Instant Bestseller From internationally bestselling author Daniel Kalla, whose thrillers are “impossible to put down” (Amy Stuart, #1 bestselling author of Death at the Party ), comes a razor-sharp psychological thriller about a CEO whose carefully curated life is falling apart. His wife is cheating, someone is stealing from his AI company, and he’s just been handed a fatal diagnosis. He’d end it all, if only he could trust his own reality. Liam Hirsch has it all—a loving family, a thriving career as CEO of an AI company, financial security, and a bright future. But when he’s diagnosed with a terminal illness, just weeks after discovering his wife’s infidelity, his perfect life unravels. As he grapples with his fate, he prepares to face his final days on his own terms. However, unexplained events inside his company make him question everything—including his diagnosis. In a world of deepfake videos, synthetic voices, and digital deception, couldn’t these technologies be weaponized against him? What if nothing is as it seems? With time running out, Liam turns to Andrea DeWalt, a private investigator contending with her own feelings of betrayal, to help him uncover a conspiracy that threatens his life, his family, and their future. In a world where nothing is as it seems and every digital footprint can be manipulated, who can Liam trust? “Kalla mines contemporary anxieties about technology for a shocking and emotionally satisfying tale that continually defies expectations. It’s a stunner.” — Publishers Weekly “...a gripping read that presents readers with fascinating yet disturbing questions.” — The BC Review “This is an excellent character-driven novel, with how the effects of AI can alter things for a person. With twists and turns, you get emotionally invested in the story. A great summer beach read.” — Red Carpet Crash “[Kalla] has never been better than in this poignant, nail-biting techno-thriller set in Washington State. . . [He] mines contemporary anxieties about technology for a shocking and emotionally satisfying tale that continually defies expectations. It’s a stunner.” — Publishers Weekly , starred review “A relentless thriller that uncovers the unsettling ways AI invades our most secure spaces. Haunting and thought-provoking.” — ROBYN HARDING , #1 bestselling author of The Haters “When Liam Hirsch finds his life under attack on multiple fronts, he realizes he can trust no one, not even the novel, untested AI that he created. A gripping thriller—you won’t be able to look away.” — SHARI LAPENA , #1 bestselling author of She Didn’t See It Coming “A propulsive thriller with memorable characters and jaw-dropping twists, exposing the pervasive dangers of AI. Unputdownable!” — PIP DRYSDALE , bestselling author of The Close-Up and The Strangers We Know Daniel Kalla is an internationally bestselling author of many novels, including Fit to Die , The Darkness in the Light , Lost Immunity , The Last High , and We All Fall Down . Kalla practices emergency medicine in Vancouver, British Columbia. Visit him at DanielKalla.com or follow him on Twitter @DanielKalla. Chapter 1 CHAPTER 1 Liam Hirsch never seriously contemplated dying before his forty-ninth birthday—until today. As he lets his electric Ford F-150 coast down the long driveway on this gray, drizzly Tuesday—a typical January afternoon in Seattle—he’s struck by the sheer size of the house he’s called home for seven years. It’s strange, this fixation on something so mundane. Am I still in shock? he wonders. Liam grew up in a cramped rental on a cracked street lined by patchy lawns. He never imagined owning a house like this—a hundred-year-old Tudor Revival fully refurbished with white oak floors, Carrara marble, a chef’s kitchen, and three fireplaces—let alone living in Broadmoor, a gated enclave designed to keep people like him out. But none of it matters now, he realizes with a shiver. He won’t be living anywhere much longer. He remembers the day they moved in. The twins, Ava and Cole, just eight years old, swarmed the house as though on an Easter egg hunt, their laughter echoing through the empty rooms. Celeste joined in, launching a pillow fight before helping Ava pin up posters of Ariana Grande and Shawn Mendes. Even after the kids fell asleep, his wife was still buzzing with excitement. They lay together on the living room couch, surrounded by empty boxes, her legs tangled with his as she eagerly detailed the renovations needed to put “the Hirsch stamp” on their new home. But now the memory sours. Liam, preoccupied with a glitch in his company’s app, barely registered Celeste’s words or appreciated what the house truly represented: the security he had always sought for his family. Liam parks in the four-car garage’s only empty stall and sits there, staring at the bikes, skis, kayaks, and camping gear—each item a trigger for memories of family adventures that now feel like someone els