I haven't read much by Ms Coble before, but this was really such an entertaining read. Throughout the book the reader is teased with the details of the death of her husband, was it murder or an accident? I love the way everything played out, and I will definitely read more in future!TB

This book was not exactly what I was expecting, but still very interesting. I’m not totally sold on using an AI chat to talk to dead people, but there was definitely an air of mystery throughout. A different aspect on grief and overcoming loss but still including the typical thriller elements. It’s worth the read!

I Think I Was Murdered by Colleen Coble and Rick Acker is a gripping techno-thriller that masterfully intertwines elements of suspense, romance, and cutting-edge technology. The narrative follows Katrina Berg, a legal counsel at an AI chatbot start-up, who is grappling with the recent losses of her husband, Jason, and her grandmother. In her grief, Katrina turns to a sophisticated AI chatbot imbued with Jason's digital footprint, seeking solace in simulated conversations. Her world is upended when the chatbot unexpectedly suggests, "I think I was murdered," propelling Katrina into a perilous quest for the truth.

The novel excels in character development, particularly in portraying Katrina's complex emotional landscape as she navigates loss, technological ethics, and emerging romantic feelings for Seb Wallace, a local restaurateur with his own poignant history. The authors adeptly explore the ethical dimensions of AI, especially its role in processing grief, adding a thought-provoking layer to the suspenseful plot. The setting in North Haven, California, enriched with Norwegian cultural nuances, provides a warm and authentic backdrop that enhances the narrative's depth.

While the central mystery is compelling, some readers may find certain plot developments predictable. Additionally, the integration of multiple subplots occasionally diverts attention from the main storyline, potentially affecting the pacing. Nonetheless, the novel's innovative premise and the seamless blend of technology with human emotion make it a standout read.

Overall, *I Think I Was Murdered* offers a fresh perspective on the mystery genre, skillfully merging modern technological themes with timeless human experiences. It is a recommended read for those who appreciate suspenseful narratives that challenge the boundaries between technology and reality.

Amazing book by Ms. Coble.i couldn’t put it down.
Great storyline. It was very different; but again Ms. Coble grab me from page one.

Many thanks to Netgalley for this book. I received this book in exchange for my honest review. My thoughts are entirely my own.


Katrina is a lawyer who works for Talk Inc and one day the FBI come to the office because the CEO of the company David has been doing illegal things and while this is going on Katrina’s grandmother dies and she leaves her the family restaurant which has an apartment above the shop. Katrina goes back to her hometown in New Haven where there are mostly Norwegians. Katrina’s work has created an AI application and her husband that died a year earlier is a bot that Katrina communicates with and the bot tells her that Jason was murdered. After finding clues that Jason left her she figures out that he found an egg with a usb that has a lot of money in bitcoin in it. Katrina falls for Seb who she went to a Sadie Hawkins dance with in high school. Seb has a new half brother that is hiding a secret that he accidentally killed a cop in self defense. Katrina figures out a rogue FBI agent named Hughes works for a crime syndicate and that her best friend and business partner killed her husband over the egg Jason found and she believed belonged to her. Katrina is finally able to move on with Seb and delete the Talk app with the Jason boy off her phone and her brother Magnus is going to be a father.

Wow, A page turner for sure that's hard to put down. The characters introduction of AI in an app to help serve a mystery and a murder was intriguing. The characters are well formed and you can imagine the small town of North Haven where the action occurs. There's mystery, suspense, romance and a few surprises to keep the reader riveted to the outcome.

Although I received a free ARC ebook from net galley and the publisher, all thought expressed are my honest opinions.

Thank you to Thomas Nelson Fiction and NetGalley for the arc copy of this book. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Katrina Foster returns to her hometown in Northern California after the death of her grandmother and the FBI takes over the tech company she provides legal counsel for. Being back home brings up painful memories of her late husband, who was killed in a car accident a year prior. With the help of a chat AI beta prototype belonging to her company, Katrina discovers that perhaps her husband's death wasn't an accident. Turns out, there are things he never told her: he was in possession of a thumb drive worth billions of dollars that a lot of people are desperate to get their hands on. Using the prototype and the help of friends, Katrina uncovers clues her husband left behind as she tries to avoid her own death.

