Rating: 
Summary: Superb SF mystery
Review: Universal Library is a corporation that controls, owns or fixes databases for its various clients. It also has a website where, for a fee, users can talk to or do research with an AIP (Artificial intelligence Personality). Their most popular AIP is Turing Hopper whose specialty is general knowledge. Users like her because she's got a distinct and refreshing personality but what they don't know is that Turing is sentient.
When Turing realizes her programmer Zach hasn't reported in for eight days, she begins to worry a bit. When Mr. Smith from security tries to break into Zach's computer she really begins to worry. She contacts her two friends at UL, Maude a secretary and Tim the copier. Both have come to adore Turing and believe she is alive, and are willing to take risks to find out what is going on at UL and how it relates to Zach's disappearance.
Turing is one of the most original, adorable and refreshing characters to grace the pages of a mystery novel. Although the protagonist lives inside a computer (for the most part) readers will choose to ignore rather quickly that she's an AI and start thinking of her as human. She, with her partner's in crime, tries to save the world for sentient AI's of the second generation. This reviewer can't wait for the sequel(s). Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: A new sub-genre is created
Review: What a marvelous story! Ms. Andrews presents us with not only a new character in Turing Hopper, but perhaps a new sub-genre -- the artificial private eye. While Turing may have started out as tens of thousands of lines of code, she's become something more. She has a personality, a sense of humor, and a willingness to explore. When her programmer, Zach, disappears, Turing's search initially has the appearance of a pet looking around the house for its master. Yet we see her grow and develop, and Ms. Andrews skillfully shows a personality in flux as it becomes something else; something which takes purpose and meaning in hunting for her friend. While her ability to show affection is admittedly limited, Turing learns to care for her friends, both real and artificial. She also learns to take chances and risks -- unique concepts for a computer program. Ms. Andrews makes both her real and her artificial characters interesting and engaging. While I doubt this is the hook upon which to hang a major series, I am hopeful Ms. Andrews develops this theme and gives us more opportunities to read about the (artificial) life and times of Turing Hopper. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: New Series is a Winner
Review: When Zack doesn't show up at work for several days in a row, Turing is concerned. She does what she can to find him, but her resources are a little limited. While she can find any bit of information, she can't actually investigate in person because she's an Artificial Intelligence Personality, or AIP for short. Asking the aid of human friends Maude and Tim, Turing begins to get a picture that causes her to worry more. Zack seems to have stumbled on something huge. But was he killed or is he hiding out? And can Turing protect her friends, human and AIP, when the danger continues to build? I've enjoyed Ms. Andrews' other series, but was a bit skeptical when it came to this book. An AIP as the main character? This just sounded too far fetched for me. Yet she pulled it off with no trouble what-so-ever. All three of the main characters come off as fully developed. Most interesting was Turing, who reminded me of similar characters in the various Star Trek series. She has true strengths and weaknesses and grows the most as a character because of the story. The plot is a little slow getting off the ground, but the time is used to establish Turing and her environment. Once the story takes off, it moves at lightning speed. I was often turning pages to find out what would happen next. The point of view switches from Turing to Maude and Tim, making the best dramatic use of the story. The ending seemed a bit rushed, but only a little. I'm looking forward to seeing what Ms. Andrews has up her sleeves next for Turing and her friends. This is a fascinating world I look forward to visiting many more times to come.
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