William
Mason Colie
Cover and Synopsis
William Cover & Blurb
A haunted house story in which the haunting is by ai.
Henry is a brilliant engineer who, after untold hours spent in his home lab, has achieved the breakthrough of his career — he’s created an artificially intelligent consciousness. He calls the half-formed robot William.
No one knows about William. Henry’s agoraphobia keeps him inside the house, and his fixation on his project keeps him up in the attic, away from everyone, including his pregnant wife, Lily.
When Lily’s coworkers show up, wanting to finally meet Henry and see the new house — the smartest of smart homes — Henry decides to introduce them to William, and things go from strange to much worse. Soon Henry and Lily discover the security upgrades intended to keep danger out of the house are even better at locking it in.
Mason Coile is a pseudonym of Andrew Pyper.
I am saddened to say that he passed away earlier this year. Two more novels are slated to be published posthumously.
Review
William by Mason Colie
“I am the spirit of perpetual negation. For all things that exist deserve to perish.”
I randomly picked William up at Walmart one day, the cover instantly caught my eye. It’s been awhile since I have read something like this and I’m excited to get into it.
Spoiler Sweetie, jump down to my Final Thoughts to avoid them.
- Don’t go in the attic.
- This guy is paranoid af and I’m here for it.
- I wish I could read as fast as William here.
- William sounds.. interesting. Still probably better looking than some of my exes.
- Monetize your Pinocchios.
- I’ve been reading too much smut. I thought these two were looking to swing.
- I have so many questions. Is William going to murder these two? Is Henry going to let him?
- Excuse me Davis, is that your kid?
- How did I do? I’m dead.
- Oh, William 100% fucked with the power.
- Very Ultron of William to build his own body.
- Ah yes. William deep faked a video of you murdering someone.
- Remove the power source, that’ll work. Silly Henry.
- I knew it.
- Wow. William.
- I’ll. Show. You.
- Some of this is very paranormal but instead of a spirit tossing plates, it’s William touching a pregnant woman’s belly.
- What..
William by Mason COlie Review
Minor Spoilers
“The philosopher was wrong,” William says. “‘I think, therefore I am.’ It should be ‘I do, therefore I am.’ Pure freedom.”
William by Mason Coile was an unputdownable thrill ride. Blending a mix of horror, sci-fi and psychological thriller, I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. The chapters are short, and the pace is super quick. The entirety of the story takes place over just one day. William is just begging to be turned into a creepy psychological horror movie.
What happens when AI goes rogue?
William focuses on a man and his pregnant wife, Henry and Lily. Henry is agoraphobic. Spending his days locked inside his highly automated home, he creates numerous creepy projects in his laboratory. His latest? A highly intelligent artificial intelligence in a partially made robot of spare parts named William.
After receiving a copy of Faust, William becomes unhinged. What with the staring into the abyss and all. This couldn’t have happened at a worse time. Lily has company coming, and they want to meet William.
Because what terrified him wasn’t the thing on the other side of the wood, but the new thing that had joined it. A presence that will not be contained.
William is utterly delightful and so very creepy. After being murdered by his maker, William retreats into the smart home. Weaponizing it against his creator and guests. Aspects of William were very paranormal. Only instead of a human ghost, we have an A.I ghost.
Jaw dropping twist.
I’m not sure if I’ve just been away from this type of story for so long, or Coile’s twist was just that good. Either way, I was stunned. I was so wrapped up in the story, the possibility didn’t even occur to me. I would love to see William turned into a three part limited series, or movie.
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