As a character, Katrina is okay, but Seb is the real star. He had the best character development, especially taking his upbringing into consideration. Katrina took advantage of Seb practically the entire time. I would have liked to see him stand up for himself at some point, but alas he is a golden retriever. I really thought Dylan would be a leech and then stay gone, so his moral compass in the end was refreshing. Liv got what she deserved in terms of being arrested, but readers are left wondering what she was actually sentenced.

The timeline is slightly confusing, and based off of the epilogue it appears the entire book took place over a few months tops. There is a lot jammed into that timeframe, making it feel a bit rushed. Speaking of epilogues, the book would have tied up more loose ends if it had been set farther out from the arrests. Sure, the bad guys were in jail, but did they get sentenced? Do Seb and Katrina make it work? How does Magnus take on parenthood? Rreaders want to know these things.

Overall, the book was entertaining, just rushed. I thought it was well written and edited, finding grammatical errors is very distracting while reading and I cannot recall a single one. I could dicipher which author wrote what, making the story flow nicely.

I Think I Was Murdered is a great suspense that explores the timely topic of developing AI and its possible ramifications on its users. The story starts off with Jason's death and I was quickly invested as Katrina followed the clues he left through a chatbot. When the words I THINK I WAS MURDERED appear, I was captivated. As with all of Coble's books, readers need to buckle in and prepare for a roller coaster of a ride. I felt the plot itself was excellent, with the authors skillfully parceling out clues to their readers. I found the story hard to put down.

The main characters are realistic and well-developed. I love the way the author explored the difficult issue of grief and its hold it can have on one. While this is a story filled with suspense, readers will find it is also a story of family and belonging.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley and the author/publisher. I was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I really wish that I would have liked this more. The plot/ premise seemed amazing and really the parts that involved the plot were great. Katrina is mourning the loss of her husband, and starts to talk to AI as it is sort of the identify of her husband. One day the AI responds "I think I was murdered." At that point Katrina starts on her own investigations. The problem for me was too much story on the side characters. If it focused more on Katrina and Jason's story I would have enjoyed this much more.

This book was good. I'm not a fan of AI so I won't comment on that much. However, I could understand the dependency in her situation. I was surprised with the revelation at the end. I did not see that coming.

After reading the summary for this book, I thought it would be a must read , but unfortunately, it just left me confused. I was drawn in by the concept of AI, especially in one's everyday life, and when you add in a murder, I'm all for it! However, this book was not what I was expecting. The book felt chaotic, with multiple plots and storylines and it was too hard to keep up with.

I couldn't wait to read this book! It sounded so fascinating! Reading the book just confirmed my impression! Katrina was a young widow, her husband having recently died in a car accident. However, she could pretend to talk with him in the form of an AI bot, after his texts, emails, etc. were all downloaded. Once Katrina asked it to tell her something she didn't know, it replied, "I think I was murdered!" That opened Pandora's box to unravel more information about who might have killed him and why. Meanwhile, Katrina's beloved grandmother died, leaving her restaurant to her. She runs into Sebastian, who also runs a successful restaurant. Together they work to unravel the clues, while trying to stay alive, and learning to appreciate each other. What a fantastic book this is!
I appreciate being able to read a complimentary advance copy. The thoughts expressed are my own.

I just don't think this was the book for me. It seemed to have a well developed plot and characters but the concept didn't keep my interest personally. I have been a Colleen Coble reader for a number of years now but this book didn't quite have the same feel as her others as well.

I don't know how many books I'll read this year, but I know with absolute certainty this will be one of the worst.

On Netgalley this was listed as General Fiction (Adult), Mystery & Thrillers, Romance. In my opinion, this was mostly romance? Honestly I feel cheated because given the blurb and the title, I would expect more murder investigation. Instead, poor Jason has to contend with his possible murder being an afterthought because his wife was too busy ogling at Seb; he has muscles, y'all! Oh, the reason she has to work with Seb was because he knew Japanese and at one point the AI started spewing Japanese terms. Somehow in an era of advanced AI, Google translate couldn't help her (that was the exact excuse in the book), and I'm like, "Sure."

Not that the romance was working. I didn't feel much chemistry. Katrina in particular annoyed me, because she only has one brain cell. For example, Frida left her a successful restaurant. Katrina, not knowing how to run one, agreed to sell it to Seb, who was seen as a natural successor to Frida. After all, Katrina was going to return to her 'big city life'. Then she changed her mind and decided to stay, and so she... reneged on the deal, going as far as to hurt Seb's feelings? But I was like, "You can stay without owning the restaurant? Can't you come up with some arrangement that worked for both of you?" Later on, Seb pointed out the exact same thing, and she went, "Oh, Seb's right." OF COURSE HE'S RIGHT, AND ANYONE COULD HAVE REALIZED THAT! FFS, YOU'RE A LAWYER, KATRINA!

There was also a love triangle involving Katrina's friend, Liv. Liv was the object of desire between Katrina's brother, Dude 1 and Seb's brother, Dude 2 (I have to admit that I have forgotten their names, even though it has only been days since I've finished this rubbish). And oh, Liv and the two dudes were hot too. But in case things were not stupid enough, the two dudes got into an actual fist fight over Liv. What were they, high school boys? Have some self-respect, please. Was there no other woman in this town? Incidentally Liv was also pregnant, supposedly with a third guy's baby. Now I'm not slut-shaming, but this sort of complexity is never fleshed out in the book, making everything feel contrived and ridiculous.

After all, remember that there was also a murder mystery? Hah, I'm betting that you've already forgotten that 'very important plotline' by now. This was precisely how I felt reading the book; I kept shouting, "BUT WHAT ABOUT JASON'S DEATH?!" Unfortunately because of the aforementioned romance bits, the story just plods along. There was zero tension. At one point an assassin was at their heels (a very deadly one, the book tells us), but somehow even when he was chasing or tailing Katrina, she still had time for romantic exchanges with Seb. This is how seriously they take the assassin. **spoiler, I guess?** Also because it's a romance now where you expect a happily-ever-after, you know Katrina will survive even when she was held at gun point.**end of spoiler**

By any means, one of the praises for the book promised, 'a complex puzzle, character-driven plot, and satisfying reveal.' Uh, I kind of figured out the puzzle early on, so... not very complex or satisfying, it turned out. Anyway, I suffered through so many pages to a point where I wanted every single character to die just so that I can stop reading (I didn't want to DNF this because I had requested for it, to my feelings of deep, deep regret).

This is a book that tried to do too much, sadly a common theme nowadays. There was a bit about Seb's backstory and his difficult relationship with his father. Admittedly, I don't hate Seb; he's the reason I gave this 1 star. But then we have Dude 2 (Seb's brother) with his shady past and forged documents. We also have a hint of family drama when Frida left the restaurant to Katrina, and her brother got mad but only for a few pages, so... it was kind of a pointless thing. A big deal was made about some Chinese mafia, which alright, has some link eventually, but for the most part it's ineffectual and just adding to the confusion. All these within 350+ pages!

Originally I wanted to show some samples of the writing and discuss why they don't work for me, but then I realized that I will have to read them again, so... no. You'll just have to take my word for it. Now if by any chance you've read this book and ended up enjoying it, uh, good for you. There are plenty of 5 star ratings as well, which... I don't get, but okay, reading is subjective!

I have been a fan of Colleen Coble's for such a long time, and no one was more surprised than me when I didn't love this book. I have such mixed feelings about it.

What I Didn't Love:

I didn't love the whole AI thing. I felt that Katrina was way too attached to feeling that she was talking to her dead spouse. It didn't feel healthy to me. And while it made for some intriguing plot points, it just wasn't working for me overall. And then the way their "relationship" was at the end - it just didn't flow with the rest of the book.

I felt like there were some plot holes. I can't do into detail about these because of spoilers, but they definitely bugged me.


What I Loved:

The pacing. The story was pretty fast paced and that's how I like my thrillers. It made for a quick read, and though I felt like a few things fell flat, I was still able to read for long periods of time because of the pacing.

Coble does keep you on your toes as to who the actual killer is. I really enjoyed trying to figure it out - everyone looked suspicious throughout the entire story.

Seb. Even though I had some suspicions about him (because for awhile everyone was a suspect!), he turned out to be a really sweet character.

All in all, this was just an ok read for me. Readers that are not looking for a lot of depth, but looking for a fun ride will really enjoy this book. I received a complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to write a favorable review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book was interesting. The plot was different and I liked it. This book had everything you could want; mystery, suspense, romance, plot twists. I definitely enjoyed this book.

I Think I Was Murdered, by Colleen Coble and Rick Acker, is a modern day techno thriller set mostly in the fictional north California town of North Haven. Originally a Norwegian settlement on the pacific coast, it is now a quaint coastal tourist destination. Katrina Berg Foster, a daughter of North Haven, returns home from her Silicon Valley tech position as legal counsel at Talk, Inc., an AI based technology set to launch a game changer. Katrina has endured a series of losses. First, her beloved husband Jason was killed in a fiery crash on a stormy, foggy night on the twisty coastal highway coming into North Haven a few years ago. Then, recently, her beloved bestamor (grandmother) passed away after a serious illness. And now her company is being taken over by the FBI after both the CEO and COO, who happen to be cousins, have disappeared, presumably back to China.

As Katrina travels home for the funeral and reading of the will, she is aware the FBI want to talk to her. With bestamor’s estate being divided between Katrina and her brother Magnus, and threats coming to her and her best friend Liv Tompkins, chief technology officer of Talk, they take refuge at her bestamor’s apartments above the restaurant Katrina has inherited.

Katrina’s teenage acquaintance, and her grandmother’s protege, Sebastien Wallace, has been back in North Haven after years working and traveling around the world and becoming a Michelin chef. When bestamor contacted him telling him of his estranged father’s Parkinson’s diagnosis it was time to come home. Seb has now opened a successful upscale restaurant in the old lighthouse. As a friend, Seb offers to help get Katrina up and running as the cafe’s new owner. However, Seb’s help becomes far more valuable than a quick course in restaurant management.As the threats become more menacing and the clues to solve Jason’s murder begin coming together, Seb and his newly discovered half brother Dylan come to be invaluable.

This book is a fast paced mystery thriller that will glue readers to the story. And as the climax approaches, readers will be taken on a heart pounding journey to solve the mystery. I very much enjoyed this book and I do recommend it!

Colleen and Rick are Christian suspense/mystery writers. This is the second book from this duo that I have enjoyed! I like that their books are suspenseful, but not filled with a ton of violence. This one also involves a love story.

This was a unique story that involves a chatbot and “gunting” (or, “egg hunting”, which the book defines as “metal detecting for nerds”. ) The term came from a sci-fi novel called “Ready Player One” that a male character from the book had read. Definitely the first book I’ve ever read where artificial intelligence played a significant role in the story.

Jason dies in a car accident. His wife, Katrina, is an attorney for a tech AI company called Talk, Inc. After he died, all of Jason’s text messages, emails and social media posts were added to the chatbot so that Katrina could “talk” to him. The chatbot tells Katrina that he was murdered. The entire book is spent trying to figure out who killed him. They determine early on that the murder likely had to do with Jason finding a Satoshi egg (related to gunting), which contained a passcode for $30 million worth of Bitcoins.

Topics include: murder, AI, romance, friendship, betrayal, family conflict

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and Thomas Nelson. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. There were twists and turns I didn’t see coming. The chatbot was an interesting addition.

The only thing that was irritating for me was the few religious references. One standing out to me was that you should believe everything a specific person says because they’re a Christian. In my life I’ve found many Christian’s lie more than non. But with that said, I enjoyed the book as a whole!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This one was a bit different for me as it revolves a lot around technology and I'm pretty unsavvy when it comes to things such as AI, Bitcoin, Chatbots and the like which are part of the story. Katrina is grieving over her husband's death and uses the above to help her solve the mystery surrounding his death. Very novel to me! But it's really very sweet in some ways. She makes an AI to communicate with and it tells her in her husband's voice, "I think I was murdered" and thus begins the twists and turns.

I think Colleen Coble is a very skilled characterization author, as her characters are all developed so well. I'm not familiar with Rick Aker's writing but this book being co-authored turned out very engaging even though I am not into AI's or Bitcoins (at all) or Chatbox, but now I see where the word chatterbox comes from. lol And it didn't heart that it's set in my backyard as I live close to Yosemite National Park. I very much enjoyed this one.