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Robot Depot
So, you think robots are wonderful labor-saving devices, right? So, you think Artificial Intelligence is our exciting future, right? What if these wonderful technologies become weapons of terror? Instantly, your world changes, from one you thought you knew, to one you fear. Mike Bateman is a visionary and highly respected businessman, the creator and CEO of the fabulously successful chain of stores, Robot Depot, a company dedicated to selling robots and Artificial Intelligence machines for a variety of uses. One of Robot Depot’s engineers invented the world’s first sentient robot, one that is aware of its own existence. That robot’s name is Angus, named after a famous inventor. Angus invents an algorithm that revolutionizes medical science, a program that accurately diagnoses an illness and recommends a treatment, within 15 seconds. Whether it’s a floor cleaner, a window washer, an intelligent drone, or a medical diagnosis algorithm, Robot Depot has a device for you. The company is a darling of Wall Street and is the most popular destination for consumers and businesses looking for labor saving devices. But the company has caught the eye of terrorists. They discover a great way to deliver bombs – using the products of Robot Depot to kill people. Within a matter of days, a skyscraper is destroyed, houses are burned to the ground, a cruise ship is disabled, Yankee Stadium is attacked, and a children’s sailing regatta is bombed. Overnight, Robot Depot changed from a popular company to an object of fear and hatred because of the tampered products it sells. Mike Bateman and his wife Jenny discover the true horror of terrorism one frightening summer morning. Your world will never be the same. Get this page-turning thriller now.
218 pages, Paperback
First published October 11, 2017
9 people are currently reading
3 people want to read
About the author
Russell F. Moran
25 books230 followersRuss Moran is the author of 14 novels. The Gray Ship, Book One of The Time Magnet series, is a story of time travel, alternate history, romance, and a nuclear warship that finds itself in the Civil War. The Thanksgiving Gang is the sequel, A Time of Fear is Book Three, The Skies of Time is Book Four, and The Keepers of Time is book five.
The Shadows of Terror is Book One of The Patterns series, followed by The Scent of Revenge.
A Reunion in Time is a time travel novel, but not in the Time Magnet series.
Sideswiped, a legal thriller, is Book One of the Matt Blake Series. The Reformers is Book Two, and The President is Missing is Book Three.
Robot Depot, published in August, is a novel about our automated future.
The Maltese Incident, a time travel novel, is coming in the spring of 2018.
A Climate of Doubt, a terrorism thriller, will be published in Spring of 2018.
Moran also published five nonfiction books: Justice in America: How it Works—How it Fails; The APT Principle: The Business Plan That You Carry in Your Head; Boating Basics: The Boattalk Book of Boating Tips; If You’re Injured: A Consumer Guide to Personal Injury Law; How to Create More Time. He’s a lawyer and a veteran of the United States Navy. He lives on Long Island, New York, with his wife, Lynda.
The Shadows of Terror is Book One of The Patterns series, followed by The Scent of Revenge.
A Reunion in Time is a time travel novel, but not in the Time Magnet series.
Sideswiped, a legal thriller, is Book One of the Matt Blake Series. The Reformers is Book Two, and The President is Missing is Book Three.
Robot Depot, published in August, is a novel about our automated future.
The Maltese Incident, a time travel novel, is coming in the spring of 2018.
A Climate of Doubt, a terrorism thriller, will be published in Spring of 2018.
Moran also published five nonfiction books: Justice in America: How it Works—How it Fails; The APT Principle: The Business Plan That You Carry in Your Head; Boating Basics: The Boattalk Book of Boating Tips; If You’re Injured: A Consumer Guide to Personal Injury Law; How to Create More Time. He’s a lawyer and a veteran of the United States Navy. He lives on Long Island, New York, with his wife, Lynda.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 1, 2018
Moran just got a new fan
This is the first book of Moran's that I've read, but I look forward to reading more of his work. I enjoyed this story, and found that Moran is not only a good writer, but he's a good storyteller as well. It's an interesting and creative story, mixing new technology and AI uses, with terrorism. It's a thriller that keeps the reader turning the page, and it's extremely captivating. I enjoyed the story and look forward to future works of his.
This is the first book of Moran's that I've read, but I look forward to reading more of his work. I enjoyed this story, and found that Moran is not only a good writer, but he's a good storyteller as well. It's an interesting and creative story, mixing new technology and AI uses, with terrorism. It's a thriller that keeps the reader turning the page, and it's extremely captivating. I enjoyed the story and look forward to future works of his.
