Burn-In: A Novel of the Real Robotic Revolution

by P. W. Singer, August Cole

Overview

“A white-knuckle adventure . . . This near-future was crafted by experts, and it shows.”—Daniel H. Wilson, New York Times best-selling author of Robopocalypse

“Fantastic, compelling, and authoritative.” —General David Petraeus (US Army, Ret.)

An FBI agent hunts a new kind of terrorist through a Washington, DC, of the future in this ground-breaking book—at once a gripping technothriller and a fact-based tour of tomorrow.

America is on the brink of a revolution, one both technological and political. After narrowly stopping a bombing at Washington’s Union Station, FBI Special Agent Lara Keegan receives a new assignment: to field-test an advanced police robot. As a series of shocking catastrophes unfolds, the two find themselves investigating a conspiracy whose mastermind is using cutting-edge tech to rip the nation apart. With every tech, trend, and scene drawn from real-world research, Burn-In blends a techno-thriller’s excitement with nonfiction’s insight to illuminate the darkest corners of the world soon to come.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780358508618
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/25/2021
Pages:	432
Sales rank:	399,444
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.80(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

P. W. SINGER is an expert on twenty-first-century warfare. His award-winning nonfiction books include the New York Times bestseller Wired for War.

AUGUST COLE is a writer and analyst specializing in national security issues and a former defense industry reporter for the Wall Street Journal.

Editorial Reviews

Burn-In is a fantastic, compelling, and authoritative look into the future—a future that is equal parts amazing and terrifying. With Burn-In, Peter Singer and August Cole establish themselves both as masters of the techno-thriller and as scientifically grounded futurists. Woven into their riveting, page-turning tale of a brilliant FBI agent’s future hunt for a diabolically clever, tech-savvy criminal are important lessons about the extremely difficult issues that lie ahead surrounding the use of AI, robotics, augmented reality, and ubiquitous surveillance. It is a terrific read!”   —General David Petraeus (USA, Ret.), former commander of the Surge in Iraq, US Central Command, and coalition forces in Afghanistan and former director of the CIA  “Whether it’s a Jack Reacher novel or John Le Carré spy drama, my litmus test of how good a book is, is the time to read. I started Burn-In Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend and finished it Monday . . . If you, like me, enjoy fast-paced, well-researched, tech-adventure stories, you are going to devour Burn-In.”—Forbes “Burn-In will do more for defense experts’ understanding of this brave new world with literature than a thousand nonfiction assessments would have.”—War on The Rocks “For think-tankers and military and civilian officials, Burn-In offers a buffet of challenging questions and troubling future quandaries; for those who seek a good story, it has it all: robot sidekicks, bearded military veterans gone rogue, and a technological showdown of biblical proportions set in the nation’s capital.”—Military.com “The book, like the other noteworthy novel the two collaborated on, Ghost Fleet, meets its purpose skillfully. It is both lively, entertaining, and well-written as well as thought-provoking . . . [It] should be essential reading for anyone who looks out at the landscape today and sees clouds looming over the horizon.”—CIMSEC “[As] timely and compelling as it is entertaining, Burn-In raises important issues and will provoke the necessary conversations that must happen about humanity and the future we want as we embrace technology at an ever-accelerating pace.”—The Cipher Brief “It’s a story of human-machine teaming, but like a buddy cop movie . . . It’s a glimpse into the future.”—Defense One "It is Awesome. Highly recommend it."—Defense One “That fascinating place where things have a real chance of becoming real . . . This book is very much like a nerd’s dream. It’s fantastic. I love the concept.”—State Secrets “It’s a very interesting book . . . It’s a future shock novel like Greg Bear’s Slant, where things are happening faster and faster. But it’s also a military thriller. I compare it to Tom Clancy.”—Podside Picnic “A visionary new form of storytelling—a rollercoaster ride of science fiction blended with science fact.” —Damon Lindelof, writer/creator of Lost,Star Trek: Into Darkness, and Watchmen  &nb —

From the Publisher

03/16/2020

This perceptive near-future techno-thriller from Singer and Cole (Ghost Fleet) warns of the unintended consequences of rapid technologic change. After a series of deadly terrorist attacks strike the Washington, D.C., area, FBI special agent Lara Keegan is selected for a unique experiment: the pairing of a human law enforcement officer with an android, Tactical Autonomous Mobility System. Keegan is to train TAMS on the complexities of police work and human interaction while they track down the deadly insurgent. Singer, a military strategist, and Cole, a defense industry reporter for the Wall Street Journal, have clearly done their research. Hundreds of footnotes detail the real-world scientific breakthroughs that could lead to such a scenario, though the information overload can interrupt the story and feel like homework for the reader. Keegan evolves from suspicious indifference to her mechanical colleague to caring respect. Surprisingly, TAMS might be the most affecting character. For all the emphasis on high-tech fears, the authors tell a very human story. Agent: Dan Mandel, Sanford J. Greenburger Assoc. (May)

Publishers Weekly

2020-03-02
A near-future SF thriller starring an FBI agent and one damn smart robot.

Turmoil threatens the United States due to the “collision between an evolutionary species and a revolutionary technology.” Nearly a million aggrieved vets march on Washington, D.C., and set up a digital blockade against the police. Then the FBI assigns Special Agent Lara Keegan to a robot called a Tactical Autonomous Mobility System to perform a “burn-in,” a field test under real-life situations. TAMS is a highly intelligent “learning system” whose job is to help Keegan. Her job is to teach the bot human interaction skills through daily experience. By now, bots are so common that many in society are fearful. “It is not human jobs that are at risk from the rise of the robots,” says a man nicknamed Moses. “It is humanity itself.” But the FBI sees TAMS as always subordinate to the human—“man before machine,” says Keegan’s boss. “Woman,” she replies. Keegan and TAMS work together brilliantly, although her husband warns that the bot will learn more than she wants it to. “One massive sensor,” TAMS is a quick study, whether assessing a crowd threat, picking up on Keegan’s emotions, even playing Sesame Street songs for her young daughter, Haley. Yet it’s “not just some servile knee-high domo,” but “a machine with a mission.” In some ways this is a typical thriller with a tsunami on the Potomac River and other twists of fortune that eventually land the good guys just where they should land. There are lots of clever details, like vizglasses that transmit what people see to a computer, “frozen synth shrimp from Tennessee,” and “freegans…living off a dying society’s leftovers.” With the success of this bot, many copies will follow, all learning quickly, all subordinate to their humans.

The FBI’s bots are a great premise for a series. Just keep those suckers away from Putin.

Kirkus Reviews