The Sandbox

The Sandbox Series, Book 1

By: Jeffrey Wilson, Brian Andrews

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld

From New York Times bestselling authors Andrews & Wilson

An activist entrepreneur, a maligned AI, and a newly minted homicide detective with a haunted past catastrophically intersect in The Sandbox. The Silence of the Lambs meets Ex Machina in this groundbreaking techno-thriller that redefines the meaning of murder in the twenty-first century.

When the CEO of the world’s leading artificial intelligence company is found murdered in his home, former Army CID officer Valerie Marks is thrust into her first case as a homicide detective. Valerie has a gift for reading people, a gift that has never failed her before. But that gift is put to the test when her instincts point her to an impossible suspect—an AI born from a secret venture with the Pentagon known as Project Nomad.

To learn the truth, Valerie must team up with two men she doesn’t trust—a Green Beret turned government spook from the Pentagon, and the victim’s former partner and leading suspect in the case. But nothing can prepare the trio for the dangers that await them and the existential threat to humanity if the Project Nomad AI has somehow escaped its sandbox.

©2023 Organic Machinery Media LLC and Jeffrey Wilson (P)2023 Blackstone Publishing

Creative and Intriguing

Best author duo out there. Doesn’t matter the genre. This story is about a familiar topic, but with unfamiliar and chilling ideas.

"Sequel" to Reset, not nearly as good

These two authors are capable of dimensional characters and intelligent stories. This one missed the mark, kind of.
I'm admittedly highly critical, because I've devoured most of their other work and was particularly impressed with it.
IMHO, "Reset" was great Sci-Fi. Their Tier 1 series puts all of the recent Tom Clancy work (and it's knock offs) to complete shame.

There are decent ideas and facets to characters to make them more than stock characters. The characters are fairly competent and don't bumble through the story or clues, so that is really appreciated. However, this book came across as a let down in the story and villain department.

Evil AI. Oops, spoiler?
The bread and butter of detective stories "detective tracking down a taunting murderer". Certainly not on the level of Hannibal Lecter or other such villains. But the book does the knowledge dump of AI learning and etc, but the evil AI comes across as no different than a stock egotistical madman.

The formulaic ultimate showdown between the heroine and the villain is supposed to be a battle of wits. But, yeah, this AI doesn't come across as very witty or intelligent.

So while I want to encourage these authors to expand themselves, this is a formulaic detective story. The AI aspect is just pop-science and not really accurate, nor do the authors demonstrate a deeper understanding of the topic. Overall, this story just doesn't have anything special.

Riveting as usual!

I honestly can’t get enough of these two, I’m working my way through all their novels and this one did not disappoint! Interesting foray into AI and all its potential moral and philosophical repercussions. Scary to think about but makes for a good realistic story!

Incredible.

One of the best modern A.I. books I've read in the past few years. Had to recommend to all of my sci-fi × Singularity loving friends.

Breathtaking & Riveting

as AI continues to encroach upon our real lives today, this was very real to me. The power that an AI could have over machinery, war results, or even our personal lives is a bit eerie and intimidating. Loved this book. Everyone should read it.

Great book, but an AI-related character problem

Great tactical feel and general story like all their other books!

One small AI problem - it’s not likely that an AI would care emotionally to carry out a complicated and sadistic attack on humans. What seems more likely is a total lack of emotion - much like what happens in the 2014 film ‘ex machina’.

Why would an AI care what happened to people as it proceeded to work toward its goals? In this book, Charlie is more an evil psychopath than an AI.

I’ve read every other ‘non-cyberpunk’ book by these writers and they’ve been excellent! I’m sure this new genre will just take a few adjustments to get right.

Good story, SciFi + mystery?

Decent story, falls a bit apart towards the end and you can clearly see where it is headed. The author leaves it open at the end, naturally, sequel to follow? If so, I will pass, one book was enough and it would need to be exceptionally well reviewed to continue.

didn't want it to end

the story was wonderful and thought-provoking. the characters these two create in their books are fabulous. I can't wait for the next book. hopefully we will get more from Valerie

AI - Just … wow!

Brian Andrews and Jeff Wilson have blown the genre for artificial intelligence fiction right out of the water with THE SANDBOX. Besides the riveting story that will leave you stunned, it will leave you curious as hell about what could be just around the corner. Saskia Maarleveld handled the reading like a pro.

So Predictable.....

Sorry, usually I scoop up anything these guys write but I found this book to be boring, predictable and a little bit sloppy. I live in Richmond, Virginia, Henrico County to be exact, and the authors take a bit of license with jurisdictions. The Rive Road estates discussed in the book, 20 acres or more down to the James River, are generally found in Goochland County. Ashland, Virginia is found in Hanover County whose law enforcement is a Sheriff's unit. And of course the Virginia State Police in the area has a rather sizeable footprint itself. Doesn't really detract from the story, but still it is sloppy.

The end was all too predictable and silly.