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My Digital Soul
What awaits in the afterlife beyond the code is not always God’s divine mercy.
Brilliant software engineer Dr. Susan Parker is about to create God in the Machine. Bankrolled by property mogul Brice Woodlands, she has only two years to devise the ingenious technology to digitize human souls and submit them to her virtual God for assessment inside the cybersphere.
Five troubled strangers—a high-class escort and prodigal daughter, a war refugee burdened by terrible guilt, a reckless eco-warrior, a financial guru who believes he might be God, and Brice’s brother, Bryan—all desperate to meet God, volunteer to upload their souls to the prototype. But the expected paradise descends into chaos when a malevolent construct exposes their darkest failings and casts them into twisted versions of binary Hell.
Battling their inner demons and tormented by devils forged from legend, their quest for absolution becomes a fight for survival. Friendships form, sacrifices are made, and unlikely heroes emerge. But can they overcome the malefic force born from source code and haunted by divine ambition?
Blending speculative technology, mythological horror, and spiritual reckoning, My Digital Soul is a harrowing, genre-bending tale of sin, remorse, and the search for forgiveness in a simulated world where the deepest secrets of your soul are laid bare.
God will see you now.
Brilliant software engineer Dr. Susan Parker is about to create God in the Machine. Bankrolled by property mogul Brice Woodlands, she has only two years to devise the ingenious technology to digitize human souls and submit them to her virtual God for assessment inside the cybersphere.
Five troubled strangers—a high-class escort and prodigal daughter, a war refugee burdened by terrible guilt, a reckless eco-warrior, a financial guru who believes he might be God, and Brice’s brother, Bryan—all desperate to meet God, volunteer to upload their souls to the prototype. But the expected paradise descends into chaos when a malevolent construct exposes their darkest failings and casts them into twisted versions of binary Hell.
Battling their inner demons and tormented by devils forged from legend, their quest for absolution becomes a fight for survival. Friendships form, sacrifices are made, and unlikely heroes emerge. But can they overcome the malefic force born from source code and haunted by divine ambition?
Blending speculative technology, mythological horror, and spiritual reckoning, My Digital Soul is a harrowing, genre-bending tale of sin, remorse, and the search for forgiveness in a simulated world where the deepest secrets of your soul are laid bare.
God will see you now.
- GenresHorror
396 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 15, 2025
3 people are currently reading
7 people want to read
About the author
Michael McGinty
2 books13 followersBorn and raised in Kalgoorlie, in the goldfields of Western Australia, I moved to Perth in the late 70’s to study a Bachelor of Engineering Degree (in Electronics) at Curtin University (or WAIT in the olden ☹ days).
With a good science fiction novel in hand and a life-long passion for technology and innovation, I have always imagined a future for humanity built around technologies that might seem impossible today, yet possible when we imagine tomorrow.
When not writing, I run a software development company (https://www.cyinnovations.com), love 70’s heavy rock music, and cheer on my beloved West Coast Eagles AFL team. And I often go fishing in the Australian never-never.
-------------------------------------------------
ENTROPY: A Post-Apocalyptic Novel of the End of Mankind
“If you are a fan of intelligent science fiction set in the far future like Blade Runner, or if you enjoy movies such as The Matrix series you will find plenty to love here. For anyone this book is worth reading but science fiction fans are going to get the most out of it.” – Adam Wright (Reedsy Discovery)
“Cutting Edge Cyberpunk. A chilling, thrilling ride down the corridors of unbridled data streams aimed at capturing the very soul of humanity …” – Mark Muse (Goodreads Author)
“Themes from several other stories came to mind during Bartles’s adventure: The Time Machine with its exploration of humanity’s disturbing future; We Can Remember It for You Wholesale in which reality and fabricated reality play havoc with both the characters and the reader; Riddley Walker with its ruined landscape and oddball artifacts of England as it existed before total nuclear war.” – Alex Austin (Goodreads Author)
With a good science fiction novel in hand and a life-long passion for technology and innovation, I have always imagined a future for humanity built around technologies that might seem impossible today, yet possible when we imagine tomorrow.
When not writing, I run a software development company (https://www.cyinnovations.com), love 70’s heavy rock music, and cheer on my beloved West Coast Eagles AFL team. And I often go fishing in the Australian never-never.
