William by Mason Coile on September 10, 2024
Genres: Fiction / Horror, Fiction / Science Fiction / General, Fiction / Thrillers / Psychological
Pages: 224
Format: ARC
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Henry is a brilliant engineer who, after untold hours spent in his home lab, has achieved the breakthrough of his career, he’s created an artificially intelligent consciousness. He calls the half-formed robot William. No one knows about William. Henry’s agoraphobia keeps him inside the house, and his fixation on his project keeps him up in the attic, away from everyone, including his pregnant wife, Lily. When Lily’s coworkers show up, wanting to finally meet Henry and see the new house, the smartest of smart homes, Henry decides to introduce them to William, and things go from strange to much worse. Soon Henry and Lily discover the security upgrades intended to keep danger out of the house are even better at locking it in.
A quick dose of satisfying horror, but has evident flaws due to the amputated storytelling. My main issue with William is its structure. It’s missing a proper first act introducing its characters and setting. Spin it positively it drops readers immediately in the midst of action. However, the absence of buildup also makes the horrors less dynamic, as well as the deaths coming across as trivial. The writing is also uneven, the action sequences tend to be muddled and disorienting, and I find myself constantly re-reading passages trying to visualize what exactly is happening. It was such a strong idea for a story plot, but it would have been better if it was not a novella and instead a full novel to be able to give us more in-depth of the characters. However, if it would have been that, then perhaps the ending wouldn’t have been as shocking.
I rated this novella 3.5 stars. The ended, I did not see coming at all which really upped the rating for me, but I felt like there were too many plot holes that I needed answered as well.
Thank you NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons publishing for the advanced readers copy of this suspense si-fi for my honest opinions.