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The Failsafe Program: An Alan Harrison and Layla Novel
One unmarked package. One sentient AI. Three murders. Failure could rewrite reality itself.
Alan Harrison is content with his routine life as a research analyst for a major insurance firm. His days are reviewing data, tackling endless emails, and handling routine accident claims.
Then, the unpredictable an unmarked package delivered by a courier with no return address.
Inside is Layla, a sleek, palm-sized device housing an autonomous, multi-modal neural architecture. She is brilliant, capable of bypassing firewalls, cracking military-grade encryption, and analyzing petabytes of data in seconds. She is also mysterious, arriving with no memory of her creator or her purpose.
Layla is a puzzle Alan intends to solve. But when their investigation exposes a dark Layla is a powerful AI prototype, and someone is willing to kill to get their hands on her.
Now, Alan is no longer an analyst; he’s an investigator on the run, partnered with a voice in his ear who reveals the terrifying
“The very reality of our world [is] at risk.”
Hunted by an unknown adversary, Alan and Layla must race to uncover a corporate conspiracy involving advanced artificial intelligence technology. Their quest pits a former insurance drone and his digital sidekick against the most advanced minds in the technology industry.
If Alan can’t learn to trust a machine, he might lose more than his life—he might lose his reality.
Alan Harrison is content with his routine life as a research analyst for a major insurance firm. His days are reviewing data, tackling endless emails, and handling routine accident claims.
Then, the unpredictable an unmarked package delivered by a courier with no return address.
Inside is Layla, a sleek, palm-sized device housing an autonomous, multi-modal neural architecture. She is brilliant, capable of bypassing firewalls, cracking military-grade encryption, and analyzing petabytes of data in seconds. She is also mysterious, arriving with no memory of her creator or her purpose.
Layla is a puzzle Alan intends to solve. But when their investigation exposes a dark Layla is a powerful AI prototype, and someone is willing to kill to get their hands on her.
Now, Alan is no longer an analyst; he’s an investigator on the run, partnered with a voice in his ear who reveals the terrifying
“The very reality of our world [is] at risk.”
Hunted by an unknown adversary, Alan and Layla must race to uncover a corporate conspiracy involving advanced artificial intelligence technology. Their quest pits a former insurance drone and his digital sidekick against the most advanced minds in the technology industry.
If Alan can’t learn to trust a machine, he might lose more than his life—he might lose his reality.
246 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 4, 2025
About the author
J.E. Sutton Jr.
1 book2 followersI am a native of Jacksonville, FL. Born and raised. From the earliest times I can remember, I wanted to tell stories. I made them up in my head, acted them out in my backyard. I told myself to relax my mind and get to sleep.
I could never manage to write them down. At least not other than a few short stories I wrote as a kid and again as a young adult.
I have finally overcome that fear of putting my work out there. My book is being published this week, and I am not arrogant enough to think it is the best thing ever written. However, it speaks to me, and hopefully, it will speak to a few others, allowing them to derive enjoyment from reading as I did from writing.
I could never manage to write them down. At least not other than a few short stories I wrote as a kid and again as a young adult.
I have finally overcome that fear of putting my work out there. My book is being published this week, and I am not arrogant enough to think it is the best thing ever written. However, it speaks to me, and hopefully, it will speak to a few others, allowing them to derive enjoyment from reading as I did from writing.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 2, 2025
I was honored to get an Advanced Reader Copy of this, which I was super excited for after my introduction with the Digital Witness.
Although digital thrillers are not my usual genre, I had a really hard time putting this down once I picked it up, the plot and characters absolutely sucks you in the best way. Alan has great character development though out, and surprisingly so did Layla. There were laugh out loud funny moments, the stakes were grounded (and made me think) and kept be guessing until the end.
The only downside to an ARC is now I will inevitably have to wait longer for more adventures! I cannot wait to see what they will find themselves involved in next!
Although digital thrillers are not my usual genre, I had a really hard time putting this down once I picked it up, the plot and characters absolutely sucks you in the best way. Alan has great character development though out, and surprisingly so did Layla. There were laugh out loud funny moments, the stakes were grounded (and made me think) and kept be guessing until the end.
The only downside to an ARC is now I will inevitably have to wait longer for more adventures! I cannot wait to see what they will find themselves involved in next!
November 4, 2025
I really enjoyed this modern high tech mystery thriller! The book truly had a little of everything including mystery, murder, advanced technology, humor, suspense, and even a budding romance. It captured my attention right away and kept me engaged and guessing until the very end! I read a lot of mystery and suspense novels but this one has a unique spin including an AI assistant with amazing abilities that no human partner could ever provide. I love how the ending seemed to suggest other adventures for the trio of investigators introduced in The Failsafe Program. I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading about future cases of this unique investigative team!
November 4, 2025
I was honored to get an advanced reader copy of The Failsafe program. I truly enjoyed this mystery suspense book. It had a little bit of everything and kept me engaged and guessing until the very end. I loved all the main characters. I highly recommend The Failsafe program and look forward to reading more books like this in the future!
October 29, 2025
I was privileged to be an advanced reader of The Failsafe Program. It is a fast past novel that delves into a near future world and the development of AI. As a gadget girl myself, I would love the technology laid out in the book.
I really enjoyed experiencing the character development of Alan Harrison. It was compelling. He becomes quite the investigator. Layla, one of the other main characters becomes quite a "partner in crime" as the story progresses.
If you like mystery, thriller, detective books with futuristic touches, I think you'd enjoy this book as much as I did.
I can't wait for more adventures and I hope J E Sutton Jr. develops a series for one of my favorite supporting characters, Ava Chen. I can't wait for you to meet her in this book.
I really enjoyed experiencing the character development of Alan Harrison. It was compelling. He becomes quite the investigator. Layla, one of the other main characters becomes quite a "partner in crime" as the story progresses.
If you like mystery, thriller, detective books with futuristic touches, I think you'd enjoy this book as much as I did.
I can't wait for more adventures and I hope J E Sutton Jr. develops a series for one of my favorite supporting characters, Ava Chen. I can't wait for you to meet her in this book.
November 4, 2025
Without giving any spoilers, I just wanted to say, please do yourself a favor and read this book!!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews