The Perfect Wife: A Novel

The Perfect Wife centers around AI without all the science-y stuff. Thankfully, the author gives us the gist of it without getting too technical. The story is told in second person point of view, which isn't a favorite for me, and that combined with an unknown narrator did create some confusion at times. According to the acknowledgments, the author's aim for this book was psychological suspense, and there is a speculative element. For me, it's a little more on the speculative side than I care for, and parts of it stretch the suspension of disbelief quite far. Some of my favorite parts of the book centered around Danny and Abbie's interactions, especially as the parent of an autistic child. Those parts had a ring of truth about them, and most times were incredibly sweet moments between parent and child. The conclusion does have a pretty good twist, and I certainly didn't see all that coming, but some of it was also part of the above mentioned confusion. In the end, I found The Perfect Wife to be a little bit strange but still compelling enough to keep me reading. JP Delaney does have an interesting writing style and I'll be interested to see what's next from this author.

I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, J. P. Delaney, and Quercus, Ballantine Books, publishers. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. What would you do if you could erase the memory of your spouse, add back only the parts of your relationship where you were cast in a good light, and control the way your future was presented to said spouse? Or what if you were on the other side of that equation - your brain was only exposed to those thoughts and memories approved by your spouse? How long would this take to make you a little crazy? Tim is a Silicone Valley shining star. His wife Abbie has been missing for several years, leaving Tim - once he is cleared of murdering his missing wife - as the single parent of their autistic son, Danny. Tim and his crew of geeks have managed over those years to come close to perfecting a companion robot amidst their sales person robots, and Tim has carefully adding into the software of one that looks remarkably like Abbie only those memories from her past and their relationship that he wants her to have. Her software is the first trial run of a newly written program that allows the bot to develop compassion and empathy, make educated guesses, or research things mentally on-line when she doesn't know something about the subject. Within days Abbie has learned to pause when puzzled, knowing that wiki might just provide the information she needs to make an educated decision. It tales a little longer for her to see that Tim is up to something, and that he is much too controlling, but there is so much missing from her recollections of their personal lives that she is for a time lost. Surely she, an independent artist with a firm set of values and a healthy self worth, couldn't have lived like this. And the ABA techniques of praise and punishment practiced by Danny's specialized school, using electric shock as a deterrent for unsociable behavior for a boy diagnosed with childhood disintegrative disorder before his 4th birthday, is untenable. Unfortunately she apparently has no say in his care. Unless she choses to take the reins of their lives into her own hands... And somehow, it all feels very familiar... I thoroughly enjoyed Annie and Danny, and found the details of both autism treatment choices and robot development interesting and at times entertaining. This was a fascinating read, one I am happy to recommend to family and friends. pub date August 6, 2019

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