I haven’t read a thriller this good in a long time. The suspense was masterfully built, and the twists were perfectly timed. Creepy and dark and just perfect!

Henry is a robotics engineer and keeps his creation William hidden away in the attic. Henry never leaves the house due to agoraphobia. He introduces William to friends who visit and that’s when it all goes wrong. William is evolving and developing emotions and his own will. The storyline was well written with a mixture of suspense and horror. At times it really creeped me out. I admit to being scared at the prospect of artificial intelligence becoming more and more prevalent in everyday life. This story feeds in to my deepest fears

What do you get if you mix Demon Seed, Lifeboat & Frankenstein? William by Mason Coile
William tells the tale of Henry and Lily.
Henry is agoraphobic, J.F. Sebastian type figure who spends his time making creepy robotic toys, and the creepiest A.I. Robot in fiction. Whilst Lily is a vibrant, rich entrepreneur, whose computer skills have led to her being the CEO of a tech company.
The couple live in a Victorian house, fortressed better than most military operations with tech that goes way beyond advanced. However, Henry & Lily’s marriage is in trouble. He is plagued by the guilt of his mental health difficulties, and when Lily invites Paige and Davis around for lunch. Henry begins to suspect that Lily has found love in the arms of another man.
Awkwardly, Henry shows his guests his latest project. William, the creepy little robot. When William intentionally inflicts pain on Lily, Henry is forced to shut it down. However, William is not so easily disposed of and migrates to the computer system that controls the house. Thus begins a game of cat and mouse as the occupants must escape before the malevolent A.I. takes its revenge.
Set in a single location, Coile uses various tropes of the horror genre to maintain a tense atmosphere throughout the book. Drawing on aspects of Hitchcock, slasher movies and general science fiction.
Injecting the story with shorter and shorter chapters to ramp up the intensity of the situation that the characters find themselves in, Coile maintains an air of urgency as the characters try to find ways to escape the house, whilst dodging the gleefully sadistic A.I.
At times, there are some surprisingly shocking scenes as Coile describes the blood-soaked deaths of the characters. William is a short, plot focussed read that immediately captures the attention and maintains it until the end.

I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher, in return for an honest review. This review is based entirely on my own thoughts and feelings.

Overall rating : 4*
Writing skill : 3*
Plot: 4*
Pace: 3*
Characters: 3*
Twist: 5*

For a short book, this packed quite a lot in. I was bordering on 3* the whole way, but the unexpected twist (no spoilers here) at the end surprised and entertained me so much this is an overall 4* read.
I liked the creepy vibes throughout, and the gruesomeness or certain scenes. A short text book horror that will entertain the masses.

This was fantastic! I knew it was my cup of tea, from the description but I hadn’t realised just how much I was going to enjoy this story! I loved it so much I finished it in a day and I’ve now got my own copy! Highly recommended!

After exceedingly high hopes for this unfortunate I did not enjoy it. The pacing felt incredibly slow for such a short book. The only redeeming factor was the ending.

It's a horror novel but also a depiction of the possible horror in our future. There's a continue tensione, dread, and twists.
It kept me hooked and on the edge
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Loved this weird, chilling read. It's not very long, but it's packed full of shivers, it's creepy, atmospheric and William is very weird. The twist at the end was mind blowing. Loved every page of this book and I highly recommend.

An AI thriller that reads like a haunted house story. The characters were awful but they were meant to be that way. Tense and thrilling that at times kept you on the edge of your seat. Thanks to John Murray Press and Netgalley for this review ARC

Henry is agoraphobic robotics engineer who lives with his wife, Lily, who funds his work in his laboratory in the attic of their futuristic home. Here he’s been working on a new project; an AI robot he calls William. William isn’t complete and something about him makes Henry nervous.
When Lily invites two of her coworkers for brunch one day, Henry decides it’s time for William to meet some new people and from here, the house descends into chaos and terror.

Mason Coile has really tapped into people’s fear of AI here and it’s an interesting idea that really works. William is a short novel that you can (and should) read in one setting. It’s fast paced and moves along in real time for the most part.

I love a locked room situation and this is done perfectly here with the use of technology alongside a real threat to the lives of the book’s characters. It’s a story I could see being adapted on screen with ease and I’d love to see that at some point in the future.

The book did lose me slightly somewhere 2/3rds of the way through but that ending? Perfect. I’ll be thinking about this one for a while!

This book started strong. It has creepy elements and mysterious dark undertone with William's agoraphobia, strained relationship with his wife and extra locks on the attic door.

However, as it progressed it dragged in places and I never found myself fully engaged or drawn into it. There were some great moments (the twist and the ending) and some scary moments but it wasn't particularly enjoyable to read.

This is the perfect October read! 🎃 👻

Henry and Lily are having relationship problems. Lily might be pregnant but Henry feels sure that there is someone else and that there is something she isn’t telling him.

But Lily isn’t the only one who’s keeping secrets. Henry is agoraphobic and he’s using his time alone to work on robotics: a dog, a cyclist … and William.

