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The Journey Into The Unknown
Frankie follows an AI woman that is shockingly lifelike who may be behind the strange murders that are showing up around town. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
Several years ago I dreamed about seeing a woman on the other side of a highway, wearing a raincoat, drifting along. Was she being chased? Wait, could she be a robot?? I liked the mystery, the many possibilities. Some people see this book as something you can solve in a minute but it’s not possible. We don’t know how the people die. We don’t know anything about motives. In my dream, the woman seemed to be running from something, and I carried that feeling into the book. Frankie, by the way, is not a villain. I doubt there is a sentence in the whole book suggesting any malevolence in Frankie.
Did you create an outline for the characters in the story before you started writing or did the characters personalities grow organically as you were writing?
Mainly, Simon falls in love with Frankie, whom he thinks is pursued by her husband (!); because one of the themes here is that things can go wrong, this being the name of Chapter 1. So Simon focuses on laying low and hiding her, exactly as other major characters want desperately to find her. Probability, whether high or low, is actually a theme throughout the book. A major character and his historical hero are big-time gamblers.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The most important thing is the journey into the unknown, as that is a good description of AI. Every character in this book is drawn into a sort of quest. What’s going on, that’s what everyone says again and again. And I think readers will say the same thing if they don’t settle for easy guesses. I call this book “a unique mystery.” I believe I could present it to a theater full of Hollywood people, and almost nobody would understand what’s happening.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I do have another complex intellectual thriller in mind. Meanwhile I am preparing a book of poems for children.
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Experts baffled as many people die in university town. Cause of death: unknown.
Frankie is a look into the future of AI. The smarter the robots, the more likely that strange, unanticipated things will happen.
Raymond Mason, AI genius, rarely brings his work home. Then late one afternoon he brings his latest, most humanlike creation. Raymond knows his wife will be charmed. No way! Julia Mason feels competitive and threatened. For one thing, Raymond touches Frankie in a romantic way.
Julia is hostile and drinks too much. She passes out as Professor Mason runs upstairs to find a gun. An hour later Julia wakes to find her husband dead and Frankie gone. Julia, semi-hysterical, races into the night to find the missing masterpiece.
Simon, a grad-school drug dealer, falls in love with Frankie. He realizes he can build a cult around this spiritually evolved woman. First, he has to hide her.
For different reasons, many people search frantically for Frankie. Meanwhile, more unexplained deaths are reported. Panic sweeps the state of New Jersey. Some experts think that humanity is dealing with an alien invasion.
Dr. Jamison, the pathologist, notes that he has never seen so many beautiful corpses.
Frankie
Frankie, by Bruce Deitrick Price, is the story of how one AI changed the lives of all those who reside in a small New Jersey town. Raymond Mason brings home his creation, Frankie, and by morning the entire town is in a tailspin.
The story begins with a simple dinner. Ray shows Frankie to his wife, Julia, who is intrigued and jealous of the gorgeous AI in her home. After showing Julia what his invention has learned, he races upstairs and, in his haste, to come back down he falls. Julia tells Frankie to “go to hell” and then passes out from too much wine.
After waking, Mrs. Mason sees her husband limp at the foot of the stairs and Frankie is nowhere to be found. This tragedy causes Mrs. Mason to go crazy and begin a search for Frankie. The same morning, the Chief of Police is getting reports of strange deaths. As Mrs. Mason searches for Frankie the death toll rises, Mr. Mason is reported missing and a person of interest, and the town discovers what Frankie really is. As the story progresses readers learn that Frankie is a different kind of robot, one that is harmless.
The writing style and tone of this book are blended perfectly to create a thrill. Every character introduced has development and puts together a piece of the puzzle that the other characters have yet to discover. Everything in this story is connected in a strange way and there is some comedy in how the plot unfolds. I enjoyed reading this book, however, some character plots were more interesting to read than others. The way each character had a part to play in how the entire picture comes together was great, but some of the scenes felt like filler material.
Frankie, by Bruce Deitrick Price is like a comedic puzzle that keeps you entertained and wanting more. I would recommend this story to anyone who loves future technology, comedy, and a thrill.
Pages: 285 | ASIN : B0B18V1GB9
LITERARY TITAN 