The storyline about the computer project - beating the Turing test, "talking" with his dead father (those two stars are for you, Dr. Bassett!) - was great. It was let down by the forced twist at the end, as if the author had panicked and thought, hey, shouldn't this be going somewhere?The rest of the story is just... bad. There was no characterisation, no chemistry, nothing worth reading about - maybe that was the point, maybe I missed some clever criticism about the meaningless of modern relationships... waste of time, anyway. There were a lot of things I loved about this book: the tech industry focus, the entwined relationship the protagonist has with the "villains," the setting in SF, the pace, the mystery, etc. The primary storyline that focuses on the main character's relationship with his father fascinated me. You saw him go though different phases as he believed, became disturbed, then later found a place of acceptance and realistic understanding of what his father was to him in memory and what the computer program was in actuality.I have to say I didn't love the romantic relationships in this book. They didn't quite gel with my personal values and I felt like everyone was confused and didn't manage to find resolution. There was a twisted sense of spirituality from a sexual cult that I never fully bought into. However, I think these aspects of the storyline did add interest as the book evolved. It was good to watch a real-life romance unfold alongside a parent-child love tangle was untangled. Fav character is his mom. Hands down. I'd recommend it overall!
Do You like book Teoria Imperfetta Dell'amore (2013)?
Evoked the Bay Area milieu extremely well. Interesting premise, likable narrator, well written.
—blueangel
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh - not since "Everything Matters!" have I felt this at home with a book.
—june
Definitely a fun read if you live in San Francisco.
—alikatt
"There's just a higher gear I don't shift into."
—cns2125
