Click Here for Murder

Rating:
Summary: A Terrific Read
Review: This Turin Hopper adventure is even more fun that "You've Got Murder"--and that was terrific! I literally couldn't put it down.

Rating:
Summary: Setient computer solves another crime!
Review: Turing Hopper is a great protagonist. Because she is an Artificial Intelligence Personality (AIP) who is sentient, she gets help from her friends Tim Pincoski and Maude Graham.

Their employee Ray Santiago is killed. They begin to investigate. Unfortunately they end up with more questions than answers. They soon discover that Ray wasn't exactly who he presented himself to be. Plus they can't find his laptop and are concerned that if it fell into the wrong hands, their entire computer security system could be breached. Many things begin to happen. And they discover that Ray was deeply involved in role playing games. They log in to play the computer game only to find it more sinister than they would expect him to be involved with. Then they become aware of the live-action role playing game that goes along with the computer game. It seems that Ray played that too, possibly even the night he was killed. Could this have anything to do with his murder?

Can they find the missing laptop and discover who killed Ray and why before someone else is killed or their computer system is breached?

This is a terrific series. What a unique protagonist. Ms. Andrews has written it so well that you truly believe a computer could do this. The way she uses Tim and Maude to assist her seems so natural. The many things that happen and the way the story twists and turns keeps your interest to the point of finding it hard to put down the book.

She also does a great job of telling the story without using a lot of unrecognizable technical jargon. Computer enthusiast or not, I believe you will enjoy this book.

This is the second in the series and I can't wait to read the third. I highly recommend this book and its predecessor You've Got Murder. They are a fast read with a story that will keep you guessing.

Rating:
Summary: Setient computer solves another crime!
Review: Turing Hopper is a great protagonist. Because she is an Artificial Intelligence Personality (AIP) who is sentient, she gets help from her friends Tim Pincoski and Maude Graham.

Their employee Ray Santiago is killed. They begin to investigate. Unfortunately they end up with more questions than answers. They soon discover that Ray wasn't exactly who he presented himself to be. Plus they can't find his laptop and are concerned that if it fell into the wrong hands, their entire computer security system could be breached. Many things begin to happen. And they discover that Ray was deeply involved in role playing games. They log in to play the computer game only to find it more sinister than they would expect him to be involved with. Then they become aware of the live-action role playing game that goes along with the computer game. It seems that Ray played that too, possibly even the night he was killed. Could this have anything to do with his murder?

Can they find the missing laptop and discover who killed Ray and why before someone else is killed or their computer system is breached?

This is a terrific series. What a unique protagonist. Ms. Andrews has written it so well that you truly believe a computer could do this. The way she uses Tim and Maude to assist her seems so natural. The many things that happen and the way the story twists and turns keeps your interest to the point of finding it hard to put down the book.

She also does a great job of telling the story without using a lot of unrecognizable technical jargon. Computer enthusiast or not, I believe you will enjoy this book.

This is the second in the series and I can't wait to read the third. I highly recommend this book and its predecessor You've Got Murder. They are a fast read with a story that will keep you guessing.

Rating:
Summary: A Terrific Read
Review: Turing is shocked to discover, while reading files of police reports, that Ray Santiago has been killed. He was the chief programmer at Alan Grace Enterprises, building the network that would become the new home for Turing and other AIP's. Shock quickly turns to concern when she discovers that Ray's laptop is missing. On it was information that could put Turing and her AIP friends at risk. So she, Tim, and Maude started investigating on their own to find the killer and the laptop. But that's not as easy as it first appears since Ray had constructed a secret life and wasn't necessarily who he claimed to be. While Tim follows the trail to find out who Ray really was, Maude and Turing try to make sense of the little they can find in his office and apartment. Who was Ray? And will that lead them to his killer and the all important laptop?

I completely fell in love with these characters in the first book in this series, and this second adventure was as much fun as the first. Turing is a very real character who grows over the course of the story once again. Having established Turing in the last book, Maude and Tim get a bit more of the spot light this time around, and I enjoyed getting to know them better. The story itself provides some interesting twists. I had some parts of the story figured out, but there were a few surprises that I never saw coming. The ending was a bit rushed, but when I went back and reread it, I was able to put everything together.

If you're new to this series, start with the first (You've Got Murder.) Not only does it set up the world that Turing lives in, but this book makes reference to a few key events from the last one. Both books are highly recommended for a great read. Hopefully, Ms. Andrews is working hard to bring us more with these characters. I'm sure looking forward it.

Rating:
Summary: More High Tech Fun with Turing
Review: Turing is shocked to discover, while reading files of police reports, that Ray Santiago has been killed. He was the chief programmer at Alan Grace Enterprises, building the network that would become the new home for Turing and other AIP's. Shock quickly turns to concern when she discovers that Ray's laptop is missing. On it was information that could put Turing and her AIP friends at risk. So she, Tim, and Maude started investigating on their own to find the killer and the laptop. But that's not as easy as it first appears since Ray had constructed a secret life and wasn't necessarily who he claimed to be. While Tim follows the trail to find out who Ray really was, Maude and Turing try to make sense of the little they can find in his office and apartment. Who was Ray? And will that lead them to his killer and the all important laptop?

I completely fell in love with these characters in the first book in this series, and this second adventure was as much fun as the first. Turing is a very real character who grows over the course of the story once again. Having established Turing in the last book, Maude and Tim get a bit more of the spot light this time around, and I enjoyed getting to know them better. The story itself provides some interesting twists. I had some parts of the story figured out, but there were a few surprises that I never saw coming. The ending was a bit rushed, but when I went back and reread it, I was able to put everything together.

If you're new to this series, start with the first (You've Got Murder.) Not only does it set up the world that Turing lives in, but this book makes reference to a few key events from the last one. Both books are highly recommended for a great read. Hopefully, Ms. Andrews is working hard to bring us more with these characters. I'm sure looking forward it.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable computer tale with a few loose ends
Review: When one of her staff members is killed, artificial intelligence personality Turing Hopper suspects that she may also be a target. The only clues are the role-playing game that the victim spent so much time playing, and his strange lack of a true identity. Turing assigned her two friends to find out more about the game and more about what Ray Santiago did before he became Ray Santiago and joined her company. What she doesn't expect is that she'll be sending her friends into danger--or that Santiago's killers just might be a threat for a bright artificial intelligence--like her.

Author Donna Andrews does an excellent job making computer crime approachable, using non-technical language and humanizing her computer-program protagonist (as well as providing a couple of very human sidekicks). Turing's concerns about turning into HAL (from 2001) and worries about following the law and respecting privacy add to reader safety. The role-playing game that Andrews describes is also believable, even as it spills out from the computer into the real-world of Washington D.C. Andrews is a skilled writer and provides a page-turning thrill-ride.

Although I liked Turing (despite her occasional descents into self-appraisal, I found sidekick Maude a little harder to like. Her moonlighting for Turing's company sounded unethical to me. Worse, she didn't seem to hesitate to shoot to kill, even when she wasn't fully aware of the situation. Nor did she seem to suffer any ethical consequences after she'd actually killed. The hints at the use of games for pedophilia also struck an incongruous note. Although this was an important justification for Santiago's initial involvement, Andrews should either have made this a bigger element or left it out.

CLICK HERE FOR MURDER isn't a perfect story, but it is a well written and entertaining adventure. The use of an artificial intelligence character creates an enjoyable alternate spin to the usual mystery novel and Andrews develops this story line convincingly, in a way that will be enjoyable both to computer professionals and to those who remain a bit concerned about the role of computers in our lives.