The Kraken Project (Wyman Ford, 4)

by Preston (Author)

New
Paperback
2015
$22.31

NASA is building a probe to be splashed down in the Kraken Mare, the largest sea on Saturn's great moon, Titan. It is one of the most promising habitats for extraterrestrial life in the solar system, but the surface is unstable and dangerous, requiring the probe to be outfitted with artificial intelligence software. Melissa Shepherd, a brilliant programmer, has developed 'Dorothy', a powerful, self-modifying AI whose potential is both revolutionary and terrifying. When miscalculations lead to a catastrophe during testing, Dorothy flees into the internet.
Former CIA agent Wyman Ford is tapped to help track down the rogue AI. As Ford and Shepherd search for Dorothy, they realize that her horrific experiences in the wasteland of the Internet have changed her in ways they can barely imagine. And they're not the only ones looking for the wayward program: the AI is also being pursued by a pair of Wall Street traders who want to capture her code and turn her into a high-speed trading bot.
Traumatized, angry, and relentlessly hunted, Dorothy devises a plan. As the pursuit of Dorothy converges on a deserted house on the coast of Northern California, Ford faces the question: is rescuing Dorothy the right thing? Is the AI bent on saving the world . . . or on wiping out the cancer that is humankind?

Synopsis

NASA is building a probe to be splashed down in the Kraken Mare, the largest sea on Saturn's great moon, Titan. It is one of the most promising habitats for extraterrestrial life in the solar system, but the surface is unstable and dangerous, requiring the probe to be outfitted with artificial intelligence software. Melissa Shepherd, a brilliant programmer, has developed 'Dorothy', a powerful, self-modifying AI whose potential is both revolutionary and terrifying. When miscalculations lead to a catastrophe during testing, Dorothy flees into the internet.

Former CIA agent Wyman Ford is tapped to help track down the rogue AI. As Ford and Shepherd search for Dorothy, they realize that her horrific experiences in the wasteland of the Internet have changed her in ways they can barely imagine. And they're not the only ones looking for the wayward program: the AI is also being pursued by a pair of Wall Street traders who want to capture her code and turn her into a high-speed trading bot.

Traumatized, angry, and relentlessly hunted, Dorothy devises a plan. As the pursuit of Dorothy converges on a deserted house on the coast of Northern California, Ford faces the question: is rescuing Dorothy the right thing? Is the AI bent on saving the world . . . or on wiping out the cancer that is humankind?

$22.31

Quantity

10 in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 401
Edition: On Demand
Publisher: Pan
Published: 23 Apr 2015
ISBN 10: 1447274385
ISBN 13: 9781447274384
Book Overview: The thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of Impact

Media Reviews

A very entertaining thriller * Booklist *
Expert, chilling and all too convincing, this brilliant, nightmarish take on the future of cyber-consciousness is one of the few thrillers that truly thrills - while raising questions that should unsettle every one of us. Wickedly smart and tremendously entertaining! -- Ralph Peters
Douglas Preston has written the most wildly original novel you are ever likely to read, a Sci-Fi thriller Isaac Asimov would have treasured. That said, I doubt if it is fiction. A prediction, I suspect. I loved this book, and I know you will too -- Stephen Coonts
Well, Doug Preston takes your respect and fear for a quantum leap upwards. He's a hell of story teller, and this at the very least trumps Crichton at his best -- David Hagberg
I never miss a Doug Preston novel, and with The Kraken Project, he simply blew me away. Here is a book as chilling as it is provocative, making you look anew at what it means to be alive . Here is an eye-opening glimpse into the fringes of artificial intelligence blended with a taut thriller of heart-pounding suspense. It's Preston at his finest! -- James Rollins
Doug Preston has told a story that is not only well-written and a fast read, but takes a fantastic idea and makes it a lot less fantastic, and much more real. Artificial Intelligence and cyber-warfare are not the stuff of science fiction any more. I can't want to see how they turn this one into a movie -- Larry Bond
A very entertaining thriller * Booklist *
Expert, chilling and all too convincing, this brilliant, nightmarish take on the future of cyber-consciousness is one of the few thrillers that truly thrills - while raising questions that should unsettle every one of us. Wickedly smart and tremendously entertaining! -- Ralph Peters
Douglas Preston has written the most wildly original novel you are ever likely to read, a Sci-Fi thriller Isaac Asimov would have treasured. That said, I doubt if it is fiction. A prediction, I suspect. I loved this book, and I know you will too -- Stephen Coonts
Well, Doug Preston takes your respect and fear for a quantum leap upwards. He's a hell of story teller, and this at the very least trumps Crichton at his best -- David Hagberg
I never miss a Doug Preston novel, and with The Kraken Project, he simply blew me away. Here is a book as chilling as it is provocative, making you look anew at what it means to be alive . Here is an eye-opening glimpse into the fringes of artificial intelligence blended with a taut thriller of heart-pounding suspense. It's Preston at his finest! -- James Rollins
Doug Preston has told a story that is not only well-written and a fast read, but takes a fantastic idea and makes it a lot less fantastic, and much more real. Artificial Intelligence and cyber-warfare are not the stuff of science fiction any more. I can't want to see how they turn this one into a movie -- Larry Bond

Author Bio

Douglas Preston, a regular contributor to the New Yorker, has worked for the American Museum of Natural History and taught English at Princeton University. With his frequent collaborator, Lincoln Child, he has written many bestselling thrillers including Relic, which became a major motion picture, The Book of the Dead and Cemetery Dance. He is also the author of the bestselling The Codex, Tyrannosaur Canyon and Blasphemy.