I Think I Was Murdered by Colleen Coble and Rick Acker I read 48% from the Kindle and the other 52 I listen to it on an audio book with narration from Karen peaks. when I consume a book this way, I usually have a favorite, but in the instance of this book, I must be honest and say I do not. Katrina lost her husband Jason the year before and on the day the company she works for is being invaded by the FBI she finds out her grandmother Frida is dying and tries to rush home to see her before the end but sadly she is too late. When the thanks to the company she works for she can hear her husband‘s voice and even talk back but one day when she hears him say I was murdered. It was like giving a dog a bone because this is when the hunt is on. was her husband murdered and if so, will she be able to prove it? I tried to write this review more than once, but there is so much to this book. I really wish Goodreads had half stars because I would definitely give this book 3 1/2. I enjoyed it and love Christian fiction and thought Seb and Katrina, were great characters and the sub plot with Dylan and everything happening with Liv were all great reasons to read this book. I just felt like there was something missing in the narrative. I am not one of those reviewers who can analyze a book down to its protons so just know as for recommending it I certainly do. I love these authors books some more than others in this one is definitely better than a lot of them. I thought the narrator did an awesome job. She is such a great voice. so whether you like audiobooks or just reading from your Kindle, either one will do. #NetGalley,#HarperCollinsChristianPublishing, #ThomasAndMercerBooks, #ColleenCoble, #RickAcker, #IThinkIWasMurdered,

A romantic suspense with a cutting edge technology twist? Yes, please! Katrina is a grieving widow and a corporate lawyer who has an AI app that allows her to talk to her deceased husband, or rather simulates those conversations with a great precision. When Katrina receives a message from her husband/AI telling her his death was not an accident, she begins to investigate and finds herself in the middle of a deadly game.

This novel had a very intriguing cutting-edge technology concept. I found myself fascinated but a little freaked out by the idea of being able to "talk to the dead". It's so easy to forget it's simulated. The thriller was a slow burn set in a small town and I really enjoyed the pace of the story and the romance side of it. This was a wholesome Christian suspense novel - a first one for me! The second part of the story really got me turning the pages, and the twist at the end was so good!

This was a great read with a nice mix of closed-door romance, action, mystery and suspense. The AI capabilities add a mindbending element to the story. Quite an exciting narrative! The audiobook was well-narrated and I highly recommend it.

I really enjoyed this book. It kept me engaged and wanting to keep listening. I guessed a few things, but was surprised by others.

4 big stars!

Katrina Berg, turns to an advanced AI chatbot to stay in touch with her deceased husband via her phone. She has mourned him like nothing else since the day of his horrible accident. But, with the help of technology, she's still able to talk to him, ask questions, relive memories, all from a program that was developed to pull from past text exchanges and facebook posts to each other. One day, the bot says, "I think I was murdered." Katrina, scared and yet determined, sets off on a new, passionate path to get to the truth, an accident that now in hindsight, doesn't feel right.

The premise is what drew me to this book. I had never heard of this author duo before, but now I want to find more from them. (Surprisingly, they spoke to an area near my home in the "author's note" and I now want to learn more about their backgrounds.) AI is now in the news everywhere... my 11 yr old is navigating it in school and in college campuses, they are making teams to combat the technology when it comes to cheating - can you plagiarize AI? The authors did a great job making me suspect one thing, only to surprise me later. I really enjoyed the story.

The reason for the 4 stars, was the audiobook narrator. It was a bit monotone for me, but clearly by all of the 5 star ratings, it didn't bother many others. Also, I would not classify this book as "Christian". In fact, had I seen that first, I would have never requested this one. There was not a speck of religious feeling throughout the novel. Death of a loved one/grief, was the only trigger I found. Solid book!

The whole realm of AI is exploding and is fascinating and a little frightening too. Katrina uses a chat bot to talk to her dead husband. It takes all of her husband's text messages and social media accounts and crafts appropriate replies to her inquiries. However, one day it tells her that he thinks he was murdered. (It was crazy to learn at the end of this book that this is a real thing…chat bots to talk to dead people). This starts her off on a quest to figure out who did it. The mystery was pretty involved and had them travelling all over trying to find clues.

There is a sweet renewed friendship with Seb who helps Katrina along the way. There are a couple twists and turns. It deals with crypto currency which is a little confusing to me but it still made for a great listen as an audiobook. It was easy to follow the storyline. I'd recommend it.

Thank you to Thomas Nelson for providing me with a free audiobook. All opinions are my own.

