Free Radical

by Tyler Black

James, an employee dispatched abroad by a UK tech consultancy firm, never expected to be battling for survival in the wintry depths of a north-eastern European forest-severely drunk and heavily armed-alongside his enfeebled colleague, Kieran, and a Russian guide. A spur-of-the-moment, absurd hunting adventure that was meant to cap a week of business meetings quickly crescendos into a hellish nightmare, complete with a shooting, a skeletally redefining car crash, and a chance encounter with a suspect, geriatric couple. All the while, the doomed trio is accompanied by Tarō, a toy-sized robot with the AI capacity to learn by watching and listening to humans so it can tell "innocent lies" to-supposedly-comfort the elderly and infirm. And as its bond with Kieran deepens, Tarō just might figure out a solution to its newfound master's rapidly deteriorating mental and physical health.

Tech cuts both ways, though-what Tarō has seen and heard in the week preceding this point of no return is human behaviour in all its chaos and depravity. Jumping back and forth between the frozen forest and the capital city's technology-driven business world and voluptuous nightlife, it becomes startlingly clear that everything has unravelled into irreversible madness. After trying to sell Tarō's capabilities by day, by night James and his team of "free radicals" exploit their AI robot and indulge in excess, while their lives-and those of people close to them-crumble. And as James tries to find a way out from the mess-and to save Kieran from an uncertain fate-the increasingly unsettling Tarō listens, waiting for its opportunity to pounce.

In this dark and dizzying existential techno thriller, three story arcs converge in a private, off-road apocalypse that will leave readers as shocked as the book's protagonist.

366 pages, Hardcover

Published April 15, 2021

About the author

I am an author currently based in Reading, Berkshire, England.

Free Radical, my standalone debut, was inspired by two specific periods in my life: first, a backpacking trip that drew me to Estonia in the late 1990s, preceding the collapse of the Soviet Union, and my experience of the chaos of that short-lived period; and second, a two-year stint in the UK’s tech industry that lapsed into decades, and which allowed me to pick between the teeth of the corporate beast and glean much from my colleagues’ treatment of others.

I was fortunate enough to make good friends along the way, and to experience many fascinating ‘happenings’, all of which shaped my writing and the characters I crafted.

Reviews

[N. Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will admit when I first began this book I was a bit confused by the corporate tone of the relationships between the main characters. The story starts out as a slow burn, a more clinical and informative office drama. However, when James and Kieran venture out into the wilderness with their Estonian guide, the real adventure begins. Black does an amazing job of blending believable science fiction and realism wrapped in a desperate self-preservation based mentality. The twists and turns of the story keep the book interesting and the author's knowledge of technical concepts keeps the dialogue smart and entertaining. This book is very conversation heavy and those not familiar with some of the jargon and concepts surrounding a tech start-up may feel lost at times. I often found myself as a stranger in a strange land caught up in some of the more detailed, business style discourses and interactions. I have never felt comfortable in this type of setting so when the story opened up into a wilderness survival story it felt like a breath of fresh air to me. Even as the characters are fighting for their lives the release from their confined, controlled lifestyles almost seems liberating, comical at times and always challenging. Black's writing style precisely navigates the twists and turns of the drama, carving out every intimate detail that needs to be expounded on and shining a light in ordinary places that makes even the mundane seems interesting. The book starts off slow but once you're hooked, you won't put it down. ***** Five Stars

[VA Fernz · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is more like suspense, mystery, and science fiction put up together to create an informative and realistic story for everyone to behold. This story shows the adventures which lead to more fun and thrilling twists. It revolves around technology-based sciences in which makes smart literacy. This is a clever read for every thought of it proves the intelligence of the author in making a good and really fascinating story. Tackling about artificial intelligence in such an interesting way. It also brought us to business society and how it revolves. It also has great imagery of how the setting of the story is placed. It has a great and exciting plot and entertaining dialogues which makes the readers hooked. Their adventures signify the reality not just in business but also in life. Circumstances that everyone is facing have greater learning once it was all solved. It is more like an everyday survival and others would always tend to fight for life even though sometimes it could ruin others. I also love the way it developed the characters throughout.

[Karen J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had me guessing all the way through and left me wanting more at the end. The author has a knack for dialogue and had me laughing at a lot of the banter between the characters. I like the characters (which is a big reason why I still wanted more at the end). I also liked the descriptions of the places and the people etc. which helps you immerse in the story.

The story is layered and builds the suspense keeping you guessing about what will happen. I loved the concepts of Taro and how he develops over time. The topic is really timely and does a good job of taking technology that is basically available now and showing aspects not being thought about. I even heard a podcast after listening to the book (that I won’t elaborate on here so that i won’t inadvertently include a spoiler) but that did touch upon some aspects of the tech in the book

I hope the author plans a sequel. If he does I would read
It.

[Richard Azia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled to get into this book. It doesn't help that we are in the middle of a pandemic where opportunities are being missed to get to Covid zero. Within this social context the book spends time with bar, club and other scenes. These are now alien, in the dystopia within which we live today.
When I read books I like them to progress from point A to point B without bouncing back and forth through time. If they do bounce back in time I like it to be justified.

This book explores the idea of big data, and how an object may just be a shell for what is happening in the cloud. If you break the shell it can move to another, like a hermit grab.

In a different social context I believe I would have enjoyed this book.

[Spinds❤]

DNF at 30%

I'm not going to rate this book as I didn't finish it because I think this might have been a bad time for me to read this book, I really struggled to get into and engage with it, it's an easy read but there's alot of things happening and it jumps from time to time a little and there's a little bit of Russian going on so it was a bit much for me, but I'm definitely going to read it, just not right now. I picked it for a reason, the synopsis is very intriguing and it sounds like a great book, so I'm going to pause it for now and pick it up again in maybe a month or so.

But as always thank you so much to Booktasters for being such amazing people and they're super understanding and thank you to Tyler Black for the book.

[Yolisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beginning of the book is somewhat slow,but reads well. We meet James in a corporate setting, engaged in a simple portfolio. He has been tasked to look after the brains of a new venture the company is working on. It seems simple enough but as time moves on, it gets kind of complicated. Secrets are kept, people get into trouble and accidents are not far behind.
James seems slow and a little reserved but he comes out tops but the book comes to a close and leaves us with so many questions.
It's a good read, needs one pay attention to details because the Author is very descriptive.

[Chandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

So the book is mainly about James, an employee of a tech firm of UK, and how he survives through the waves of environmental and technological changes. As tacky as it may sound, the book rather felt like a "dramatic" science fiction. The base line is pretty familiar - the reach of AI and how humankind makes its way around..at least in most parts (I should stop or else I might end up giving spoilers). But it was a good read, with the slow burn and nice narratives. Worth trying!

[ed. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting, but pretty difficult to get into. Between the time skips and the (sometimes) overly corporate language, it seemed to stretch on and on.

The characters are rudimentary but fit well into the roles they were given. The plot is also a bit hard to grasp but overall it's a good enough book.

(Many thanks to Booktasters for providing a free copy)