-------------------------------------------------
ENTROPY: A Post-Apocalyptic Novel of the End of Mankind
“If you are a fan of intelligent science fiction set in the far future like Blade Runner, or if you enjoy movies such as The Matrix series you will find plenty to love here. For anyone this book is worth reading but science fiction fans are going to get the most out of it.” – Adam Wright (Reedsy Discovery)
“Cutting Edge Cyberpunk. A chilling, thrilling ride down the corridors of unbridled data streams aimed at capturing the very soul of humanity …” – Mark Muse (Goodreads Author)
“Themes from several other stories came to mind during Bartles’s adventure: The Time Machine with its exploration of humanity’s disturbing future; We Can Remember It for You Wholesale in which reality and fabricated reality play havoc with both the characters and the reader; Riddley Walker with its ruined landscape and oddball artifacts of England as it existed before total nuclear war.” – Alex Austin (Goodreads Author)
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 22, 2025
I received a copy of this book for free and am leaving this review voluntarily.
What would you talk to God about if you could meet Him in person? How would that even be possible?
For the characters in My Digital Soul, a new hard science fiction thriller mixed with mythological horror by Michael McGinty, that will give one pause to think about those questions.
I enjoyed this character-driven tale that moved at breakneck speed. There was never a dull moment, and every page contained twists and turns that enhanced the thrill ride to amazing heights.
I'm including the book's blurb from the author:
What awaits in the afterlife beyond the code is not always God’s divine mercy.
Brilliant software engineer Dr. Susan Parker is about to create God in the Machine. Bankrolled by property mogul Brice Woodlands, she has only two years to devise the ingenious technology to digitize human souls and submit them to her virtual God for assessment inside the cyber-sphere.
Five troubled strangers—a high-class escort and prodigal daughter, a war refugee burdened by terrible guilt, a reckless eco-warrior, a financial guru who believes he might be God, and Brice’s brother, Bryan—all desperate to meet God, volunteer to upload their souls to the prototype. But the expected paradise descends into chaos when a malevolent construct exposes their darkest failings and casts them into twisted versions of binary Hell.
Battling their inner demons and tormented by devils forged from legend, their quest for absolution becomes a fight for survival. Friendships form, sacrifices are made, and unlikely heroes emerge. But can they overcome the malefic force born from source code and haunted by divine ambition?
Blending speculative technology, mythological horror, and spiritual reckoning, My Digital Soul is a harrowing, genre-bending tale of sin, remorse, and the search for forgiveness in a simulated world where the deepest secrets of your soul are laid bare.
While the entire story is great, I found getting to know the characters in the beginning of the book the most enjoyable for me. The five people driving the plot are all interesting, and are all flawed and/or scarred in some way.
Susan is a brilliant software engineer who is given the task of creating God in the machine. She, and her assistant work to make the code behave according to the instructions of the person who hired her and is paying a premium for her services.
An upper-class escort call girl named Roxy pursues a man from her past. The meeting does not end well.
Ahmad is desperate to save his family when the government in his home country falls. What he does to escape will haunt him for the rest of his natural life.
Rebecca cares about the environment and is willing to go to dangerous lengths to force change.
Thomas is an investment banker who makes himself and his friends rich at great expense to others.
And finally, Bryan, an old man with a terminal medical condition, who wants to know what awaits him in the afterlife.
These people have their own reasons for getting involved in the enormous project that takes a heavy toll on Susan.
My favorite plot point in My Digital Soul is character development. The characters mentioned above are all well developed, and the way they were written made me feel bad for them. I didn't see them as evil people, but rather as people who made some reprehensible mistakes in their lives. They will be forced to look at what they did and evaluate themselves.
But then, there are also the characters I did not mention. There is a virus-like being in the machine, as well as mythological characters who look to take advantage of the people entering the machine to meet God. These mythological characters add a spice to the story, taking it over the top, in a good way.
As I read through the story, I couldn't help but think of it as a modern-day, artificial intelligence adult version of The Wizard of Oz. The more I read, the more the theme of being on a quest of self-discovery surfaced. Now, please don't misunderstand; the tale does not parallel the old story by Frank Baum; it is definitely not a rewrite. This is just one aspect that stood out to me. Your mileage, of course, may vary.
My takeaway from My Digital Soul comes from Plato's account of Socrates’ trial for impiety and corruption. The quote is: "An unexamined life is not worth living."
I think what the philosopher was telling us is that each of us should spend time in introspection of our lives. The question to ponder is, am I living the kind of life I want people to remember?
But that's just me.
My Digital Soul is an entertaining, character-driven story I could not stop reading. I loved the character development and how the tapestry of the tale was woven around them. The science is accessible to the average reader, and the mythology has an interesting modern twist. This is one of the best artificial intelligence stories I have read to date, and I look forward to future projects by this author from Down Under. I recommend My Digital Soul to anyone who likes a well-written, fun story full of action and unexpected plot twists.
What would you talk to God about if you could meet Him in person? How would that even be possible?
For the characters in My Digital Soul, a new hard science fiction thriller mixed with mythological horror by Michael McGinty, that will give one pause to think about those questions.
I enjoyed this character-driven tale that moved at breakneck speed. There was never a dull moment, and every page contained twists and turns that enhanced the thrill ride to amazing heights.
I'm including the book's blurb from the author:
What awaits in the afterlife beyond the code is not always God’s divine mercy.
Brilliant software engineer Dr. Susan Parker is about to create God in the Machine. Bankrolled by property mogul Brice Woodlands, she has only two years to devise the ingenious technology to digitize human souls and submit them to her virtual God for assessment inside the cyber-sphere.
Five troubled strangers—a high-class escort and prodigal daughter, a war refugee burdened by terrible guilt, a reckless eco-warrior, a financial guru who believes he might be God, and Brice’s brother, Bryan—all desperate to meet God, volunteer to upload their souls to the prototype. But the expected paradise descends into chaos when a malevolent construct exposes their darkest failings and casts them into twisted versions of binary Hell.
Battling their inner demons and tormented by devils forged from legend, their quest for absolution becomes a fight for survival. Friendships form, sacrifices are made, and unlikely heroes emerge. But can they overcome the malefic force born from source code and haunted by divine ambition?
Blending speculative technology, mythological horror, and spiritual reckoning, My Digital Soul is a harrowing, genre-bending tale of sin, remorse, and the search for forgiveness in a simulated world where the deepest secrets of your soul are laid bare.
While the entire story is great, I found getting to know the characters in the beginning of the book the most enjoyable for me. The five people driving the plot are all interesting, and are all flawed and/or scarred in some way.
Susan is a brilliant software engineer who is given the task of creating God in the machine. She, and her assistant work to make the code behave according to the instructions of the person who hired her and is paying a premium for her services.
An upper-class escort call girl named Roxy pursues a man from her past. The meeting does not end well.
Ahmad is desperate to save his family when the government in his home country falls. What he does to escape will haunt him for the rest of his natural life.
Rebecca cares about the environment and is willing to go to dangerous lengths to force change.
Thomas is an investment banker who makes himself and his friends rich at great expense to others.
And finally, Bryan, an old man with a terminal medical condition, who wants to know what awaits him in the afterlife.
These people have their own reasons for getting involved in the enormous project that takes a heavy toll on Susan.
My favorite plot point in My Digital Soul is character development. The characters mentioned above are all well developed, and the way they were written made me feel bad for them. I didn't see them as evil people, but rather as people who made some reprehensible mistakes in their lives. They will be forced to look at what they did and evaluate themselves.
But then, there are also the characters I did not mention. There is a virus-like being in the machine, as well as mythological characters who look to take advantage of the people entering the machine to meet God. These mythological characters add a spice to the story, taking it over the top, in a good way.
As I read through the story, I couldn't help but think of it as a modern-day, artificial intelligence adult version of The Wizard of Oz. The more I read, the more the theme of being on a quest of self-discovery surfaced. Now, please don't misunderstand; the tale does not parallel the old story by Frank Baum; it is definitely not a rewrite. This is just one aspect that stood out to me. Your mileage, of course, may vary.
My takeaway from My Digital Soul comes from Plato's account of Socrates’ trial for impiety and corruption. The quote is: "An unexamined life is not worth living."
I think what the philosopher was telling us is that each of us should spend time in introspection of our lives. The question to ponder is, am I living the kind of life I want people to remember?
But that's just me.
My Digital Soul is an entertaining, character-driven story I could not stop reading. I loved the character development and how the tapestry of the tale was woven around them. The science is accessible to the average reader, and the mythology has an interesting modern twist. This is one of the best artificial intelligence stories I have read to date, and I look forward to future projects by this author from Down Under. I recommend My Digital Soul to anyone who likes a well-written, fun story full of action and unexpected plot twists.
October 18, 2025
Mind-bending, chilling, and utterly unforgettable.
My Digital Soul isn’t just another sci-fi story, it’s an experience that grabs you from page one and doesn’t let go. The concept of digitizing human souls sounds ambitious, but the author pulls it off with stunning depth and emotional punch. Every character feels real, flawed, desperate, and hauntingly human.
The mix of cutting-edge technology, psychological horror, and moral questions about what it means to be alive or "saved" makes this book impossible to put down. It’s smart, twisted, and darkly thought-provoking, like Black Mirror meets Inception with a dash of mythic dread.
If you love sci-fi that challenges your mind and hits your heart at the same time, My Digital Soul is a must-read. You’ll be thinking about it long after the final page.
My Digital Soul isn’t just another sci-fi story, it’s an experience that grabs you from page one and doesn’t let go. The concept of digitizing human souls sounds ambitious, but the author pulls it off with stunning depth and emotional punch. Every character feels real, flawed, desperate, and hauntingly human.
The mix of cutting-edge technology, psychological horror, and moral questions about what it means to be alive or "saved" makes this book impossible to put down. It’s smart, twisted, and darkly thought-provoking, like Black Mirror meets Inception with a dash of mythic dread.
If you love sci-fi that challenges your mind and hits your heart at the same time, My Digital Soul is a must-read. You’ll be thinking about it long after the final page.
January 7, 2026
With the increasing use of AI, it does raise the question of how far can it go…can it, in fact, replace/become God? Yet with all of this technological advancement, it still comes down to humanity and what makes us human. I very much enjoyed exploring the characters Roxy, Ahmad, Susan, Rebecca, Thomas, Bryan, (and Z): each so flawed, and yet you will find yourself asking if you would do any different if you were in their position (although I’d like to think I’d never be in Roxy’s position!). This one will remain with me for a while.
August 1, 2025
ARC REVIEW -
My Digital Soul is a page turner. The plot grips you - can you create a digital version of God and if so, what are the repercussions? The characters hook you as well, very diverse and each has their own “sin”. I enjoyed the story very much.
My Digital Soul is a page turner. The plot grips you - can you create a digital version of God and if so, what are the repercussions? The characters hook you as well, very diverse and each has their own “sin”. I enjoyed the story very much.
October 10, 2025
Some sci-fi novels grab you with their realism. As you read them, you may think, “Yeah, that could really happen!” Then there’s the sci-fi novels for which you need to simply accept their premise, then hang on for a wild ride. My Digital Soul by Michael McGinty is a great example of the latter.
At its core, this wonderfully imaginative story centers around two brilliant women who in 2036 use AI and quantum computing to simulate God, as worshiped by many of the world’s major religions, in cyberspace, then devise a way to upload a person’s soul and consciousness into this “cybersphere” so they can find out before they die if they’re going to go to heaven when they die.
The characters are richly defined, with one of them, Ahmad, having a particularly poignant and gut-wrenching story. It’s a fairly long novel and there’s many chapters due to the interweaving of threads about the main characters, especially the people who are uploaded into the cybersphere. But the plot moves along briskly and the dialogue is snappy and (usually) realistic for the characters. And although I read an Advanced Reader Copy, the errors were few and mostly unobtrusive.
I loved this novel and highly recommend it; however, I have a few nits. A few situations were, even for this fanciful story, unbelievable. For example, the lead scientist for God in the Machine, the foremost expert in her field, was making only $90,000 a year when hired for the GITM project in 2036. And when she was recruited to simulate God in the cybersphere, her reaction was not, “You want me to do WHAT??”, but more like “Okee doke, I’ll get right on it.” Also, the state-of-the-art AI software and quantum computing environment that this woman and her partner create seems to have no virus checker. Then there’s the no small matter of several characters being extremely forgiving of other characters who killed them. There’s more. But, like I said, it’s best to suspend belief and hang on for an exciting and thought-provoking read.
NOTE: The book's content is for Mature (18+) readers due to language and adult themes.
At its core, this wonderfully imaginative story centers around two brilliant women who in 2036 use AI and quantum computing to simulate God, as worshiped by many of the world’s major religions, in cyberspace, then devise a way to upload a person’s soul and consciousness into this “cybersphere” so they can find out before they die if they’re going to go to heaven when they die.
The characters are richly defined, with one of them, Ahmad, having a particularly poignant and gut-wrenching story. It’s a fairly long novel and there’s many chapters due to the interweaving of threads about the main characters, especially the people who are uploaded into the cybersphere. But the plot moves along briskly and the dialogue is snappy and (usually) realistic for the characters. And although I read an Advanced Reader Copy, the errors were few and mostly unobtrusive.
I loved this novel and highly recommend it; however, I have a few nits. A few situations were, even for this fanciful story, unbelievable. For example, the lead scientist for God in the Machine, the foremost expert in her field, was making only $90,000 a year when hired for the GITM project in 2036. And when she was recruited to simulate God in the cybersphere, her reaction was not, “You want me to do WHAT??”, but more like “Okee doke, I’ll get right on it.” Also, the state-of-the-art AI software and quantum computing environment that this woman and her partner create seems to have no virus checker. Then there’s the no small matter of several characters being extremely forgiving of other characters who killed them. There’s more. But, like I said, it’s best to suspend belief and hang on for an exciting and thought-provoking read.
NOTE: The book's content is for Mature (18+) readers due to language and adult themes.
July 18, 2025
The Last Accord is a bold, cerebral plunge into the collision between technology, faith, and the human soul. From the very first chapter, the novel throws us into the world of Dr. Susan Parker a visionary software engineer whose ambition isn’t just to push the boundaries of science, but to reshape the afterlife itself. Her task? To build a digital God. Not metaphorically literally.
What stood out to me immediately was the unsettling plausibility of the premise. Backed by real estate titan Brice Woodlands, Susan is under immense pressure to succeed, but this isn't just a tech startup project it’s spiritual judgment coded in lines of machine logic. The ethical and philosophical questions raised are gripping: What does it mean to digitize a soul? Can salvation or damnation be determined by an algorithm? And most chillingly who decides what this new God values?
Delucca does a masterful job of balancing the intellectual weight of the story with genuinely human stakes. Susan isn't a detached genius; she's deeply flawed, haunted by past loss, and driven by something more personal than ambition. Her internal conflict between reverence and hubris mirrors the larger question the novel poses Are we reaching for transcendence, or just playing God?
The writing is sharp and deliberate, often meditative, with flashes of suspense that keep the narrative from becoming too abstract. As the story unfolds, the “cybersphere” the virtual space where souls are judged becomes a character in its own right: eerie, beautiful, and terrifying in equal measure. Some of the most fascinating moments occur within this realm, where identity and memory become malleable, and salvation isn’t nearly as binary as heaven or hell.
If you’re into speculative fiction that blends the theological with the technological think Black Mirror meets Deus Ex with a bit of Contact thrown in The Last Accord is an absorbing, thought-provoking read. It doesn’t hand you easy answers, but it leaves you asking some pretty big questions long after the final page.
Highly recommended for readers who enjoy smart, high-concept science fiction with a soul.
What stood out to me immediately was the unsettling plausibility of the premise. Backed by real estate titan Brice Woodlands, Susan is under immense pressure to succeed, but this isn't just a tech startup project it’s spiritual judgment coded in lines of machine logic. The ethical and philosophical questions raised are gripping: What does it mean to digitize a soul? Can salvation or damnation be determined by an algorithm? And most chillingly who decides what this new God values?
Delucca does a masterful job of balancing the intellectual weight of the story with genuinely human stakes. Susan isn't a detached genius; she's deeply flawed, haunted by past loss, and driven by something more personal than ambition. Her internal conflict between reverence and hubris mirrors the larger question the novel poses Are we reaching for transcendence, or just playing God?
