In the Blink of an Eye is a routine procedural with some AI thrown in and some questionable science. Throughout the entire book I was wondering why a person who hated AI so much, for reasons that are explained but not really logical, partner with an AI "detective." In the end, it was OK but not something I will remember for too long.

Jo Callaghan’s In the Blink of an Eye is a gripping exploration of human intuition versus artificial intelligence, wrapped in a compelling mystery that keeps readers on the edge of their seats. The narrative centers around Kat Frank, a widowed police officer whose life has been shaped by profound loss. As a single mother, Kat embodies resilience and determination, traits that serve her well in her profession and personal life. Her intuitive approach to policing is put to the test when she is assigned to lead a groundbreaking pilot program alongside Lock, an Artificially Intelligent Detective Entity.

The premise is intriguing: the pairing of a seasoned cop with an advanced AI hologram forces both characters to navigate their contrasting methods. Lock operates on algorithms and data, analyzing patterns at lightning speed, while Kat relies on her gut feelings and experience from years on the beat. This dynamic sets the stage for a rich exploration of how human emotion and machine logic intersect, often leading to tension and unexpected revelations.

As the plot unfolds, Kat is drawn into two cold cases that unexpectedly become urgent and personal. The stakes escalate when the cases begin to intertwine with her own life, creating a palpable sense of danger. Callaghan expertly crafts a narrative that not only focuses on the mechanics of solving a mystery but also delves into the emotional landscape of its characters. Kat’s vulnerabilities are laid bare, making her a relatable and sympathetic protagonist. Her relationship with Lock evolves as they face threats together, highlighting the potential for collaboration between human insight and technological prowess.

Character development is one of the book’s strengths. Kat is fleshed out through her interactions with Lock and her struggles as a mother and a police officer. The dialogue is sharp and reveals much about her character, showing her depth and complexity. Lock, although a hologram, is portrayed with a surprising amount of personality, raising questions about the nature of consciousness and the human connection to technology. Their evolving partnership not only serves the plot but also prompts readers to ponder the implications of AI in everyday life.

The pacing of the book is brisk, with well-timed twists that maintain suspense and intrigue. Callaghan balances action with moments of introspection, allowing readers to engage with both the mystery and the underlying themes of grief, trust, and the quest for truth. The author’s vivid descriptions and attention to detail immerse readers in the story, making them feel the urgency of the cases and the weight of Kat’s personal struggles.

Fans of the mystery and thriller genre will find In the Blink of an Eye particularly appealing due to its unique premise and the ethical dilemmas it raises about technology’s role in law enforcement. The interplay of human and machine not only serves as a thrilling backdrop but also elevates the narrative, offering a fresh take on classic detective tropes. With a riveting plot, strong character arcs, and thought-provoking themes, Callaghan has crafted a novel that resonates on multiple levels, making it a must-read for anyone interested in the future of crime-solving and the complexities of human emotion.

Overall, In the Blink of an Eye is a masterful blend of suspense, character-driven storytelling, and philosophical inquiry into the nature of intelligence—both artificial and human. It challenges readers to consider how we navigate loss, connection, and the moral implications of technological advancements, all while delivering a thrilling ride through a well-crafted mystery.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for gifting me a digital ARC of the debut book by Jo Callaghan, and the first in the Kat and Lock series. All opinions expressed in this review are my own – 4.5 stars rounded up!

Kat Frank is a single mom after her husband died from cancer. She’s also a cop and has just been tasked to lead a pilot program to test whether AI can be used for police work. Enter Lock, a hologram activated by a device on Kat’s wrist. Who will win out – Kat’s gut reactions and experience or Lock’s statistical calculations and analysis?

This was a fascinating book, combining an intriguing police procedural with artificial intelligence. As Kat’s team starts looking into two missing person cases that suddenly become personal, can they work together to solve the mystery in time? This book has wonderful characters. You could feel Kat’s pain of first losing her husband and then losing her son in a different way as he grew up. Lock felt like a real character as well, infusing humor and naivete into the narrative. Plus, the cases were disturbing and I had no clue how they were going to be resolved. I can’t wait to read more from this pair!

“ Did you know that artificial intelligence (AI) is used everyday in our lives? Prominent examples of AI used in everyday life include voice assistants, image recognition for face, unlock in mobile phones, and ML-based financial fraud detection. I never really thought of AI already being used in my life. I always thought it was something to be used in the future. In this novel, Kat is returning to work. DCS Kat Frank is a widowed single mother, Kat is a cop who trusts her instincts. She is chosen to lead a pilot program that has her paired with an 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 becomes personal. Can the two work together before someone becomes another statistic or a cold case?

The novel is a based on an idea of an AI actually being a cop’s partner. I was fascinated with how the author was using this as part of the story. After all AI versus human experience is still a different thought. It’s a fascinating book and I hope that there will be a second book to read, if not more.

I really liked this one. It is a British police procedural with the added twist of the woman in charge (Kat) being told she has to work with and evaluate an AI assistant (Lock). They are supposed to be working cold cases, but when they get a lead the case they have chosen becomes active. Her reluctance to use the AI and it's eerie human like presence add both interest and humour. I was happy to see that there is a sequel and am looking forward to it. This in one great debut! Thanks to NetGalley for the digital advance reading copy . 5/5 stars!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the eARC.
Using A.I. in the world of policing is a fresh and new perspective which was fun as well as interesting.
A seasoned female police officer, Kat, reluctantly teams up with an A.I. bot (Lock) to solve the case of missing young males.
The way things are going in this world, that's not far away in our future, so it was quite a fascinating read. Lock was actually my favorite character.
Recommended ... can't wait for no. 2 in the series!

Kat Frank, widowed single mother, is a cop who trusts her intuition, honed through years of on-the-beat police work. When she is picked to lead a pilot program that has her paired with Lock, an AIDE (Artificially Intelligent Detective Entity)—a hologram that is activated by a device on Kat’s wrist—Kat is skeptical at best. As they begin to work together her gut reactions about people and motives come up against Lock’s statistical calculations and data analysis that can be devised in seconds. But as the two missing person’s cold cases they are reviewing suddenly become active, Lock is the only one who can help when the case begins to target Kat personally. AI versus human experience. Logic versus instinct. With lives on the line, can the pair work together to solve the mystery in time?

This is the debut novel of this author and the first book in her Kat & Lock series. I personally am wary of AI, so reading this, and seeing AI from this perspective was fascinating, as well as a little scary & validating also. It will give you a lot to consider, especially if this were to be the direction law enforcement was headed. This novel was excellent, and I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series, and seeing where Kat & Lock go next. If you are a fan of mysteries & thrillers then you should definitely check this out!

4.5 stars rounded up for a very unique and inventive plot.

Detective Chief Superintendent Kat Frank wants to return to work with the Warewickshire Police Force after having lost her husband to cancer. Her boss, Chief Constable McLeish, offers to let her head a pilot program to test the viability of using AI in police work. She and her team will look into cold cases and will be assisted by Artificially Intelligent Detecting Entity (AIDE) Lock. 'It' helps them choose two recent cases to investigate involving young men who have gone missing.

This is a very interesting look at how humans and AI might interact--humans being more emotional and prone to go with gut instinct, while AI utilizes logic and algorithms. The cases themselves benefit from both sets of skills and soon the detectives are on the track of a deeper plot than was first suspected.

I thought the story was absolutely riveting and I enjoyed meeting these new characters. I deducted one/half star from my rating because I could easily predict where the plot would lead and made note of a clue that AIDE Lock found that DCS Frank totally ignored, which I knew would turn out to be
important. Having read so many mysteries, I love pitting my wits against the detectives'.

Many thanks to the author and publisher for offering me arcs of this book and book 2, Leave No Trace, which is publishing in January, 2025. I am totally hooked and planning to dive right into book 2 to see what happens next.

I was so pleasantly surprised by this book. The premise didn't seem like one I was going to like this much. Now I can't wait for the next book. This one is so good. Jo Callaghan's debut novel is a winner.
Please read the heartfelt Acknowledgments at the ending. Parts sure made me cry. I'm so sorry for her loss. So so sorry.

This is about a female cop who returns to work after losing her husband. Kat's husband had cancer and she cared for him and took care of their son. After she lost her husband she went back to work and was paired with a trial AI to look into unsolved cases. Cold cases. She was given two other new detectives to work with also. While Kat had no hopes of the AI being able to help she agreed to work with it. She was angry because an AI was the cause of her husband's death. At least that is what she believes. He had been misdiagnosed so the cancer he had was further along when it was finally found.

