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More Hype Than Anything
The Gestalt in the Machine follows a tech journalist as he’s dragged from covering an AI hype-fest into a deadly conspiracy that forces him to question who’s lying and what it means to be real. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I used to be a tech journalist and I’ve sat through a lot of hype. The bombast and over-the-top promises of PanoptiCon are actually pretty realistic, at least as far as what tech companies claim, and AI is more hyped than anything.
What’s different with AI is that there’s even less skepticism about it than other new technologies, I think because pessimists who might otherwise call out a bubble are instead drawn towards something else: The fear that it will destroy the world. With fans of the technology hoping that it will give them eternal life, the stakes are pretty high.
Adam Arrowman is an intriguing and well-developed character. What were some driving ideals behind his character development?
I wanted the protagonist to have realistic human flaws, which naturally are expressed more as he’s under the stress of investigating a murder. He isn’t some crime-solving mastermind: He quickly gets out of his depth, a feeling I think we all have when dealing with tech giants, and doesn’t necessarily react to that well. Then when he does make progress, he’s often reliant on others.
I tried to do the same with the other characters. Kelvin Clipper is the main antagonist and the book is in some ways a warning about the risks of his worldview, but I hope that readers will be agreeing with what he says at least some of the time. Who wouldn’t want to live forever?
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The two big ones are the effects of AI on our society and what happens when the push for an ever-accelerating economy runs up against physical constraints. I think that Singularity vs. Limits to Growth is going to be one of the biggest issues we face in the future, if the machines don’t destroy us first.
The book isn’t just about that, though. It’s a story of young people trying to make it in a world many see as doomed, of a devastated media that’s left a smoldering crater in place of consensus reality, and of where we invest our hopes for salvation following the death of God. And, I hope, an exciting thriller.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?
When I was writing the book, I thought it would be one and done. Not because I’d run out of things to say, but because AI was progressing so fast that I assumed it would replace human authors before I had a chance to write another.
Now I’m not so sure: Though the Internet is drowning in AI slop, a language model still can’t match a good human writer. I think the reason I was wrong isn’t so much because AI has slowed as that it’s moved on to things that are potentially more profitable than stringing words together. In fact, that seems a good topic to write about….
Author Links: GoodReads
His detective work takes him into the world of Kelvin Clipper, an imperious CEO who promises that ever-accelerating artificial intelligence will let him outrun death. Thousands of protesters disagree. Their warning: Infinite growth is an illusion and Big Tech is actually racing toward the extinction of humanity.
Caught in the middle, a band of hackers searches desperately for a way to align algorithms with human needs. More violence hints at a connection to a president threatening World War III, lobbyists trying to free corporations from their stockholders, and an app that claims to resurrect the dead.
Can Adam find the killer before the killer finds him? What secrets did the victim die to protect? And will Clipper’s Singularity deliver immortality in our time, or damnation for us all?
The Gestalt in the Machine
The Gestalt in the Machine is a sharp-witted techno-thriller that follows Adam Arrowman, a tech journalist reluctantly thrust into a deadly web of intrigue after witnessing a bombing at a Silicon Valley conference. What starts as a routine puff piece on a flamboyant billionaire’s AI announcements quickly escalates into a sprawling mystery involving murder, media manipulation, political corruption, and the philosophical implications of artificial intelligence. With a cast of rebels, reporters, moguls, and a robot or two, the book weaves a narrative that interrogates the direction of modern technology and whether it’s pulling us toward a utopia or a cliff.
This book floored me. It’s not just the plot, though, that’s plenty twisty and loaded with surprises. It’s the writing. Andy Dornan has a gift for mixing satire with sincerity in a way that feels real and raw. The characters have edges, contradictions, and actual voices. Adam isn’t your typical hero; he’s flawed, insecure, sometimes petty, and often overwhelmed, but he feels honest. The pacing is relentless in a good way, and I was laughing one minute and holding my breath the next. Even the exposition, normally the death of a good thriller, feels alive here, crackling with tension and humor. And the dialogue sings. Fast, funny, and always revealing more than what’s said out loud.
Dornan doesn’t just poke fun at Silicon Valley hype, he goes deeper, asking what it means to be human in a world where every gesture, thought, and feeling is data to be sold or shaped. The critiques of surveillance tech, algorithmic romance, and digital immortality hit hard without getting preachy. I couldn’t stop thinking about the idea that everyone’s out there curating a digital self to outlive them, while their real lives shrink. It’s scary, familiar, and sad. This book made me laugh, wince, and nod a lot. It’s fiction, sure, but it’s hitting nerves that are painfully nonfiction.
I’d recommend The Gestalt in the Machine to anyone who likes fast-paced fiction with brains, guts, and something to say. It’s for fans of Cory Doctorow, William Gibson, and even people who’ve never touched sci-fi but wonder why their phone knows what they want before they do. Techies will get the jokes, cynics will get the vibes, and anyone who’s ever been ghosted by a dating app will definitely get the message.
Pages: 318 | ASIN: B0FGSD2J6J
LITERARY TITAN 