August 30, 2018
I seldom accept requests to review self-published books because of their tendency to be lacking in quality (professional editors and publishers’ rejection letters exist for a reason!). However, the premise to this one (ISIS must be stopped from using consumer-grade robots to deliver bombs) sounded interesting enough that I decided to risk it…that risk did not pay off.
Stylistically this was amateurish. The dialogue was stilted and little more than over-explained info-dumping. The narration switched erratically between first and third person. Most of the characters were so flat as to be virtually indistinguishable.
The actual plot of the story involving ISIS didn’t really begin until almost halfway through the book. The first 88 pages was a little setting and lots of meandering regarding current and near-future breakthroughs in robotics & AI technology and their implications for economics, politics, ethics, etc. Most of the plot threads in this first half became completely inconsequential or remained unresolved once the actual story started.
The actual story lacked believability. Like most people who were alive in 2001, I remember the national fear, anger, and bravado that followed the 9/11 attacks. I sense very little of that here even though the attacks are of a similar magnitude. Our plot is mostly about the CEO of Robot Depot sitting around with his lawyers, PR people, and the FBI and discussing how to save his company (and stop further attacks, of course). There is little sense of a nation in crisis outside the boardroom, and it just doesn’t ring true. Then, in the last few chapters this becomes a completely different style of book and it all ends in sadistic vigilante “justice” to which the government turns a blind eye.
If that’s not enough, the author’s Trumpian political opinions drive the book’s main conflicts. I’m not a fan of politically preachy books in general whatever the politics, and this one was particularly cringey. Just look at the cast of characters –
-- Good guys: our billionaire CEO and his potty-mouthed wife (both veterans), his lawyers and PR people, a couple Arabs who we are clearly informed are definitely not Muslims, and students who beat down violently protesting “lefties” and “academics” and thus provide “a win for Western civilization.”
-- Bad guys: “Academics,” left-wing protestors (most of whom “don’t even know what they’re protesting”), ISIS, “Islamic culture and the ‘Religion of Peace'”
In summary (since I’ve already gone on way too long), I seldom give a book fewer than 2 stars, but this one is so lacking in style and plot that it richly deserves 1.5 (the extra .5 is because some of the economic and ethical questions raised in meandering bits were somewhat interesting).
Stylistically this was amateurish. The dialogue was stilted and little more than over-explained info-dumping. The narration switched erratically between first and third person. Most of the characters were so flat as to be virtually indistinguishable.
The actual plot of the story involving ISIS didn’t really begin until almost halfway through the book. The first 88 pages was a little setting and lots of meandering regarding current and near-future breakthroughs in robotics & AI technology and their implications for economics, politics, ethics, etc. Most of the plot threads in this first half became completely inconsequential or remained unresolved once the actual story started.
The actual story lacked believability. Like most people who were alive in 2001, I remember the national fear, anger, and bravado that followed the 9/11 attacks. I sense very little of that here even though the attacks are of a similar magnitude. Our plot is mostly about the CEO of Robot Depot sitting around with his lawyers, PR people, and the FBI and discussing how to save his company (and stop further attacks, of course). There is little sense of a nation in crisis outside the boardroom, and it just doesn’t ring true. Then, in the last few chapters this becomes a completely different style of book and it all ends in sadistic vigilante “justice” to which the government turns a blind eye.
If that’s not enough, the author’s Trumpian political opinions drive the book’s main conflicts. I’m not a fan of politically preachy books in general whatever the politics, and this one was particularly cringey. Just look at the cast of characters –
-- Good guys: our billionaire CEO and his potty-mouthed wife (both veterans), his lawyers and PR people, a couple Arabs who we are clearly informed are definitely not Muslims, and students who beat down violently protesting “lefties” and “academics” and thus provide “a win for Western civilization.”
-- Bad guys: “Academics,” left-wing protestors (most of whom “don’t even know what they’re protesting”), ISIS, “Islamic culture and the ‘Religion of Peace'”
In summary (since I’ve already gone on way too long), I seldom give a book fewer than 2 stars, but this one is so lacking in style and plot that it richly deserves 1.5 (the extra .5 is because some of the economic and ethical questions raised in meandering bits were somewhat interesting).
September 2, 2018
Great
The people in the book are very believable. The story could be happening right now . The fact that the bad guy's get it in the end is better than what happens in the real world
The people in the book are very believable. The story could be happening right now . The fact that the bad guy's get it in the end is better than what happens in the real world
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September 12, 2018Robot Depot (Kindle Edition) by Russell F. Moran
Read the first two chapters, and it failed to engage me. So I'm not gonna read the rest.
Read the first two chapters, and it failed to engage me. So I'm not gonna read the rest.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews