently or quite a while.
The writing was very good, characters mostly fully fleshed out. At first I was annoyed by the changes in POV because they seemed to have nothing to do with one another. But as the story goes on and the characters uncover a secret history we find the connection. The theme is on trend: are AIs potentially dangerous or not, and in what ways? Anyone who is interested in AIs will probably find this novel interesting.
I received a free ebook advance copy from NetGalley and that in no way affected my rating.
Displaying 1 of 1 review