When Lily arrives at the house with friends Paige and Davis in tow, everything is in place for an unsettling Halloween.

This short novel took a while to get into but once it gets going it’s creepy and shocking, 😈.

With thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Henry an agoraphobic man , spends his time making robots at home.One day his wife Lily invites former colleagues Davis and Paige to visit for snacks and a drink. After some persuasion Henry shows them William( a robot that he has made) and William attacks Lily for some reason.Davis ,Paige and Lily escape the house .After some time Davis goes back to confront Henry. When he does not come back out Lily and Paige go back to see what has happened to him. When they are in the house William takes over all the electronic controls for the house and locks them in .There begins a cat and mouse search to locate each other with them all suffering from some form of attack. A surprising twist at the end.

Oh what a dark and very clever book this is. It will get inside your mind, for sure. You know how those tag lines promise you a twist you won't see coming? Well this book should have that tag line because I really didn't see what was coming until it hit me in the face! Henry and his wife, Lily, are brilliant engineers. AI rules their home, from controlling the light switches to opening and closing doors. Henry has used his genius skills to create several robots, including the increasingly creepy William. When Lily invites friends Davis and Paige round for dinner, things take a very sinister turn and the evening unfolds into one of horror. And that bathroom scene!!! Oh My God.

I absolutely loved this book. It's short at just over 200 pages which makes it a perfect read if you want something quick to fill a couple of hours. Creepy, sinister, eerie, and a timely reminder of the possibilities and consequences of AI. I loved it.

Thanks so much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for letting me have this. My review is on Goodreads and Amazon UK.

“William” by Mason Coile is an enthralling blend of psychological horror and cyber noir that redefines the haunted house narrative through a contemporary lens. In this gripping one-sitting read, Coile masterfully intertwines the eerie atmosphere of a traditional ghost story with the unsettling implications of artificial intelligence, creating a unique and thought-provoking experience.

This was a really enjoyable read and perfect for the spooky season! It gave me Frankenstein vibes, with a timely, modern-day twist that explores our fears of artificial intelligence.

William centers on agoraphobic Henry and his pregnant wife, Lily. Things soon go awry when Lily's co-workers come over for dinner, and Henry unveils the project he's been working on—an AI robot named William.

This book ticks so many boxes for me when it comes to good horror. It's equal parts creepy and tense, while also offering plenty of psychological and philosophical insights that elevate the overall story.

My only major critique would be that the characters are not very likable—but fortunately, Coile's excellent writing skills counter this. As the novel unfolds and Coile delves into his characters' motivations, I found myself not minding that I didn't particularly connect with the characters because the writing was just that good! The final act's plot twist was also perfection—I did not see it coming!

I'd definitely recommend this one to fans of horror that has something to say.

★★★★¼

Unfortunately couldn’t quite get into this novel. Gave it 50% chance but couldn’t get any further. A little too out there for my tastes

The cover drew me to this book and I thought it would make a perfect read in the run up to Halloween.

The story follows Lily and Henry, both brilliant engineers. Lily is a computer engineer and Henry is into robotics. He’s been spending increasing amounts of time in the lab creating an AI robot called William. Ghoulishly half formed, he reveals it to Lily’s friends when they visit. Things take a dark turn when their voice controlled house stops responding to their commands. What is William capable of?

This is quite a short book and doesn’t take long to read. It’s surprisingly compelling and I found I wanted to keep reading to find out what was going to happen. It’s an unsettling and gruesome tale and my imaginings of William is the stuff of nightmares. It’s like a modern twist on a traditional ghost story which makes you wonder what AI is capable of. I enjoyed it but I’m not sure how well I’ll sleep after reading it!

If you like unsettling, sinister reads then you’ll enjoy this and I recommend it.

Thanks to John Murray Press and NetGalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

I love stories with rogue AI and this was no exception! I was surprised by the plot as it wasn’t at all what I expected, in a very good way! It also made me think of Frankestein, albeit this is very different.

I found the theme of ‘how far is considered ok for technological advancement’ very well explored, together with well rounded characters. All of this within a locked-room setting which I truly love! There are a couple of twists that made my eyes pop and lots of creepy and suspenseful moments that literally get your heartbeat up up up! Not only that, but if you’re like me and like to stay in control, the whole story will have you right out of your comfort zone.

What I found a bit annoying throughout was the miscommunication trope, but after finishing the book, it becomes pretty clear why that’s essential. In addition, I would have loved a bit more space for the philosophical themes, only briefly brushed over, as that was the part that made me love the book the most.

As this was a new author to me, based on this thriller, I will definitely look up their other books. If you want to be spooked by AI and enjoy your head being spun by unexpected twists, try this read!

Thanks to the author, John Murray Press and NetGalley for a copy and this is my honest opinion.

In spite of every character in this book being awful (to different degrees), I really enjoyed this
I love a haunted house tale and this felt like a haunted house story where the ghosts were AI. This was incredibly tense, a sense of foreboding throughout
I was so intrigued to find out what was going to happen next
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review