The cases Kat and her team chose are two young men who have been missing for about five or six months. There are a lot of things that this team will find out and do to try and find out what happened. Kat is determined to solve these cases and believes the two boys are connected. But one is from a very prominent family and the other is from the more poor side. The first boy is white and has both parents, even though his dad is dying of cancer. The other boy is black and lives alone with his mother. His dad had died of cancer also.

The AI in my opinion was very helpful. I also believe that AIs will be used in a lot of areas in the future. The not so distant future. In law enforcement that is. I believe AI is already used in many places and at the rate of a fast computer they should do great. As long as they are not compromised in any way. I think the technology would be so very helpful in many areas. Medical, professional, everyday life. I'm not so sure I am ready for it but the world should be prepared as I believe it is headed that way. And it could be such a big help. If used in the right ways.

This book had me cringing and holding my breath in many places. I was on the edge of my seat in a couple also. I rooted for the boys to be saved. I have to say here that I saw parts of this coming. Parts I can't say anything about but don't always trust family. Don't always trust a family friend. Not in certain cases anyway. lol I suspected the two involved and was right. That did not take away from the story in any way though. This is a great DEBUT and the author I'm sure is very proud.

Thank you #NetGalley, #RandomHousePublishing, for this ARC. This is my honest opinion.

Five big stars and a very high recommendation.

Detective novels are not a go-to genre for me but I really loved this one. The premise intrigued me -- a seasoned detective partnered with an AI assistant. Callaghan did a GREAT job with the AI's character and the interaction between the detective and the AI was believable, engaging, and sometimes funny. It was interesting to see the places where AI could do a better job than a seasoned detective and also where the detective figured things out more quickly. Good character development all-round, with the freshly widowed detective, her grieving teenaged son and the AI, not to mention a really twisty crime. I'm sure this is going to be a series.

I thought this book was overall a good read . I liked the perspective with AI , interesting thought about the future . I sometimes would get a little confused seeing the name Kat and then seeing DCS Frank and remembering it is the same person. Kat wasn’t the most likeable she seemed annoying at times and she is the lead character. Thank you Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved it. Short, quick paced, well written chapters with a side of humour and suspense make this a great read. I was fascinated by the possibilities and the extent to which the use of AI technology could help Police investigations. I enjoyed how Callaghan developed the characters. The descriptions of the interactions between DCS Kat Frank and her appointed AIDE sidekick, Lock, were priceless. I highly recommend In a Blink of an Eye and anxiously await Callaghan’s next book.
Thank You to NetGalley and Random House for the invitation to read and enjoy this ARC.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and give an honest review of this book.

I enjoy a good mystery/thriller but I had my doubts about a book that was based on a pilot study in police cold cases, involving AI working with humans.

I was happily surprised that I really liked this well written story. It was the first in a series to be. It was about Kat Frank, a police detective and a new AI model developed to help in solving police cases more rapidly and without bias.

“Lock” starts out as a cold, insensitive, robot-like being. By the end of the book, it appears that the AI is learning as much from humans as they are learning from him.

The cold cases they have been called to look at involve young people gone missing, people that just disappeared. The plot was new and interesting. The characters on the team were likable. Each person comes to the table with their own baggage, but somehow they bond.

I believe this book is the beginning of a new, unique and interesting series.

Congratulations to Jo Callaghan for her debut novel In the Blink of an Eye (published by Random House Trade Paperbacks)! The novel was first published in 2023 and just this summer became available in paperback. I received a free e-ARC to review.

Using personal experience - and loss - Callaghan crafted a novel full of suspense and twists. Set in England, the novel follows a detective who is tasked with working with AI to help solve crime. The thing is, detective Kat doesn't fully trust AI as it was AI's mistake that cost her husband his life. Still, she's eager to get back to work, and as this new AI pilot program is the only offer she's got, she takes the job and assembles a team to look at cold cases.

Turns out, there are many people in their area who have gone missing. Using AI and gut hunches, the team realizes that some of the missing may have more in common than previously thought. And the reason why will surely surprise you - and raise good discussion at your next book club.

I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read the second book in the series!

My first reaction? Brilliant! I loved it, and can't wait to read the next book in the series!

I was skeptical at first, as this book sounded as though it had science fiction vibes. I got over my skepticism sharpish. The characters were so well drawn and the police investigation so compelling, that I couldn't turn the pages fast enough!

