For thousands of years, humanity was the Earth’s apex predator. But not any more…
Silicon Valley, 2021—home to the greatest concentration of scientific genius anywhere on the planet…all wasting their talents trying to get you hooked on the latest, greatest social media app.
But behind closed doors a race is taking place to unlock the secrets of the brain. Brilliant men and women attempting to prove that intelligence doesn’t have to be human.
This race can have only one winner. The country that controls the first AI will be the planet’s last superpower. And just because America is in the lead doesn’t mean she’ll be the one to cross the finish line…
From Moscow to Beijing, the world’s intelligence agencies are circling. Our enemies will stop at nothing to end the American Century.
And they know something we don’t.
_____________
Denial of Service introduces former Air Force pararescue jumper Will Roper and scientist Emily Wilkes as they're thrust into a breakneck life or death race to save humanity, in best-selling author Jack Slater's first new series since Jason Trapp burst onto the charts.
An interesting new story by this author involving a scientist working on a new Artificial Intelligence program, one that goes beyond all before it by being able to upgrade itself by really learning! Of course this system is being built on the sly, by billionaires who long to increase their worth through what this new system can do. But there are always others seeking such intelligence, and they have spies noting what is happening around the world. An ex-ParaRescue jumper, Will Roper, is driving a taxi while he tries to figure out his life. And after the scientist, Emily Wilkes, is attacked at the Silicon Valley workplace of her invention, he unwittingly picks her up and becomes immediately mixed up in her problems! A quick moving story with romance, adventure and a need to know how to deal with danger, I enjoyed reading this and look forward to see what comes next! I received an ARC from the author and offer you my honest thoughts and feelings in this review
I hesitated to write this review because I genuinely enjoy reading Jack Slater’s books, and have read all of them, and would probably try and read the next one in this series. But I found this book had some glaring editorial issues, as well as the main character not being very well developed and certain scenes in the book felt very repetitive. There may be some spoiler alerts in here, so please stop reading if that would upset you.
1. Editorially by far the most annoying thing was Roper’s cop buddy. At first, the guy is engaged to be married and Roper is to be his best man. Then the guy dies, and somehow two chapters later he then gets married and his wife is 6 months pregnant. This point is brought up repeatedly and every time made me want to stop reading.
2. Roper, the main character, is a former PJ s who is dealing with PTSD issues. The action scenes were less action and more copy and paste of the symptoms of a panic attack. How many times can “his vision began to narrow” or “he wiped his sweaty palms” or “his heart beating wildly” be written about the same character doing the same type of things? After like the fifth time I wanted him to get shot so I didn’t have to hear about it anymore.
3. Air Force PJ’s are the SEAL’s that most people don’t know exist. I was disappointed that the training pipeline as well as the reality of being deployed wasn’t part of the character development. At one point in the book he describes himself as a medic, which is like a Ranger saying “I’m infantry”. The fact that certain scenes were written as if he had little to no hostage rescue training are absurd.
The best part of this book by far is the dynamic between Oliver, the computer, and the two protagonists. That part of the book made me smile. Also the drone scene was pretty cool.
Mr. Slater, if you read this I hope I don’t offend you with my review. I’m a fan of your work, but this one is not the example I would recommend to a first time reader
The best book I've read on Kindle for a couple of years. AWESOME is an appropriate deacriptor!
Whatever minor nitpicks I might have aren't worth exploring in detail in this review. But let me give you just one example: >> A lot of juicy details are missing from the book. It would be nice to have more details on how Oliver came to be, the advent of the singularity, and WHY Oliver sprang to life with a full-formed love for his apparent mother(Emily). Or, more details on Emily herself -- sadly, her persona is pretty two-dimensional. It would be good to know a LOT more about her development and educations, and how she got into the AI project.
Still,,,it's pretty unfair to insist that a multi-book series give up all its secrets in the very novel.
If this writing style-- leaving out valuable and interesting character development is accidental, it can be fixed in future chapters.
However, I don't think it was unintentional. I think the author very intentionally picked what was going into this novel, placing readers into Will Roper's head and keeping the action moving.