The writing is sharp and deliberate, often meditative, with flashes of suspense that keep the narrative from becoming too abstract. As the story unfolds, the “cybersphere” the virtual space where souls are judged becomes a character in its own right: eerie, beautiful, and terrifying in equal measure. Some of the most fascinating moments occur within this realm, where identity and memory become malleable, and salvation isn’t nearly as binary as heaven or hell.
If you’re into speculative fiction that blends the theological with the technological think Black Mirror meets Deus Ex with a bit of Contact thrown in The Last Accord is an absorbing, thought-provoking read. It doesn’t hand you easy answers, but it leaves you asking some pretty big questions long after the final page.
Highly recommended for readers who enjoy smart, high-concept science fiction with a soul.
October 29, 2025
A dying man is keen to get a compliance check on his soul from the only authority that matters. So he commissions a computer genius to create ‘God in the machine' with the objective of getting the top level clearance he seeks before presenting at the Pearly Gates.
The story of how that was accomplished, and the introduction of four deeply flawed humans as test subjects, gives you a front row seat to a guided tour of several different kinds of hell crafted by a quartet of malevolent entities, all craftily directed by a fallen angel who was supposed to be ‘God’s Right Hand Person’.
You’ll come to know the four miscreants (five if you count the originator of the idea) and their sins as you journey with them through realisation, repentance and (hopefully) redemption. It’s not a smooth or easy journey. The demonic beings who are each assigned to one of the petitioners taunt, punish and torment their charges, making this less a meeting with God than a brutal reckoning of guilt. The book has earned its ‘horror’ badge.
The question is, can these plucky humans overcome the beasts that are immiserating them? Will they end up meeting the Big Guy? And what the hell is an obol?
Michael McGinty has created an absorbing, disturbing, graphic, gruesome, occasionally bemusing and often amusing ride through the perils of artificial intelligence, the importance of self-reflection and humility, the theory and process of forgiveness, and the futility of looking beyond ourselves for answers. Come for the theology, stay for the action!
*Full discloure – I helped a little in the editing of this work, so I am fairly well acquainted with the author and the work itself.
The story of how that was accomplished, and the introduction of four deeply flawed humans as test subjects, gives you a front row seat to a guided tour of several different kinds of hell crafted by a quartet of malevolent entities, all craftily directed by a fallen angel who was supposed to be ‘God’s Right Hand Person’.
You’ll come to know the four miscreants (five if you count the originator of the idea) and their sins as you journey with them through realisation, repentance and (hopefully) redemption. It’s not a smooth or easy journey. The demonic beings who are each assigned to one of the petitioners taunt, punish and torment their charges, making this less a meeting with God than a brutal reckoning of guilt. The book has earned its ‘horror’ badge.
The question is, can these plucky humans overcome the beasts that are immiserating them? Will they end up meeting the Big Guy? And what the hell is an obol?
Michael McGinty has created an absorbing, disturbing, graphic, gruesome, occasionally bemusing and often amusing ride through the perils of artificial intelligence, the importance of self-reflection and humility, the theory and process of forgiveness, and the futility of looking beyond ourselves for answers. Come for the theology, stay for the action!
*Full discloure – I helped a little in the editing of this work, so I am fairly well acquainted with the author and the work itself.
September 15, 2025
God in the machine becomes literal. But… is it? God? Or something darker?
When I started reading, I expected the run-of-the-mill science fiction story. I couldn't have been more wrong. It had been a long time since I had enjoyed a science fiction story so much. It kept me glued to my seat and wanting more. If I have to make any criticism, it is that the timeline in the first few chapters is a bit confusing, but nothing that the reader cannot quickly figure out. Besides the plot, I have to say that I fell in love with the care the author put into crafting his characters. Who doesn’t love a gripping plot and rounded characters?
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
When I started reading, I expected the run-of-the-mill science fiction story. I couldn't have been more wrong. It had been a long time since I had enjoyed a science fiction story so much. It kept me glued to my seat and wanting more. If I have to make any criticism, it is that the timeline in the first few chapters is a bit confusing, but nothing that the reader cannot quickly figure out. Besides the plot, I have to say that I fell in love with the care the author put into crafting his characters. Who doesn’t love a gripping plot and rounded characters?
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews