"Riveting, tender, and terrifyingly real." —Mia Fontaine, New York Times bestselling author of Come Back
When struggling mother and failed novelist Anna Olin is invited to an exclusive residency on a remote island, it feels like an opportunity for artistic redemption. Alongside five other writers, including an old flame whose spark still smolders, she must finish her novel to compete for a million-dollar publishing contract. The catch? One of the writers is an AI.
Isolated and under pressure, Anna’s grasp on reality loosens as alliances form fast, seduction beckons, and secrets press closer to the surface—including Anna's own. When she starts receiving cryptic notes and the AI develops frightening new behaviors, Anna must decide what—and who—she's willing to risk if she is to fulfill the darkest fantasies she can't speak aloud, even to herself.
Jenny Williams spent eight and a half years at Google and Microsoft, where she worked on AI ethics, content design, and research on creativity and AI. She is also the author of the novel The Atlas of Forgotten Places and the novelette A Short Future History of Whales. Hailing from the Western United States, she has lived in Uganda and Germany and currently resides in Aotearoa New Zealand with her partner and son.