It’s almost Spooky Season! I love October book releases as a chance to indulge my love of the Horror genre. My first October release read for 2024 is William.

Henry is an engineer, a tinkerer and creator of robots - his latest creation William is a robot with Artificial Intelligence. However, when his wife brings her colleagues over to see William, William seems to have his own plans…

AI is a bit of a hot topic at the moment, and this horror really taps into the convenience of technology working against its owners. I loved the idea of a smart home going wrong, with doors locking and appliances being switched on by themselves. There are some truly gory moments within the novel which kept me gripped.

I really empathised with Henry and Lily throughout, but I think the colleagues lacked a bit of depth. Paige in particular had a brilliant story arc but the fact she came off as quite unlikeable and one-sided hindered the impact of this. I think this is actually a 3-star read but I really enjoyed the cleverness of the ending which added a star in my opinion.

Overall, William is a chilling read to kick off the Halloween season – I certainly won’t be installing smart locks in my home after reading it! Thank you to NetGalley & John Murray Press – Baskerville for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A very entertaining horror story but also amusing. Henry has built an AI robot, William which which goes rogue. Henry needs to protect his wife, Lily from William as he takes over all the electronics controlling the house.
The book is not overly long so keeping the suspense going. The ending was unexpected. It isn't the most original plot but thoroughly enjoyable. I would love to see it as a TV programme.

As soon as the robotic doll came pedalling along on its little bicycle, I knew this book was going to creep me out. I hate dolls, you see. The robot dog I could handle because I love dogs, but this chappie on the bicycle, no thanks. I half expected him to say "Let's play a game".
So there we have it, I hadn't met William yet, and already I was creeped out. Things could only get better, right? Well, yes as it happens. The book may be a bit slow to get going, but it's worth sticking with. Some of the characters (the human ones, that is) are a tad annoying, but again, it's worth sticking with it, particularly for that twist at the end.
All in all, William makes for super creepy reading, perfect for Halloween.
Thanks to John Murray Press and Netgalley for the digital ARC.

I'm not usually a horror fan but I read the description and found it intriguing, I thought it didn't sound too horrific so decided to give it a go. Also I find the whole AI thing fascinating too so looked forward to reading this.

it's definitely not my idea of horror, I didn't even find it that suspenseful really. Being a fairly short book it was quite compelling so it didn't take me too long to read it but it was just OK. Much of the book seemed to be concerned with Henry and his relationship with his wife Lily. Henry felt things weren't right between them and a lot of the book was taken up with him worrying that he was going to lose Lily as she seemed distant and he wasn't sure if it was his agoraphobia that was coming between them.

The robot was annoying and as it seemingly became obsessed with Lily, Henry took the decision to destroy it. William wasn't too impressed with this idea and bad things began following William's demise. There was a twist towards the end but on the whole I found it too far fetched and not at all scary.

Wow! William is creepy, terrifying and has a killer twist that I did not see coming. I read this in one sitting. The perfect Halloween read.

When Henry, a reclusive agoraphobic engineer creates artificial intelligence consciousness, he achieves his ultimate goal. Naming the half-formed robot William, Henry has achieved what others could not, but it comes with a price.

The way William watches Henry’s pregnant wife Lily is unnerving and when she invites two former colleagues to their home and William threatens the house’s occupants, Henry has no choice but to destroy his creation. But William isn’t gone, he starts to haunt the house. William began as Henry’s creation, but who will end up in control?

A psychological horror story with a sci-fi angle, William definitely gave me the creeps! At just over 200 pages long, Coile manages to give the reader a creepy immersive story just in time for spooky season that can be read in one sitting.

William is a terrifying creation- a mutilated half body made up of spare parts – Coile’s description of this character will haunt me for a while! The visceral aspect of Coile’s story add greatly to the overall sinister and disturbing atmosphere within this high tech home.

The interactions between Henry and William, how they define being human and what the human experience is, was really interesting. It’s a story about loneliness and the need for connection. This is also a cautionary tale of what AI could become and I think the author got the mix of sci-fi and horror just right in this story. Plenty of creepy moments with a few gory scenes added in (I’m not ok with the creepy magician!). An interesting take on the haunted doll/house story. Also I never want to stay in an automated house – you’ll understand when you read William!

That twist at the end will make you do a double take- it was the perfect ending for the story.

Thanks to NetGalley and John Murray Press, Baskerville for the arc. William is out on October 3rd.