I think I was Murdered by Colleen Coble and Rick Acker, was a book so full of intrigue and mystery, it was hard to put down. I fell in love with Katrina, and found myself so drawn into her story, they felt like friends. Highly recommend this book!

Wow, my first Colleen Coble book, and it blew my expectations out of the water! I listened on audio, and I honestly couldn’t stop. I was fascinated by the incorporation of AI—something I don’t often see in books—especially as it felt so natural and real. Katrina, a rising star in an AI start-up, faces her world unraveling: her husband dies in a crash, her CEO is indicted, and, as the company’s legal counsel, she’s left fielding some tough questions from the Feds. But the real twist? When the AI chatbot, loaded with her husband’s past communications, hints he may have been murdered, she returns to her hometown, teaming up with a local restauranteur to uncover the truth. Colleen Coble and Rick’s collaboration made the story even more gripping—Coble’s skill for weaving suspenseful, faith-filled mysteries paired with Rick’s compelling narration brought each twist to life. Their storytelling abilities kept me completely hooked, and I’m so excited to dive into their backlist!

This book had a cute little love story wrapped into this tale of murder. As a girl who enjoys IT, this was an interesting concept but it fell flat for me. There wasn’t enough action for me. I had to push to keep listening, however the narrator was great.

I thought this was just going to be a sci-fi/technology thriller. And it is....but with romance, and random mentions of Jesus and prayer thrown in here and there. All in all this felt like Hallmark Movie type of story with some extra fast paced pizazz to make it more exciting. It was kind of cozy.

This review is for the audio version. Thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to review this book before its release!

Overall, a book I very much enjoyed listening to! This was first Colleen Coble/Rick Acker novel and I was not disappointed! The narrator is Karen Peakes and she does an excellent job! From the beginning, the novel pulls the listener in. What personally attracted me to this, was the fact that artificial intelligence is part of the novel - it's something I'm very interested in (but also very leary of!). I was not shocked at the twist/ending (I had it figured out midway through). I don't want to say it was predictable - it was just easy for me to figure it out. This, however, did not dampen my enjoyment of the book!

One area where I was somewhat lost those is some of the Norwegian terminology/phrases/traditions that are mentioned. I do feel the book would have been helped by an explanation of this at the beginning.

Fans of Christian fiction will enjoy this as will romance suspense. Fans of the thrillers may enjoy as well as those interested in artificial intelligence (AI) may also find this novel enjoyable too.

As far as the romance goes, it is fairly tame and not steamy at all (as is usually the case of with Christian fiction).

This audiobook was pretty good! I did not see the twist at the end coming. I think the main character was kinda annoying, she is veryyyyyy quickly getting over her husbands death by dating her high school crush/he had a crush on her. That part made me mad. Like if you loved your husband, how would you so quickly move on??? None of the relationships seemed genuine.

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complementary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

A cozy thriller mystery to finish out spooky season. This book was different than my normal reads and I was here for it. It was a fast-paced, gripping novel that blends mystery, suspense, and psychological intrigue. This is a story that grabs the reader’s attention from the very first page and doesn’t let go until the final, shocking twist.

Plot: Katrina is a grieving widow who worked as a lawyer for a tech company. The program that they created allows her to "talk" to her deceased husband. Upon conversing with him one day, her AI husband makes the statement "I think I was murdered." She then strives to follow clues that he left to figure out if he was telling the truth or not. She enlists the help of some friends from her old life after she moves back home to continue following the clues. Does she figure out what happened or is it a dead end?

The premise of the novel centers around a woman named Katrina, who is a grieving widow. She is a lawyer at a tech company who created an AI program that communicates like her husband. While communicating with him one day, he makes the statement "I think I was murdered." Katrina is determined to figure out what happened to her husband. This message comes in the wake of her grandmother passing away. So, she decides to move back home to grieve her grandmother and follows the clues that her husband left her.

The authors masterfully weave together suspense and tension throughout the novel. As Katrina begins to unravel the mystery of her husband's supposed death, she discovers that a few around her have their own secrets, and not all is as it seems. The story is peppered with unexpected twists, turning what might have been a typical "whodunit" into something more complex and psychological.

One of the book's strengths is its rich character development. Katrina is a relatable protagonist, and the way her grief is portrayed feels both believable and deeply engaging. The tension between her fragmented memories of her husband and the danger surrounding her heightens the emotional stakes. As she navigates her confusing reality, the reader is drawn into her search for truth, sympathy for her plight, and suspicion about those she interacts with.

