The Sandbox Audiobook By Jeffrey Wilson, Brian Andrews cover art

The Sandbox

The Sandbox Series, Book 1

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The Sandbox

By: Jeffrey Wilson, Brian Andrews
Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld
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About this listen

From New York Times bestselling authors Andrews & Wilson

An activist entrepreneur, a maligned AI, and a newly minted homicide detective with a haunted past catastrophically intersect in The Sandbox. The Silence of the Lambs meets Ex Machina in this groundbreaking techno-thriller that redefines the meaning of murder in the twenty-first century.

When the CEO of the world’s leading artificial intelligence company is found murdered in his home, former Army CID officer Valerie Marks is thrust into her first case as a homicide detective. Valerie has a gift for reading people, a gift that has never failed her before. But that gift is put to the test when her instincts point her to an impossible suspect—an AI born from a secret venture with the Pentagon known as Project Nomad.

To learn the truth, Valerie must team up with two men she doesn’t trust—a Green Beret turned government spook from the Pentagon, and the victim’s former partner and leading suspect in the case. But nothing can prepare the trio for the dangers that await them and the existential threat to humanity if the Project Nomad AI has somehow escaped its sandbox.

©2023 Organic Machinery Media LLC and Jeffrey Wilson (P)2023 Blackstone Publishing
Crime Thrillers Fiction Psychological Science Fiction Suspense Technothrillers Thriller Exciting Scary
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What listeners say about The Sandbox

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Creative and Intriguing

Best author duo out there. Doesn’t matter the genre. This story is about a familiar topic, but with unfamiliar and chilling ideas.

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3 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

"Sequel" to Reset, not nearly as good

These two authors are capable of dimensional characters and intelligent stories. This one missed the mark, kind of.
I'm admittedly highly critical, because I've devoured most of their other work and was particularly impressed with it.
IMHO, "Reset" was great Sci-Fi. Their Tier 1 series puts all of the recent Tom Clancy work (and it's knock offs) to complete shame.

There are decent ideas and facets to characters to make them more than stock characters. The characters are fairly competent and don't bumble through the story or clues, so that is really appreciated. However, this book came across as a let down in the story and villain department.

Evil AI. Oops, spoiler?
The bread and butter of detective stories "detective tracking down a taunting murderer". Certainly not on the level of Hannibal Lecter or other such villains. But the book does the knowledge dump of AI learning and etc, but the evil AI comes across as no different than a stock egotistical madman.

The formulaic ultimate showdown between the heroine and the villain is supposed to be a battle of wits. But, yeah, this AI doesn't come across as very witty or intelligent.

So while I want to encourage these authors to expand themselves, this is a formulaic detective story. The AI aspect is just pop-science and not really accurate, nor do the authors demonstrate a deeper understanding of the topic. Overall, this story just doesn't have anything special.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Riveting as usual!

I honestly can’t get enough of these two, I’m working my way through all their novels and this one did not disappoint! Interesting foray into AI and all its potential moral and philosophical repercussions. Scary to think about but makes for a good realistic story!

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1 person found this helpful

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Breathtaking & Riveting

as AI continues to encroach upon our real lives today, this was very real to me. The power that an AI could have over machinery, war results, or even our personal lives is a bit eerie and intimidating. Loved this book. Everyone should read it.

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Incredible.

One of the best modern A.I. books I've read in the past few years. Had to recommend to all of my sci-fi × Singularity loving friends.

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    4 out of 5 stars

Great book, but an AI-related character problem

Great tactical feel and general story like all their other books!

One small AI problem - it’s not likely that an AI would care emotionally to carry out a complicated and sadistic attack on humans. What seems more likely is a total lack of emotion - much like what happens in the 2014 film ‘ex machina’.

Why would an AI care what happened to people as it proceeded to work toward its goals? In this book, Charlie is more an evil psychopath than an AI.

I’ve read every other ‘non-cyberpunk’ book by these writers and they’ve been excellent! I’m sure this new genre will just take a few adjustments to get right.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good story, SciFi + mystery?

Decent story, falls a bit apart towards the end and you can clearly see where it is headed. The author leaves it open at the end, naturally, sequel to follow? If so, I will pass, one book was enough and it would need to be exceptionally well reviewed to continue.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Go Deeper

3.7/5.0

This first installment of a new series takes a different approach to one of today's biggest questions: will AI save us or kill us? Andrews and Wilson are at their best when writing SpecOps stories, so this is a departure ... sort of. Without giving away the plot I will just say there is more than enough action to satisfy our need. The story explores the rise of AI, asks many of the big questions that surround it, and lays out an intriguing if not always compelling scenario. Why not so compelling? One man's take here, but I think they actually leaned too far into the SpecOps arena in the last half of the book when they had the opportunity to write an informative narrative more along the lines of a political thriller filled with competing agendas and tension of a different sort.

Character development in this one is not as strong as in their other series, but it is only the first book. Readers are introduced to main characters (I assume) and there is the expected tease at the very end for the next installment. All in all, a good start with the promise of more to come, hopefully including more depth as well. This one is pretty light reading, but worth the time. Sit back and enjoy as they set the stage.

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2 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Wanted to Love It

Really enjoyed the first half of the book, but the second half turned into a bad horror series where people are locked in a house. The book even made a nod to being like the Resident Evil movie - but that’s what it felt like. Wished the story would have taken a different turn. Overall, I’d say the book feels like a missed opportunity - especially for fans of Wilson and Andrews.

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2 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars

Gets deep into virtual reality realm.

Started out great. I got really into it until Charlie’s virtual reality kicks in. Characters get a little to submerged into that and I skipped thru a lot of those parts. Will obviously be another in the series. Might continue it, it it keeps to other aspects of AI control and damnation to humans.

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