This is a suspense/mystery with a romance. It was different and unique. I loved the AI component and how it impacts our lives. it has some really good twists and turns and I was here for it!. This book was well written with good character development. I was glued from start to finish. Well done. Huge thanks to Thomas Nelson and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book!

A cosy mystery/romantic thriller with an interesting AI element threaded through the narrative. I liked the setting and pace of the story. An easy read for a rainy afternoin.

This book took an interesting look at modern technologies and some of the dangers. When Katrina's husband is killed in a car accident, the AI company that she works for offers her the beta version of their chatbot loaded with her husband's data so that she can still "talk to him". When the chatbot tells her "I think I was murdered", she begins looking at Jason's accident as perhaps being more than just an accident. As she seeks out the truth and starts finding answers as to why Jason was in North Haven on the night he died, she finds herself in danger as well. Trouble is lurking around every corner and seems to know her next steps even before she does!

This was a fascinating story with lots of twists and turns, some great character development, a solid mystery element, some science-fact that felt like science-fiction, a sweet romance, and a subtle but solid faith element as well. I also enjoyed the family focus of the story. Though I pinpointed the villain early on (I read too many suspense novels!), I was still trying to figure out the why and how all through. All in all, this was an enjoyable story and I would recommend to fans of romantic suspense. Special thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance e-copy of this book. I was under no obligation to provide a review and the thoughts contained herein are my own.

I Think I Was Murdered by Colleen Coble + Rick Acker was a fascinating read! Tackling the idea of AI and how it impacts our lives and, in the case of this book, the grieving process added a component to this story I haven't seen in another book. This story tackled tough topics while creating an engaging mystery and love story that didn't feel like one thread was being forced into the storyline. It felt seamless and well woven together. While I did have some suspicions about who the culprit was in this story, it didn't play out exactly how I thought it might and I loved that I was kept guessing!

4.5/5 stars!

Book Title: I Think I was Murdered
Author: Colleen Coble and Rick Acker
Publisher: Thomas Nelson Fiction- Thomas Nelson
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Pub Date: November 12, 2024
My Rating: 4.1 Stars
Pages 352

As we read and listen to the news we hear a lot about AI taking over a large part of the work force so no surprise we readers are going to be
seeing more AI stories- Hopefully written without AI help!
Prologue starts with Jason Foster a structural engineer finds a Satoshi egg (Satoshi Nakamoto is the name used by the person or persons who developed Bitcoin). The egg looks like a plastic Easter egg - the first one held an USB drive that Jason knows was invaluable. As he is driving on a dark narrow twisty road with the Satoshi egg in the passenger seat of his Bentley he has the feeling of being followed. He tries to escape his follower and he uses control.

Katrina and Jason Foster have been happily married; they were well off financially. Katrina loves her job, she is the rising star has put all her time into an ultra-sophisticated AI chatbot however her world came to a stop when Jason was killed in that fiery car crash.
Additionally her CEO was indicted and the Feds have taken over and locked her out of her office.

As Katrina world is crashing down upon and she continues to miss and grieve Jason- she goes back to her childhood home in northern California to visit her ill Bestemore – (Grandmother). However, when she gets there she is too late and she died from another heart attack. Katrina is crushed. When she finds out she inherited Bestemore’s restaurant she knows she needs to make her proud.
Seb Wallace is someone Katrina knew from high school and is the owner of ‘The Beacon’ a converted old lighthouse that he turned into a world class restaurant. Seb stops by to see how Katrina is doing managing the restaurant. However, she doesn’t recognize him as he looks nothing like he did in High School. If fact, they actually went to a dance together when she was on the outs with her then boyfriend but once she went back to him nothing came out of getting together with Seb.
Seb is successful and volunteers to help Katrina more learn about managing a successful restaurant business.

Katrina still misses Jason and decides to use her AI chatbot to communicate with him. She loads it with Jason's email, social media backups, pictures, and anything else she could thing of so she can "talked" to Jason. After a few weeks she get a message from him saying . . . "I think I was murdered." and spews out some Japanese characters.

Story got my attention and loved that at the end of the book in the “Dear Readers’ section our authors explaining what was science
fiction as well as what is science fact.

Chatbots: There is a popular chatbot ‘Replika' that was created as a way to message the dead.

