In the Blink of an Eye by Jo Callaghan

 

From Goodreads

'THE MOST ORIGINAL CRIME NOVEL YOU'LL READ THIS YEAR' CLARE MACKINTOSH 
‘THIS HAS TO BE A STRONG CONTENDER FOR CRIME DEBUT OF THE YEAR’ T. M. LOGAN
In the UK, someone is reported missing every 90 seconds.
Just gone. Vanished. In the blink of an eye. 

DCS Kat Frank knows all about loss. A widowed single mother, Kat is a cop who trusts her instincts. Picked to lead a pilot programme that has her paired with AIDE (Artificially Intelligent Detective Entity) Lock, Kat's instincts come up against Lock's logic. But when the two missing person's cold cases they are reviewing suddenly become active, Lock is the only one who can help Kat when the case gets personal. 

AI versus human experience. 
Logic versus instinct.
With lives on the line can the pair work together before someone else becomes another statistic? 

In the Blink of an Eye is a dazzling debut from an exciting new voice and asks us what we think it means to be human. 

My thoughts

This book had been pending on NetGalley for some time and still was, when I grabbed a copy from my local Library and settled down to read it.  I can also add that I cancelled my pending request on NetGalley.

I enjoyed this read that introduces us to DCS Kat Frank, she is a widower and a mother.  Life isn't easy for her, but she copes the best that she can under the circumstances.  Like many other members of the Detective side of the police she works on instinct a lot of the time, but when she is paired with her new pairing she is an experiment in some respects as she is being paired with Lock who is an AIDE (Artificially Intelligent Detective Entity).  Unlike humans Lock can only think logically as he has no instinct to rely on.  They both have so much to learn from one another and how will they interact together as they work on a couple of cold cases, that suddenly become active and for Kat personal too. 

This was a futuristic alternative to policing and one that may not be too far from happening.  Humans being paired with artificial programs that work alongside them to help them.  

This was a great debut read and an author to definitely keep an eye on.  This will definitely be in my Top 10 of 2023 despite it not quite getting 5 stars or 10/10.  It was almost there, but maybe your next one will be a 5 stars from me.