The Algorithm Will See You Now

by Jl Lycette

Overview

"I've been waiting for a book like this: a full-frontal assault on the dangers of artificial intelligence and the failures of our mangled health care system, all wrapped up in a clever, ripping thriller. Jennifer Lycette is an author to watch." -Rob Hart, author of The Paradox Hotel

The most dangerous lies are the ones that use the truth to sell themselves.

Medical treatment determined by artificial intelligence could do more than make Hope Kestrel's career. It could revolutionize healthcare.

What the Seattle surgeon doesn't know is the AI has a hidden fatal flaw, and the people covering it up will stop at nothing to dominate the world's healthcare-and its profits. Soon, Hope is made the scapegoat for a patient's death, and only Jacie Stone, a gifted intern with a knack for computer science, is willing to help search for the truth.

But her patient's death is only the tip of the conspiracy's iceberg. The Director, Marah Maddox, is plotting a use for the AI far outside the ethical bounds of her physician's oath. A staggering plan capable of reducing human lives to their DNA code, redefining the concepts of sickness and health, and delivering the power of life and death decisions into the hands of those behind the AI.

Even if the algorithm accidentally discards some who are treatable in order to make that happen...

JL Lycette's powerful, near-future thriller, The Algorithm Will See You Now, is perfect for fans of Blake Crouch and Rob Hart.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781685131494
Publisher:	Black Rose Writing
Publication date:	03/02/2023
Pages:	274
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.68(d)

About the Author

JL Lycette is a novelist, award-winning essayist, rural physician, wife, and mother. She has a degree in biochemistry from the University of San Francisco and attained her medical degree at the University of Washington. Mid-career, she discovered narrative medicine in her path back from physician burnout and has been writing ever since.Her essays can be found in Intima, NEJM, JAMA and other journals; at Doximity and Medscape; and her website https: //jenniferlycette.com.She is an alumna of the 2019 Pitch Wars Mentoring program. Her other published speculative fiction can be found in the anthology And If That Mockingbird Don't Sing: Parenting Stories Gone Speculative (Alternating Current Press). The Algorithm Will See You Now is her first novel. Connect with her on Twitter @JL_Lycette.

Editorial Reviews

02/06/2023

Lycette’s brave and ambitious debut novel, set in near-future Seattle, follows Dr. Hope Kestrel as she battles a powerful medical group, PRIMA, that’s providing treatment only to patients an algorithm identifies as curable. When Hope begins to suspect that the algorithm may be less accurate than it should be, PRIMA director Dr. Marah Maddox pushes her out on minimal pretext, sending Hope on an odyssey through the underpinnings of the system, alongside her junior colleague Jacie, who has her own reasons for resenting PRIMA. Hope's personal quest soon becomes a struggle against the dark future of healthcare.

Lycette—a physician herself—takes on a weighty theme: how to allocate healthcare in a world of limited resources. Her expertise shines through, but she wisely centers the story on Hope and her suspenseful journey. Indeed, the focus on the individuals affected by the "omnipotent" algorithm keeps the plot humming along. Especially affecting is the story of Jacie’s sister, Izabella, who is emotionally and figuratively scarred by disease but cut off from any hope of treatment because the computer says there's no chance she'll get better. The story’s slow to launch, and occasionally dense mathematical and medical details overwhelm the personal side, but once the central plot gets going, Lycette keeps her emphasis on Hope's struggles, and readers will find themselves invested in her triumphs and tragedies.

Although the spotlight is mostly on Hope, Lycette does a good job of bringing other key characters to life as well, including Hope’s former colleague, Dr. Fall, who’s described as "Hope's predecessor. And at one time, perhaps something more." Their tentative relationship lends some personal tension to the story, and just as engaging is Hope's relationship with her mentor, Cecilia, rendered naturally with appealing interactions. Lycette’s likable heroes, and the significance of their mission, carry the story through to its exciting and emotional conclusion.

Takeaway: This exciting thriller finds a physician battling a medical corporation over the future of medicine.

Great for fans of: Robin Cook, Brian Deer’s Blind Trial.

