Late last year, the country was riveted and horrified by the assassination of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Just as shocking was the reception his alleged killer received, with many regarding Luigi Mangione a hero. With the price of health insurance soaring along with the number of denials, the murder raised the question of when do the ends justify the means? Indeed, UHC members reported a higher level of acceptances immediately after the killing.
This is the premise underlying Cate Holahan’s latest thriller, The Kidnapping of Alice Ingold. Alice is the uber privileged college-aged daughter of shipping heiress Catherine and AI billionaire Brian. Her kidnappers aren’t after money—they want the world to know about the danger that AI poses, and they’re releasing riddles to spread the word about Brian’s plans. But does Alice deserve to be the victim? How far is too far?
Kidnapping reads like Gone Girl as if Michael Crichton wrote it. Told from two points-of-view—Catherine’s and Alice’s diary—Holahan naturally weaves in the capabilities and possibilities of Brian’s AI company. Two different camps of thought become clear: Brian’s, who believes in the benefits offered if AI runs everything, and the kidnappers, who worry about jobs ending, economies collapsing, and wars run by drones. Catherine is caught in between: She desperately worries about her daughter, but as she watches how Brian handles the kidnappers’ demands, she begins to worry that her husband doesn’t care about anything but the future of his precious company.
Catherine may be an heiress and a billionaire’s wife, but she’s a mother first, and a character who is easy to identify with despite her wealth. In her diary, Alice comes across equally well. Raised in privilege, she never saw herself as better than others, and has rented an apartment in a sketchy neighborhood near Berkeley to stand on her own two feet. Although she’s initially frozen in fear when the kidnapper attacks her, eventually she fights back valiantly, describing several episodes in which she attempted to gain her freedom. She also uses her diary to describe her relationship with Brian, a man who ignored her in favor of building his company, and even humiliated her when she objected to his vision of the future of AI.
As Alice’s kidnappers clue her in on their objections, their heart-felt worries about the future have the reader wondering if Alice will fall victim to Stockholm Syndrome. Then Holahan starts pulling out the twists, and the ride gets even better.
As a writer myself, I’m particularly concerned about how AI might further disrupt publishing, an industry already dominated by a few and extremely difficult to break into. The thought of how AI might leave everyone jobless is absolutely chilling. I began reading The Kidnapping of Alice Ingold afraid for Alice’s future. I ended it afraid for everyone’s.
Thanks to MB Communications for the book in exchange for an honest review. It is available for FREE for Prime members and $1.99 otherwise through Friday from Amazon First Reads.
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