Book Review:: I Think I Was Murdered | Colleen Coble & Rick Acker

I Think I Was Murdered by Colleen Coble and Rick Acker is a thriller that’s unafraid of modern technology. With elements of AI, bitcoin, and blockchain included as major plot drivers, the read somehow doesn’t feel too tech-heavy for a reader who isn’t completely on the up-and-up with these emerging technologies (like me). It maintains its balance with the incorporation of the very organic realm of relationships, family, and friendship.

I Think I Was Murdered by Colleen Coble & Rick Acker Book Cover

The company Katrina works for in Silicon Valley is beta testing a new AI system, and she’s fed in all her recently dead-husband’s electronic records in to test it (but really as a coping tool as she grieves his unexpected death). Texting the program is really communicating with him. He even sends her photographs of their memories. One day she asks him to tell her something she doesn’t know. “I think I was murdered,” he tells her. He died in a car accident, so this is the last thing she ever expected.

Meanwhile, her grandmother died, so Katrina has come back to her hometown, inherited her family’s restaurant, and reconnected with an old friend. Her Silicon Valley career is in shambles and being investigated, and it turns out her husband may have left something behind for her. It turns into a race against time for her to find before whoever killed him for it.

I can’t find anything really to fault in this novel. I thought it was done incredibly well. It managed to surprise me a few times, while I was also able to anticipate a few twists and feel that sense of self-satisfaction, too. There are plenty of plotlines to keep us busy, and all of them play into the main story in some way by the end. There is plenty to capture your interest as a reader, and the story felt very robust.

I was provided with an advanced listening copy of this book by the publisher and netgalley. The audio narration is also very good, if you’re an audiobook listener like me.

On the scale of wimp to true crime fanatic, I am way down on the wimpy side, and though there are moments of violence included in this book, it never gave me that haunting anxiety feeling as I read. I always like to know where thrillers end up on that spectrum because you can’t unread stuff! That’s not to say it didn’t keep me on the edge of my seat-just that I didn’t pee my pants all the way through. ha.

Details

Title:: I Think I Was Murdered
Author:: Colleen Coble & Rick Acker
Genre:: Thriller/Mystery
Publisher:: Thomas Nelson
Length:: 352 pages
Audio Length:: 9h 46m
Audiobook Narrator:: Karen Peakes
Audiobook Publisher:: Thomas Nelson
Published:: November 12th, 2024
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

Linky Links!!

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Hardcover] [Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

Every Moment Since | Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
Wrong Place Wrong Time | Gillian McAllister

Book Review:: The Underwriting | Michelle Miller

Can you still enjoy a book with nothing but despicable characters? Before this book, I might have said no. But damn if The Underwriting by Michelle Miller hasn’t blown me away with this Wallstreet meets Silicon Valley business thriller. Everyone (except arguably two/three among a very large cast) are absolute dirtbags.

The Underwriting Michelle Miller Book Cover

Hook is the hot new hookup app sweeping the world, and they’re ready to take the business public. The CEO has a lead with a banker on Wallstreet, and he wants it done in time for second quarter earnings, two months away. He gets a small team to get the job done, each of them excited for the opportunity this deal presents for them. But a Hook user at Stanford winds up dead, and the IPO might be at risk. What will each of them do when it’s time to show their true character?

The large cast of characters and wide scope of perspective kept me on the edge of my seat and really had a chance to showcase the highly specific setting of this novel. I don’t think anyone would argue that the culture in both investment banking and Silicon Valley are very abnormal and unhealthy sub-cultures, but they sure are interesting to read about! The stakes are high, the desperation real, and it can make personal integrity disintegrate with the opportunities vast amounts of money and influence affords.

I’m reluctant to say much about the plot, but it’s the kind of book that starts with lots of scattered POVs that eventually all come together in interesting ways to form a cohesive plot. The characters are unlikeable, but the main players all go through some sort of transformation with their experience in these events.

This was a gem I found at the library. Sometimes I think that’s how obscure books you’d never otherwise choose for yourself find you. It isn’t the best book I’ve ever read, but I do think it deserves five stars. I listened to the full-cast audiobook and it was wonderful.

Details

Title:: The Underwriting
Author:: Michelle Miller
Genre:: Business Thriller
Publisher:: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Length:: 372 pages
Audio Length:: 12h 31m
Audiobook Narrator:: MacLeod Andrews, Cassandra Campbell, Mark Deakins, Jorjeana Marie, (full cast)
Audiobook Publisher:: Penguin Audio
Published:: May 26th, 2015
The Litertarian Rating:: 5-Stars

Linky Links!!

Goodreads
Author Website
Amazon Affiliate Links
[Hardcover] [Paperback] [eBook] [Audible]

If you liked this book, check out…

Every Moment Since | Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
Wrong Place Wrong Time | Gillian McAllister
The Truth About the Devlins | Lisa Scottoline