I work in cybersecurity and the industry is all about leveraging automation to replace tedious human tasks. In looking into the disappearance of two young men, Kat, Locke and the team stumble through awkwardness and frustration, each trying to assert their own perspective on the case. But when the two missing persons cold cases they are reviewing suddenly become active, Lock is the only one who can help Kat when the case gets personal. This has to be a strong contender for crime debut of the year - sharp, perceptive writing and a brilliant new take on the detective duo' T. I really enjoyed this pairing of detective and machine and it was fascinating to see the interactions and development of the partnership with Kat’s gut feelings and emotional responses often in contradiction with Lock’s cold hard logic.

With its different image settings and ethnicities Lock can transform into a 3D hologram of a human, a visual experience that I imagine would be quite astonishing. Because it looked like a human – and not only that, a handsome one – and add in the fact that it mirrored human body language, mannerisms, and facial expressions. The plot cracks along and there are several interesting twists and turns before an unexpected and dramatic ending. Thankfully, for the most part, Locke did act like a machine, although I have met some humans in my lifetime whose behaviour is eerily machine-like, so there’s that.Really interesting insight to the future of policing, I’m not adverse to it, the time it would save and speed up the process in apprehending people for their crimes! I estimate In the Blink of an Eye is set in roughly five years time, give or take, so aside from the presence of Locke there’s little futuristic technical advancements to get your head around, and everything relating to AIDE was dumbed down to my level of almost zero knowledge. There’s plenty of tension, enhanced by the anonymous perspective of a young man suffering at the hands of shadowy figures, and effective twists in the plot. After much discussion, the team take up two missing person cold cases, conscientious student Tyrone Walters and would be actor Will Robinson. Nehezen tudok többet írni úgy, hogy ne mondjak semmit, ezért most abba is hagyom, és csak annyit mondok, hogy számomra az év egyik legjobb könyve volt.

Now I don't normally listen to the hype but the premise of the book sounded very intriguing; an Artificially Intelligent Detective Entity teaming up with a seasoned DCS to review cold cases sounds like science fiction but I've been to see ABBA Voyage 3 times in the past few months and seen how technology is evolving so in my mind "anything is possible". The pacing was spot on and the development of the story was so well written I was completely invested in the outcome (which I didn’t guess correctly). The main character was well-developed and the emotional impact of the story and relationships strong. If AIDE is our future, and let’s face it, it more than likely is, because we’re well on the way there, then it’s a troubling thought.

However, there is a reason for her antagonism which when revealed, adds another depth to Kat’s character. Linda’s Book Bag readers should note that they may unsubscribe at any point from following the blog. It had suspense while also being well-written and interesting also when there wasn’t so much going on. As Kat and Lock piece together what has happened to Tyrone and Will, the edginess increases so that the reader has a sickening sensation that they will not be the last two young men to vanish.