Satoshi Eggs; Fictional
There are more that you will enjoy so read…

I am a big Colleen Coble fan. I have read twenty plus stories and loved them. This one was entirely difference from anything I have read by her. Although I did enjoy this – actually turned out much better than expect …. However I believe I prefer the non techy Colleen,’

I did read " What We Hide" the first in the Tipelo Grove series which was also was co-authored with Rick Acker .

Want to thank NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction- Thomas Nelson for granting me this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for November 12, 2024.

The premise for this book was quite unique and something I had never considered before – the use of AI to help or hinder grief. The idea of talking to a deceased loved one but through an AI bot programmed to sound like them is something I had never heard or thought about before and the implications of that (good and bad) were explored to an extent or at least brought up. How the murder discovery and figuring out who was behind it was fascinating and kept me riveted until the end. I would highly recommend this book.

Interesting thriller using AI. Definitely a new concept. I also enjoy this author stories.
Thanks for the advanced copy of this book.

This book had such an interesting concept! I loved the AI aspect & thought it was well written & I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The suspense was good and it wasn’t too predictable. All around a solid read. I’m

I Think I Was Murdered was a mystery thriller that kept me intrigued. It has a very modern twist with AI, Bitcoins, and Chatbots. After Katrina’s husband dies, she is able to “talk” to him via a Chatbot. It gets really interesting when he tells her he thinks he was murdered. She was led to believe it was a car accident. With Seb’s help, they work to unravel the mystery and get to the truth. However, along the way there is a lot of danger, family drama, and unexpected twists as they get closer to the truth. I enjoyed reading the book and recommend it to others who enjoy a good, suspenseful mystery.

Thanks to Netgalley for a complimentary copy of this book. This review is my honest opinion.

The title of this book captured my attention and when I saw the authors I knew this was a book I had to read! This is a story that I have thought about often after reading because it is so unique and also terrifying what is possible in our world today! As typical murder mysteries go there is a tragedy BUT the twist- no one thinks it is murder until technology says otherwise. As a reader I was totally fascinated with how this could work and how the AI program (made up of course) worked in figuring out the truth of what happened. I have never thought about technology in this way and I think the the authors did a great job at creating this chatbot. This was a thinking outside of the box plot line and it held my attention until the end. The characters I didn't fully connect with and honestly I didn't love Katrina but the full story as a whole I really enjoyed. I recommend if you are looking for a unique mystery read!

Four Stars.

"I received this book from NetGalley for free. All opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review."

I Think I Was Murdered is a book combining mystery and romance aspects that introduces the reader to the world of AI. After the death of her husband, Katrina uses an app to continue talking to him. But when the chat bot announces that he thinks he was murdered, Katrina’s world completely shifts. She dives into an investigations, uncovering a lot more than she had anticipated. But not everyone is happy with her investigation …

I liked the book because this is a genre that I generally enjoy. There were enough mystery aspects to keep me reading, and the romance made sure the book didn’t become too heavy. I liked the characters and felt like they could have been real people. The story didn’t become too difficult, even when it talked about things I have no knowledge of.

The only thing I disliked about the book, was the writing. It didn’t bother me the entire time, but sometimes I felt like some parts were rushed. Specifically parts that were quite tense and parts were we learned new, shocking information could have been elaborated, in my opinion. On the opposite side, I felt like some parts dragged on too long, while they weren’t that important to the story.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and happily picked it up whenever I had the time to read.

This book had me hooked from the first page, which I love. It is a thriller involving a woman “messaging” with her late husband on an AI platform. It features the grief journey, moving on, found family, and a gripping story.

Thank you to Net Galley and Thomas Nelson for a digital ARC. I received the ARC for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily.

“I think I was Murdered,” by Coleen Coble and Ricker Acker is a gripping mystery on the cutting edge of technology and AI development but with a delightfully warm hygge feel. This book is both cozy mystery and sci-fi thriller wrapped into one! I enjoyed this read and found it to be a perfect fall escape. This was an intriguing look into what is actually possible in this world of AI technology while also considering the very human elements of loss, family, hometown, and ultimately love.

Just when I thought this would be a four star book, it quickly turned into a five star. It started a little slow, but then wham! You don't want to miss this exciting book. It has suspense, romance, and a great story with memorable characters. There are a few times the wording and messages just really pulled me in. I have to quote this line, "Grief only eclipses those blessings for a little while. They're still there, and so is God."