Detective Chief Superintendent Kat Frank is a forty-five year old widow and the mother of a teenage son. She lost her husband to cancer just a year ago and her grief is still raw. It is her first time back to work after her husband's death and she wants a 'safe' job to reassure her son Cam that he won't lose another parent. Her boss puts her on a pilot project - to head the first ever human-machine police team in the UK. She is to work with an AIDE (Artificially Intelligent Detecting Entity) on some missing person cold cases. Her team will include four people if you include the AIDE)

AIDE Lock - is a wristband around Kat's wrist. However, 'he' can be made to look human via hologram. When he is, he is a tall, slim black man. Think Idris Alba with slight touches of Spock.

Detective Inspector Rayan Hassan - is a smart dresser with a law degree and a high conviction rate. He challenges Kat's authority at times and they lock horns on occasion.

Detective Sergeant Debbie Browne - is a twenty-four year old who has been with the Warwickshire Police for six years. Debbie has little self-esteem and is constantly apologizing. She is single, and has just found out she is pregnant.

Professor Okonedo - a diminutive Asian woman with a chip on her shoulder and a huge grievance against the police. She blames them for her brother's unjust incarceration. Though not official a member of the police, she is AIDE Lock's 'handler'.

Several missing persons cases have been relegated to the 'cold case' files. With Lock's assistance, the team chooses two cases to work on.

Both young men seemed to have vanished from their lives 'in the blink of an eye'.

When the team finds evidence to link the two cases, they realize that this might turn into an active murder or abduction case. Lock's contribution is invaluable. When things turn personal for Kat, she realizes that her 'team' is not yet the cohesive unit she might have wished for...

With themes of medical ethics, abduction, genomics, artificial intelligence, and personal bereavement, this novel was a mesmerizing read. Machine vs. human. How far away from this premise are we really? Not far I think. Machines can make decisions based on facts and algorithms, while humans can make decisions on 'gut instinct'. Sometimes those decisions have to be made 'in the blink of an eye', especially when lives are at stake.

The author has taken some elements of her own life and incorporated them into the book - lending the narrative a ring of authenticity.

I really came to care for all of the characters and I'm eager to learn more about them in the next book.

The ending was satisfying and proved to be an excellent segue into the next book "Leave No Trace". Highly recommended to all fans of well written police procedural fiction.

Overall a pretty good read. I think the premise is interesting but I’m not sure how believable the AI part would be. An interesting concept for sure! I thought some parts were pretty predictable but was surprised by who the kidnapper was. I definitely had a love/hate relationship with our main character, sometimes I tug out she was great and other times she was so hard-headed! Would definitely read more books by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Kat’s husband passed away from cancer and now it is just her and her son. She has just returned to work as a cop after her bereavement leave. She has been asked to be a part of a new trial program. It involves AI. It does not take Kat long to figure out this is not exactly what she thought it would be.

Kat is a character I very much liked. She is a bit of a smart aleck but she has a soft side. She is also intelligent! So, pairing her with an AI hologram really intensifies her personality. And she soon realizes they will have to work together to catch a killer.

I am surprised I enjoyed this as well as I did. I at first thought it was going to be a bit more science fiction with all the AI stuff. But the story took over and I was hooked. I loved the way the author wove in the AI hologram and soon I was thinking of him as a person. Very unique.

I enjoyed the way this tale unfolded. It definitely had me guessing all the way through.

Need a good crime thriller…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest opinion.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this free ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: August 6, 2024

This is the best crime fiction I’ve read in a while—great characters, intriguing plot. I couldn’t put this one down and I’m so happy these characters are returning in a sequel!

What a unique thriller. This book is unlike any other police procedural I have ever read because of the inclusion of using AI as the main characters partner.. I imagine going forward their will be more authors including and implementing AI in their novels but this was excellent. A great story and I think all thriller readers would enjoy this one. Looking forward to what Jo writes next!

A unique premise for a detective novel. Can the use of AI help the police solve crimes quicker?

Kat Frank has recently returned to work as a Detective Sergeant with the Leek Wootton Police in Warwickshire, England after the tragic loss of her husband. Her 18 year old son is all she has left and now children the same age are vanishing with no leads.

Reading the acknowledgments brought tears to my eyes as I realized just how close to home the story was for the author.

Thank you so much Random House and NetGalley for my ARC!