Production grades Cover: A- Design and typography: A- Illustrations: N/A Editing: B+ Marketing copy: A-

BookLife Reviews

Kirkus Reviews Indies Worth Discovering

2023 Best Thrillers Book Awards Finalist

2023 Readers' Favorite Bronze Medal Winner - Medical Thriller

2023 Maxy Award Finalist - Thriller

2023 Page Turner Award's Finalist - Best Debut Novel

2023 ScreenCraft Cinematic Book Competition Finalist

"A young surgeon's idealism around the power of artificial intelligence in cancer therapy soon becomes a heart-racing suspense story that raises complex questions about what happens when we allow algorithms to override compassion and empathy in medical choices. Chilling, Orwellian and timely, The Algorithm Will See You Now is a must-read in our tech-driven world." -M.J. Soni, author of Defying Apartheid

"Full of intrigue and smart thrills, The Algorithm Will See You Now is an incisive vision of a tech-driven future, amping up the contemporary horrors of our healthcare system to the extreme. Lycette's mastery of the medical field shines through, and her empathetic storytelling invites us to examine where we are headed and how we treat each other as human beings." -Victor Manibo, author of The Sleepless

"Both tense and topical, The Algorithm Will See You Now is a meticulously researched and deeply informed novel about the perils of where healthcare is likely heading, and the agonizing human costs involved. There are no easy decisions here, and Lycette paints a wonderfully complex portrait in an exciting debut." -E.A. Aymar, author of No Home for Killers

"In the tradition of Robert Harris' classic thriller The Fear Index, and Arthur C. Clark's 2001: A Space Odyssey, JL Lycette's novel about the perils of flawed, uncontrollable artificial intelligence is an emotionally-charged, cautionary tale about the role of technology in modern medicine." -BestThrillers.com

"Bringing the reality of the imminent threat to the healthcare system and the patient sovereignty disheartenment to life... the epitome of patient care sceneries at the end of the slippery slope towards which we are headed." -Dr. Adam Ray Tabriz, MD, Medium Author, Physicians Are Working Like Robots For Robots

"Get ready to be enthralled! Dr. Lycette poignantly lays out the future of healthcare with impeccable lucidity when AI becomes the center stage of medicine." -Rajeev Kurapati MD, MBA, award winning author of Physician: How Science Transformed the Art of Medicine

"I've been waiting for a book like this: a full-frontal assault on the dangers of artificial intelligence and the failures of our mangled health care system, all wrapped up in a clever, ripping thriller. Jennifer Lycette is an author to watch." -Rob Hart, author of The Paradox Hotel

"Lycette creates a very near future that readers will find to be fleshed out and tangible in its portrait of a near-future American healthcare system...A futuristic medical thriller with keen medical details and fast pacing." -Kirkus Reviews

"This exciting thriller finds a physician battling a medical corporation over the future of medicine." -BookLife

"With nuanced characters and a truly terrifying premise, The Algorithm Will See You Now is an ambitious debut that delivers." -Heather Levy, author of Anthony nominated Walking Through Needles

From the Publisher

2023-01-20
In Lycette’s speculative novel set in the year 2035, medical diagnoses are made not by medical professionals but by an artificial-intelligence algorithm—and one doctor has serious questions about it.

Dr. Hope Kestrel is the “High Resident” at the Seattle-based hospital Prognostic Intelligent Medical Algorithms and the front-runner for a post-residency position. PRIMA is on the verge of a merger with Seattle Healthcare Associates, and its diagnostic technology is seemingly without error. But when a patient (called a Patron under the new system) is erroneously admitted onto her service, Hope begins an investigation that leads her and her new intern, Jacie Stone, into a web of lies and corporate greed. It appears that PRIMA only admits Patrons that they’re certain will survive, while others are sent to a hospice-style facility. As Hope begins to question the algorithm, she’s penalized in the resident-ranking system and soon placed on leave. With Jacie’s help, they access the internal data to discover a dark secret in the algorithm creation. Over the course of this brisk novel, Lycette creates a very near future that readers will find to be fleshed out and tangible in its portrait of a near-future American health care system. The medical side of the story feels authentic throughout. However, there are times when the novel veers into too many topical issues, none of which are ever fully resolved. There are understandable mentions of the Covid-19 pandemic (called the “catalyst which led to the end of the previous broken system—health insurance tied to employment”), medical racial bias, sexism, and reproductive freedom, but these aspects don’t further the main story in significant ways and sometimes even distract from it. The overall emotional framework of the novel, in which Hope and Jacie are driven by their families’ experiences with cancer, may feel familiar, but it does make the main players more relatable.

A futuristic medical thriller with keen medical details and fast pacing.

Kirkus Reviews