In effect, Slater wrote in a style that creates a huge HONEYPOT -- readers starving for that character development, AI explanations and more -- that will bring readers back for more details.
I have read all of Jack Slater's books and have enjoyed them immensely. This book is no exception, other than I am giving it a 4 instead of a 5 star rating. My reason is, as another reader stated, there are a few editing issues such as Will's best friend planning to get married in the summer, and then soon after you read that he is married and that his wife is 6 months pregnant. It made that part of the story confusing, but was not a deal breaker for me. Will suffers from PTSD, but it is never clear what his role was in the military, yet there are hints that a traumatic event occurred. Hopefully that part of the story will be further developed in the next volume. Also, there is another character, the Brit, that we only get a glimpse of, but I am certain we will see more of him in the next book. I really enjoyed the interactions between Oliver, (the AI ), and Will and Emily. Oliver was programed to filter out mistakes and improve any scenario as it was presented to him. This made his actions often unpredictable and sometimes quite humorous. I am also enjoying that a relationship is starting to develop between Will and Emily beyond two people running from danger. It will be interesting to see if that moves forward, or not.
For decades, the conversation has been about what would happen if a computer program could be coded to upgrade it self and get smarter every time it did. Some people would be willing to kill anyone that gets in the way to get those codes for their government. Emily Wilkes had coded such a program and named him Oliver. Will Roper is an Uber type driver who was once an elite Para-rescue jumper. He never thought he would need those skills again. When he picked Emily Wilkes for a fare, they both are in for the ride of their life. Excellent first book in the series!
Will Roper has only been out of the military a short time. He hasn't get fully adjusted to life as a civilian. Not unusual for an elite operator. He's driving a taxi and has just picked up a new fare. A very nervous young lady. She's yelling at him to him to hurry and leave. Then they are being followed and shots are being fired. What ensues is an incredible tale involving an AI with tremendous abilities that could drastically alter America's world standing. An excellent read!! Enjoyed immensely!
Does artificial intelligence exist? Who knows. We have made leaps and bounds in technology. GE was working on it more than 40 years ago. We have gone from needing an entire room to house computers to holding the same power in the palm of my hands.
AI real or still sci-fi? You decide.
It’s a very good story about people caught in crossfire of superpowers of the world. Should they divulge the information to their government. For the sake humanity’s future, they stay silent.
Lots of.action and intrigue. And I am looking forward to part two.
Jack Slater had me with his Jason Trapp character, but his new thriller with Will Roper is just as exciting. Slater’s knowledge of technology including AI keeps the reader excited and with the threat of China, Russia, and others trying to steal the technology makes for another page turner. I’m already for the next in this series. Thanks Jack Larry
I've read all of Jack Slater's books and have loved all of them. I couldn't put the book down and because of that, no gifts are wrapped and no cookies baked. I love high action books and running from the foreign country agents kept me reading until I was done. I love the new characters, Roper and Emily and can't wait for the next one!
Wasn’t sure about this book at first. I’m used to a much stronger hero in Jason Trapp, but Will Roper slowly grew on me. The story line was great and the AI angle was really interesting. Looking forward to the next book in the series, which I will certainly read.
Better than the likes of the big names bestsellers by far. Keeps you hooked and wondering. Have read a few AGI books and this is right up there. Well done Jack, you slayed em.
Difficult to fully understand. For example, how did Roper and Elaine happen to go to the farm house where he got the rifle and pistol? Did Roper and Elaine get together? I think I could read it over and still have many questions.
Great new action packed series. Exciting characters continually move you through the story, you will be on the edge of your seat through the whole book. Now we need more stories….
Enjoyed it. Found it. Touch slower at times than some of hood other books and it ended abruptly. Worth the read, not his best stuff. Some is just incredible
I've followed this author for some time now, and read everything he's written. Denial of Service is his best yet, combining emotion and well rounded characters with non-stop action that had me sitting on the edge of my seat.
Took a little bit in the beginning but it took off in a true Slater style. Absolutely loved the first in the series. I look forward to the next adventure.
I loved this book . Iwas so disappointed that there were no More in the series. Great action book.I liked because it was believable . Looking forward to book 2