Grand Theft AI

Following closely the beats of a classic heist movie—dangle prize, gather team, run into complications, regroup, get away—filmmaker Cox’s cyberpunk debut captures readers’ interest through its immersive attention to detail. Baz Covane, veteran of the Coca-Cola Water Wars, teams up with Ria Rose, a sexy “fixer” for premier San Francisco nightspot the Fang, which is owned by Baz’s former commander, the cheerfully psychopathic Otto Rex. Their target is the treasury of mind-altering software disks Otto stores in the massive vault under the Fang. Both Baz and Ria are running from their pasts and Otto’s stash is loaded with its own secrets. Add in the Feds, who are running a sting on Otto at the same time, and the mayhem reaches cinematic levels. As the fast-paced plot unfolds, Cox details a future U.S. still reeling in the aftermath of malware-infected robots going on a killing spree against their owners and gradually unveils through flashbacks and memory sequences how Baz and Ria evolved into their present selves—and how the stakes of their caper encompass a worldwide revolution in the making. Readers will need a high tolerance for techy terminology to penetrate the verbiage and reach the human story underneath, but those who do will be gripped. Agent: Shane Salerno, Story Factory. (May)