I received a complimentary copy from Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

4.5 stars

This book was all the things. I am always glad when I can find clean books that challenge/teach me as a reader and this one fits the bill.
I enjoyed the AI technology aspect of it, helping Katrina deal with her grief, along with the bit of a scavenger hunt storyline. I appreciated the sweet friendship/romance between Seb and Katrina too. Since I am of Norwegian dissent, I appreciated the nods to all things Norwegian and the fact that some of the scenes are set in restaurants.

It took me about 60% of the book to figure out who the suspect was, even though I was correct, there were still twists and turns that I thoroughly enjoyed. I have always liked Colleen Coble's writing style and how she writes relatable characters. I am now coming to enjoy Rick Acker's writing too. They are a wonderful writing duo. The faith content isn't in your face, but it is there, which I am always a big fan of too.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson for the complimentary arc. This review is my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for providing me the opportunity to listen and review an early copy of this novel. All of the thoughts and the opinions expressed are my own.

Katrina Foster is a lawyer for a high tech company in Palo Alto. In one day, her grandmother dies, and the company goes bankrupt. Katrina goes home to her grandmother's funeral, and to escape what she is dealing with. While there, she learns that she inherited her grandmother’s Norwegian style breakfast restaurant. In the midst of all this, the Chatbot app on her phone that is loaded with her deceased husband’s voice starts telling her that her husband was probably murdered. Things start getting crazy. She gets hooked up with her old friend Seb and he helps her investigate.

I was disappointed in this book. After reading the last book by these authors, I was excited to read this one. It was a let down. It feels this book was hurried to press. The story was not nearly as fleshed out as it should have been. I feel like I would have understood it so much better if it had had more detail. Faith was mentioned but not elaborated on.

I feel like this book would maybe appeal to people in the tech industry.

This was such a great book. I enjoyed reading this book. It was an easy read, and was very thought provoking. I enjoyed the characters, would definitely recommend to someone wanting an easy read or a change of pace.

Wow, wow, wow!! This book kept ratcheting up the suspense! It was a GREAT story that kept me spellbound trying to figure everything out. I was suspicious a few times before the biggest reveal, but it still managed to mostly surprise me.
It does have light faith elements, the romance is sweet and kisses only.

I Think I Was Murdered follows the story of a woman whose husband dies in a mysterious crash. While chatting with AI constructed around his persona, it comes out that he may have been murdered. The synopsis sounds unique and interesting. The writing was easy to read and follow. Unfortunately, this story did not do it for me. The characters were not relatable, the story was not believable and there were no surprises. It also read almost like a young adult book and I am not a fan of YA writing.

It seemed like every character had too much of a story that could not be properly dived into in a book this size. A lot of it didn't effect the main story at all. I felt like certain characters' stories were going to go somewhere and it turns out maybe it should have just been cut out or simplified. Also, they were not very relatable people. It seemed like everyone had a Tesla, one of the girls had multiple $20k purses, the man with a Range Rover had multiple satellite phones and apparently everyone can rock climb. Also, each character reacted to extreme situations in such a way that was not believable at all.

As far as the story goes, I thought I was going to be reading a mystery but it was pretty obvious where it was headed from the beginning and then took a romantic tone about halfway through. The romance itself is fine but the dialogue was so cringe-y. And again, just unbelievable. The story line and dialogue reached a point where I just couldn't place myself in that world anymore. I'm sure there are people who would like a more "fantasy" type of story, but it's just not my style. Towards the end they started mentioning God a lot more which I thought was super random and out of place.

I appreciate and thank Thomas Nelson Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and give my honest review of this book.

WOW! This writing duo is amazing! Coble and Acker write tight, fast-paced suspense like no other. Katrina Berg was working at a chat-bot start-up company and at the pinnacle of her career. She was madly in love with her husband Jason and life was grand.....until it wasn't! Jason was killed in a fiery car crash leaving her devastated and wondering how to go on. Her friend and co-worker, Liv, has installed a beta-protype chat-bot on her phone with all of Jason's emails, social media, pictures allowing her to "talk" to him every day. It's a crutch she knows that she needs to let go but can't - it's holding her together some days. One day when she asks it to tell her something she doesn't know, the message "I Think I Was Murdered" appears and the wild ride begins. When her grandmother dies, Katrina returns to her hometown for the funeral and finds she's inherited her grandma's restaurant. But with so much on her plate, she decides to sell to Seb Wallace, a local restaurateur. But things begin to spiral out of control and she's in a race to find out who wants her dead. Can she and Seb work together to figure out what's happening before it's too late? This amazing novel has so many twists and turns I couldn't put it down! Grab it for a late-night thriller - a 2024 must-read!