Freebourne: A Novel

Harry Coulson walks into his worst nightmare when he exits the railway station at Freebourne and finds a dead body. The close-knit community immediately suspects the newcomer of murder. Fortunately for Harry, the police soon have a person of interest in custody, and the anti-Harry animosity abates. Better still, funding for his AI start-up, Polaris, his lifetime dream, materializes from an unexpected source. His invention allows users to cope with painful memories by helping them to put aside any lingering negative or harmful thoughts and move forward in peace. More bodies, however, begin to appear. Harry again comes under suspicion even though several other suspects have emerged: the original victim’s parents; a group of violent Anthropos, AI Luddites, intent on destroying ‘brain-washing’ devices and their inventors; and the nine murderers released into the general public with new identities as part of a secret government experiment to ‘re-program’ convicted killers.

Freebourne is a gripping mystery with inventive sci-fi overtones and deep philosophic explorations into the meaning of freedom in an increasingly AI world. That is exciting enough, but far from all. The novel’s astonishing conclusion turns the entire story on its head and leaves the reader gasping. An excellent debut.