This compulsively readable psychological thriller from bestseller Delaney (Believe Me), a pseudonym of British adman Tony Strong, asks some provocative questions. Did Silicon Valley visionary Tim Scott, the founder of Scott Robotics, murder his wife, Abbie Cullen-Scott? Or did the free-spirited artist and devoted mother drown while surfing one night near their California beach house? Her body was never found. Five years after her disappearance, and four years after murder charges against Tim were dismissed due to lack of evidence, a woman sees someone who could be Abbie in a San Francisco computer store. When the woman asks this Abbie look-alike what happened, Abbie says she doesn't remember. Furthermore, Abbie doesn't deny that she's back with her husband. Though the woman is pleased to have confirmation that Tim didn't kill Abbie, she calls the police to report that the missing celebrity has seemingly returned from the dead. The ensuing publicity has devastating consequences for the resurrected Abbie, eccentric genius Tim, and their now nine-year-old son, Danny . Delaney keeps the suspense high throughout. The highly unusual setup sets this one above the thriller pack. Agent: Caradoc King, United Artists (U.K.). (Aug.)

Perfect wife, perfect life, right? Not so fast.Delaney (Believe Me, 2018, etc.) returns with a domestic artificial-intelligence thriller. Five years after an accident, Abbie wakes up covered in bandages and surrounded by machines. The catch? This isn't the real Abbie; this Abbie is a cobot, or "companion robot." The real Abbiea wild, beautiful artist and devoted motherwas never found. Her husband, Tim, a Steve Jobs type complete with God complex and anger issues, owns Scott Robotics, a cutting-edge Silicon Valley darling. Tim has spent half a decade and an enormous amount of resources to bring his wife back. The novel is told from the alternating perspectives of Abbie the cobot, who propels the novel forward, and Scott Robotics employees, who provide a Greek chorus of exposition. Cobot Abbie doesn't just look like her namesake: She has her thoughts, memories, and voice; feels maternal toward Danny, her autistic son; and begins to learn the original Abbie's secrets. But she also is her own personwell, robot. The tension between the inherited and innate is portrayed nicely, and the ethical questions surrounding Abbie are interesting. If robots are capable of feelings, empathy, and pain, should they have the same rights as humans? If not, how should they be treated? There's a particularly heartbreaking scene when cobot Abbie makes a bouillabaissewithout senses of taste or smelland uses rotten fish bones. With shame and despair, Abbie thinks, "Your stockyour beautiful, elaborate, saffron-infused fumetwas poisoned from the start." To add insult to injury: Artificial smelling technology exists but Tim has cut corners. A fitting metaphor. The twistor, rather, twistsis genuinely surprising and quite disturbing, but it feels like a slap in the face by taking away what little agency had been given to the female characters.A well-paced page-turner with a sour ending. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

If androids dream of electric sheep, what do cobots dream of? A cobot is a companion robot that replicates a lost one in appearance and behavior, often to provide comfort for the bereaved. When Abbie wakes from what she believes is a pleasant dream, her husband explains that it was actually a memory upload. The real Abbie died five years earlier in a terrible accident, but he, a millionaire robotics entrepreneur, has created a perfect copy of his perfect wife so they can resume their perfect marriage. It doesn't take the Abbie-bot long to figure out that there are some serious problems in their marriage and that she isn't just a few bytes short of a full upload. How did the real Abbie die? Was she murdered? Is she even really dead? Readers may need to suspend their disbelief at points but will be rewarded with a fresh take on the domestic thriller that will leave them satisfied, although, perhaps, at times, perplexed. Delaney is the internationally best-selling author of The Girl Before (2017) and Believe Me (2018).--Jane Murphy Copyright 2019 Booklist