His mind has been fractured for years. Now he could be humankind’s only hope of stopping the end of our species…
Special Forces Captain Cade Rearden struggles to control the whispers in his head. Plagued by Multiple Personality Disorder, he nearly spirals into insanity after extremists kill his whole team and hold him captive. Defeated but not broken, he can hardly believe it when an … broken, he can hardly believe it when an artificial intelligence named Doris rescues him, then recruits him for an impossible mission.
Pulling together a crack military team, Rearden must take down Janus, a rogue AI intent on launching a chain of deadly attacks on American soil. And the key to staying one step ahead of the enemy could lie in understanding and protecting the incredible knowledge Doris possess. Knowledge that didn’t originate here on Earth.
Can Rearden somehow control his internal chaos and the battles raging around him? Can he and his team prevent the genocide of the whole human race? The stakes don’t get much higher.
State of Chaos is the first book in the riveting Cade Rearden science fiction thriller series. If you like near-future technology, complex heroes, and high-octane action, then you’ll love JK Franks’ explosive adventure.
Buy State of Chaos to join the fight against an AI Apocalypse today!
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Sometimes you just get lucky. J.K. Franks’ novel, Midnight Zone, looks absolutely fascinating to me, but I decided to start with this first book in the series to make sure that I knew everything I was supposed to when I started the next book. Now, all I can say is, “WOW!” State of Chaos is an amazing ride that had me hooked from the very beginning straight through to the final page.
This book has everything a good thriller needs and a heck of a lot more. There’s a war between two rival AIs. There is first contact with an alien species. There’s a plot to create a coup within the U.S. government which will have the unavoidable side effect of killing many millions of people. And there are a few decent people dragged into the plots and conflicts that are trying desperately to keep Armageddon from happening.
On top of all of that, Franks has clearly thought very carefully about all the issues involved and pulled together a highly credible setting. These are events I could imagine happening in the modern U.S., which is quite an accomplishment since it involves two AIs, aliens, and a lot of high-tech break throughs.
The book is called a Cade Rearden Thriller, and frankly Cade, with his military training and multiple personalities is a great character, but there’s nothing in this first book to make you think he’s the only main character—i.e. the character the whole series will be built on. That’s because the rest of the cast from the friendly AI, Doris, to the teenagers she recruits to help her fight the war, to the handful of critical military personnel and scientists fighting to save humanity, are also great characters. I hope very much that they appear in the next book as well.
State of Chaos is an amazing experience. If you like high octane thrillers, strap on your seatbelt and give this novel a try.
I received this book for free from Audiobook Boom in exchange for an honest review.
Alien transmissions from space
In rural Georgia, a group of young people stumble across an abandoned facility. When they enter the facility, they find Doris, a sapient Artificial Intelligence being. The facility was originally part of the SET I network, hoping to capture transmissions from space. When it was abandoned, the computer system holding Doris was given the directive to keep searching for messages from space.
This story pops ahead a few years and there have been amazing improvements done on the facility and the computer system Doris resides in.
A lot happens in this story, from who is recruited to help Doris to the finding of a malevolent AI that wants information from Doris.
The book is action packed and a fun read. It is the first book in a series and I can hardly wait until 2020 to read the next installment.
I loved the characters, especially Doris, and I loved the Bat Cave technology.
I received this book from the author in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.
It was okay. Very long. Started out like a YA book, with the kids finding the AI Doris. Then switched to Cade, the main character soldier type. Finished it but didn’t like enough to pick up others in the series.
I was really looking forward to this after reading the summary under the title but not only did it not disappoint, it was even better!!! So I am a sci-fi nut but this story is amazing! I love the tie-in with mental illness, especially MPD which is an extreme disorder – many people think it is the same as schizophrenia but it is not! Because I work in the mental health field, along with education, I love it when people are able to see someone struggling with this illness who is actually a hero. Great job on this book!
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Wow what a mix of innocence, insanity, rebirth, government corruption, betrayal, love, compassion and the ever-present Doris.
Different parts of the book reminded me of different movies and books that I have read. The kids being the ones to get things started I thought was a nice touch and it gave me a bit of “Stand By Me” feel. The grownups coming into the foray changed the dynamics a bit then we add in all of the other elements and things had a bit of an accordion effect.
Slow parts that seemed to take forever to make it’s point and then a burst of action or frustration where you wanted to just smack that person or people. The fight between Doris and Janus was pretty intense, a case of be careful what you wish for. It was a pretty good read that made you really question a lot of things about yourself and how the world really works.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
We are thrown into the book of the future – or perhaps it is actually the possibility of NOW? It’s going to appeal to a wide range of readers, from young adult to seniors (who actually have a better picture of the progress and growth of AI). Fact and speculation, blended well into an exciting, thrilling possible future, makes a fantastic reading experience!
Doris was cataloging the signal spikes she received from space. But this time was different — something was out there, something that was attempting to make contact, a 64% likelihood, and finding it had been the primary mission since her inception long ago, to monitor the stars for radio signals of unknown origin. This was the third such signal spike she had ever recorded, but each time, no other earth stations had corroborated the event. It could be a phantom signal caused by faulty hardware – but it was different and uncovering new data.
Doris needed to communicate to a human, but only one of her original team was still alive. In half a minute, she easily passed through firewalls and encryption. Suddenly one of her internal monitoring alarms notified her of a hostile code tracking her through one of the systems. It was not interfering, but definitely watching her. When a wave of energy passed over and through her, trying to compress the file system she was contained in, she recognized the attack and alerted the security system to take action. She spoke to the intruder and it answered back. She would bet this one would be back – it was just getting started!
Special Forces Captain Cade Rearden struggles with Multiple Personality Disorder after extremists killed his whole team and held him captive. He is amazed when an artificial intelligence named Doris rescues him, then recruits him for an impossible mission. Along with a crack military team, Rearden will try to take down Janus, a rogue AI just beginning to launch deadly attacks on America. Most important of all, however, is protecting Doris and the data she has been gathering!
This is an amazing story that is thrilling because it actually could happen. Amazing progress has been made with artificial intelligence, and when it can improve and repair itself, one wonders if human interaction is needed anymore! So much is going on in this exciting story as we observe the search for the malevolent AI that will be looking for information gathered by Doris. Can Rearden’s team succeed? Can Doris keep her nemesis from destroying her? Grab your copy and find the answers!
When humans are no longer the apex intelligence…
My freshman computer engineering professor told the class that the building sized computer we were using would one day be surpassed by ones so small that everyone would have one. Those computers would control almost every area of our lives, including teaching themselves to “learn” so as to keep up with ever advancing technology.
An advanced AI system calling itself Doris, a group of extremely intelligent kids, a message from an unknown source in deep space, and a small group of various military personnel combine to stop an unknown AI system from destroying it, and maybe mankind. But, when you are trying to stop an equally advanced computer system who has the ability to control all manner of other systems, including banking, military, first responders, FBI, CIA, etc., heroes must step forward. Such a man is Cade Reardon. In a world of chaos, sometimes you have to lose in order to win.
I received an ARC of the book from the author. This is a full throttle, techno-thriller that is not totally out of the realm of “maybe it could happen…” I loved it!!