While the book is undeniably entertaining, it did start out a little slow and took a minute to buildup; but once it did, it was easy to latch on what to finish the book. Also, there could have been 2 narrators in the story. I think the one narrator did a good job, but at times was hard to differentiate between who was speaking.

Overall, I Think I Was Murdered is a thrilling, page-turning mystery that will appeal to fans of psychological thrillers, suspense, and contemporary crime fiction. With its cleverly plotted twists, compelling characters, and tense atmosphere, it will keep readers guessing until the very end. For those looking for a fast-paced, engaging story with plenty of surprises along the way, this book is sure to deliver.

Thank you to NetGalley, Thomas Nelson, and Zondervan Fiction Audio for the audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Review posted on GoodReads on 11/11/24
Review posted to B & N on 11/11/24 as Drew B.
Review was sent to Amazon to post on 11/12/24 - will post within 2-3 days
Review posted to IG on 11/12/24, tagged NetGalley and publisher in post

4 ⭐️
This was a fun, interesting mystery that kept me hooked! I really enjoyed the use of AI in the storyline, I haven’t read anything like that before. The romance aspect was super cute, and I enjoyed that as well. I didn’t know this was a Christian book going into it, but I thought that aspect was well done. Overall, it wasn’t the best mystery I’ve ever read but was pretty good! I definitely will check out the other books by these authors.

Thank you to NetGalley, Colleen Coble, Rick Acker, HarperCollins Christian Publishing, and Thomas Nelson Fiction for the ARC

While I didn’t dislike this book, I also didn’t entirely like it.

There were many moving parts including AI, bitcoin, Norwegian heritage, a mild friends to lovers romance, national parks/hiking, a mystery to solve, religious overtones, career change, love triangle, found family, pregnancy, corruption, and death of a loved one(s) to name a few. With so much going on in one book it was difficult at times to keep focused on the plot. The synopsis doesn’t give big clues to how many topics will be covered. A series of books may have helped spread out all the interests and subplots that were occurring.

I enjoyed the narrator and felt she did a good job. I also enjoyed the main characters Katrina and Seb but overall I felt the plot could have been a little more streamlined. I didn’t mind the religious overtones but for someone who does they would never know religion was part of the book so more obvious disclosure would be better.

Above is my honest review. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Just a year ago, Katrina Berg was at the peak of her career. She was the rising star at a high-profile AI chatbot start-up, happily married to a devoted husband, and enjoying financial freedom beyond her dreams. But her world soon crumbled. Her husband, Jason, was killed in a horrific car accident. Her company's CEO was indicted, and as the company’s legal counsel, Katrina now faces hard questions as federal agents take over, barring her from her own office. The final blow came with the passing of her cherished grandmother.

Katrina's most treasured possession is a beta prototype of a new, hyper-advanced chatbot loaded onto her phone. She filled it with data from Jason’s emails, social media history, photos, and every digital trace she could find, and for the past six months, she’s “talked” to him through it every day. Astonishingly, the bot mirrors his expressions and phrasing so well that at times, it feels as though Jason is right there beside her. Although she knows it’s hindering her ability to grieve, she can’t bring herself to stop.

One especially difficult day, she types: Tell me something I don't know. The screen flickers for a moment, as if frozen, before a message appears: I think I was murdered.

This book was a bit difficult for me to get into with a lot of characters being introduced. But I did get into it and then I couldnt stop listening. AND THE TWIST!!!!!

MUST READ!

Thank you NetGalley, HarperCollins Christian Publishing and Colleen Coble and Rick Ackerman for this ARC of I Think I Was Murdered.

Bread this book I realized that the storyline in this book is actually something that could definitely happen in today’s world! This book kept me highly intrigued with all of the AI and human helpers that are available today!

I definitely recommend this book, not only for the suspense, but for the glimpse of what right at our fingertips.

This was a such an interesting read. It had me hooked pretty early on with all the twists and turns and unexpected points.

The aspect of AI was terrifying but very intriguing, it really added a lot to this story to give it more of a thriller vibe.

Very interesting plot involving mystery, AI, grief, and bitcoin currency. Definitely see this becoming more an issue in the near future, but listening to this murder mystery story was interesting. I would recommend to anyone that is interested in mysteries and current events.

The audio version was decent as well. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

A gripping thriller that keep you listening until the end. A young widow still “talking” with her late husband through an AI program. An u expected message force her to ask for help in order to unearth the truth about his death. Karen Peaks makes an excellent job with all the emotions,

Fun listen kept me engaged till the end
The story and the characters and
The writing very easy to listen to