Published 3 October 2024. I'm not usually one for books with a horror vibe but I requested this arc because I was interested in the idea of this AI creation - William - and whether, as the blub states, there are elements of Frankenstein (my No 1 book in the world). Henry is a reclusive engineer, excelling in robotics, who suffers from agoraphobia. He lives in a home where every door, window etc is operated by voice commands, a smart home, with his wife, Lily, who he seems to be drifting apart from and is expecting their first child. Henry has created William, an artificially intelligent consciousness with a half-formed body. The description of William will give you the creeps. The relationship between Henry and William is not so much creator and machine - William has a dark intelligence - he taunts Henry, unsettles him. When Lily invites her friends Davis and Paige over to meet Henry, Henry introduces them to William with dire consequences. This is a book that I read in a day (224 pages so very quick) and I found that it was page-turning. William has to be destroyed, but it is not that simple because William - displaying very human emotions -seems to have taken control of the house. The AI intelligence that was used to create William now seems to be hunting. The twist at the end - that I never saw coming. A super read for the coming Halloween season and a warning perhaps of the dangers of AI.

Haunted house and AI based psychological thriller. Henry is agoraphobic and works in his attic lab. He has built an AI robot and can't wait to share this invention. But when his wife's work colleagues want to meet her elusive husband he will introduce them to William and that is when the drama begins. Tight plotting and a neat twist in this thriller.

I found this incredibly creepy! A great precursor to the upcoming spooky season.

I was worried at first about the character being agoraphobic, as I've seen and read this a lot and I do think it's overdone. That said, the introduction of the robot with a truly menacing personality made me change my mind. The idea of the evil already being INSIDE the house vs. the character witnessing something outside, was exciting. And created some high stakes for Henry.

I would definitely recommend!

Thank you to the author, publishers Baskerville and NetGalley UK for access to this as an ebook. This is an honest and voluntary review.

Henry is agoraphobic. He lives with his wife Lily in a house where everything is controlled electronically, but there is a cold distance in their relationship. Henry’s focus is on his invention William, an autonomous robot whose dark personality has Henry so worried he keeps it locked in the upstairs lab. But locked doors won’t stop William.

This is a weird case of being both too long and not long enough. It has the character depth and plotting of a short story, but dragged out over 200 plus pages. There is potential in this story that could have been explored to its benefit over more pages. It also could have worked as a tight tense short story with faster pacing.

More engaging characters would definitely have helped. Having read the whole story I can understand why the author may have been happy to make Lily so cold and unknowable, and William feel uncomfortable and awkward. But, it negatively impacted the readability. I really struggled to feel anything for either character.

Part-way through two characters with at least some personality are introduced. Handsome Davis and abrasive, but hilarious to herself, Paige. That’s the limit of their personalities by the way. Paige is actually the only character in the whole book with some kind of attempt to give her depth or reasoning for her actions, with a reflective inner monologue section. But, while some personality compared to the flat Lilith makes Paige stand out, she’s so one-note annoying that it was a relief when the storyline shifted focus away from her.

This was a very creepy immersive read that gave me shivers down my spine as I was reading. The book stars off a little bit slow as we get to know the characters and it draws you in very cleverly and as it’s quite a short book I flew through it till the jaw dropping conclusion with a twist that blew my mind.
I don’t normally go for horror type books but this one peaked my interest and I’m so glad I was approved for it. I’m not going to say anymore as I think it’s just better to read it with no preconceived ideas it certainly made me think, it’s a great read for Halloween and one not to be missed.
My thanks to NetGalley and John Murray Press, Baskerville for giving me the opportunity to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I'm going to be jumping at bumps in the night tonight! I read this in a morning after I decided I had to finish it in daylight hours, especially since electronics have been known to do strange things around me (I blame it on the ghost who apparently eats everything too). I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this book as not my usual detective/ killer read, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I was never sure what would happen next, except sometimes immediately before it happened. I did not, however, have any inkling about the ending.!!

This is such a genius premise. I loved the genre mash-up: Psychological horror with a sci-fi/Spec bent. I'd love to read more books in this genre so kudos to the author for the ingenuity. Highly recommended to anyone who likes a chilling read anywhere in the thriller/sci fi/horror spectrum

*3.5 stars*

Henry is a brilliant engineer, however, suffering from agoraphobia means he’s completely reclusive and never leaves home.
He’s spent his time indoors creating an artificially intelligent consciousness.

And so we meet the product of his many years of work, a half formed robot - William. William is very scary, made worse by the fact that Henry is losing control over his creation, and incidentally William has an obsession for Henry’s wife Lily.

One day Lily invites two co-workers to brunch and also to meet Henry. Henry wants to show off their super smart home, and while he’s at it he decides to introduce them all to William. Big mistake!

The meeting with William takes a leap into the dark side and Henry decides that he has no alternative but to destroy William. But you don’t get rid of him that easily, because William is already enraged that he can’t experience the full range of human emotions and begins haunting the house. He’s there behind every door, his muttering can be heard in the attic, but even worse, his whispers can be heard inside Henry’s head. No sir, you won’t get rid of William, he’s here to stay!

A bit slow to take off but I soon got into it. There was quite a neat little twist towards the end that I didn’t see coming. Publication is due in October making this the perfect read for Halloween.

Henry finds is difficult to leave the house and spends his time in the attic building a AI robot named William.
He keeps this a secret from his wife until she brings friends over to visit and Henry unveils his creation.
This story is a creepy and horrifying glimpse into a possible AI catastrophe.
Thank you to NetGalley and John Murray Press for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Lily and Henry are a techpreneur couple living in an upmarket upstate college town in America. The house, a pretty Victorian pile, has been rigged with the latest gimmickry so that every opening and closing and environmental pulse is voice-controlled by the couple. As in the best of horror, there is something icky living in the attic. That is William. And his litter of mechanical beings. When Lily's friends Paige and Davis appear at the Victorian techie fortress, the robots get restless.

Henry, a slave to his own anxieties including agoraphobia, has created William out of spare parts kicking around his makeshift lab. William is truly horrible to look at – a head and torso with arms only stretched in balloon skin and grunge-wear – but has a liking for Faust and local radio and a distaste for Lily and the baby she is expecting. Don’t worry, Lily, what’s the first law of robotics?

Mason Coile knocks the stuffing out of the creepy doll genre with an injection of visceral adjectives and good old-fashioned human failings. There is a lot of wetness and slipping around and robots’ fibres seem more like bundles of nerves. This is definitely an AI cautionary tale that packs a punch. I really enjoyed the social media teaser with William’s suitably foreboding voice, so kudos to your team. A twist at the end that will creep you out will send you double-checking where you’ve put the keys at night. I didn’t see it coming, you might, but I re-read it after I knew and enjoyed the tale just as much on second reading.

Thanks to Michael Joseph and NetGalleyUK for the eARC. It was enjoyable and cathartic to read during my recent protracted house move. Happy Halloween everyone.

I am absolutely in my horror era, and William hit the spot and also chilled me to the core while completely sucking me in.

We meet Henry, an engineer with agoraphobia. Hidden away within his home with his pregnant wife, Henry begins to unravel, especially when his newest creation, William, starts pulling Henry's strings. William, from the outset, scared me. He's a half created robot, a warped confident of Henry's, but he's also toe curling. The way that Mason Coile describes William moving across the room is forever burnt into my brain and is in itself nightmare material.

As Henry begins to lose control of William, William's obsession with Henry's wife, Lily, begins to grow. After their initial meeting, William changes, and his anger spiders out to more than chilling 'friendly' word play with his creator. He begins to haunt their home and create absolute havoc.

My childhood nightmare character was Slappy from Goosebumps. Even now, I can't watch a show with him in it. William is the AI, robotic version that is seared into my nightmares. Mason has created an electric and terrifying atmosphere within this book. The writing was perfect and melted like butter but left that forewarning sense of doom. I swear can't of the chapters. I completely held my breath, and I couldn't get enough air in after completing.

William is a horror novel that has what it is to be human at its core. But it's also a book about loneliness and the urge for a connection. William is absolutely a ghost story filled with the most tummy twisting of thrills and adrenaline pumping chills. I would highly recommend adding this one to your Halloween TBR!

As someone who wouldn’t usually call themselves a horror fan, I was absolutely HOOKED by this creepy, thought-provoking and downright terrifying book!

We follow a single day in the lives of Lily, Henry and William. William is an AI robot (and honestly, the physical description of him was like something from Frankenstein) who seems to have a strange hatred for Henry, his creator. As expected, things go downhill FAST and we are plunged into a literal House of Horrors as William begins controlling aspects of the “smart” house.

I read this in one sitting because I simply couldn’t sleep without knowing what was going to happen!

5 Stars from me!

INCREDIBLE what did I just read?!

I've got a terrible habit of not reading the blurb on books before I read them. I tend to skim it when I decide if I want to read it but then it might be weeks or months before I actually do and at that point I trust past Lisa to have made a good decision...

Consequently, sometimes books are a huge surprise and William by Mason Coile sure was that! I loved it, it was fascinating, confusing, gross, funny and above all impossible to to put down. What a superb concept and brilliantly executed - bravo Mason Coile.

A promising horror debut with plenty to keep you engrossed and engaged - though missing something to really make it a top read. Focusing on a sentient AI gone bad, known as William, the narrative is at its strongest when Henry, William's ill-fated creator, is conversing with his creation. William's voice and mannerisms are terrifying and thrilling, and ensured that I finished this in one sitting. But the other characters, and the environment of the family home, do feel like they are left a little by the wayside in comparison. I'll certainly be anticipating Coile's next move, though, as the promise is there.