Horror Book Spotlight: The Prediction by Faith Gardner

If you’re looking for AI horror, then THE PREDICTION by Faith Gardner is just the book for you. 

We use AI quite a bit in our lives, but has it effectively replaced human interaction? 

Rowena, the protagonist, finds out the answer. 

THE PREDICTION Plot Summary

Rowena has the life she has always wanted. Marriage, a new house, a baby. Yet, everything seems to be falling apart. 

Motherhood keeps her isolated, she suffers from panic attacks, and her husband keeps insisting she take pills. 

On top of everything, a house fire sends her over the edge. 

Her husband advises her to use a digital assistant, whom she uses as a mental health supporter and friend. 

But the gadget is more than Rowena imagined and begins to predict things. One of them is that her husband is going to kill her. 

Rowena must now decide whether to believe the prediction or ignore it. Both are dangerous options. 

THE PREDICTION--My Take on the Sample

The book begins with The Afterward, where we find our protagonist leaving the suburbs behind. She is reminiscing about the time spent in this town. Her daughter Michelle is in the backseat, and a silver machine in the passenger seat, who assures Rowena that she did the right thing and is a hero. 

But…Rowena has blood smeared on her. What happened?

Curiosity will make you turn the pages. The Afterward is a bit rushed, but perhaps it is deliberate, and we will find out later in the book what this is all about. 

We go back six months earlier. A half-birthday party is being thrown for Michelle. Rowena is an introvert and already exhausted. Her mother-in-law, Jennee, tries to get her to socialize with her book club friends and show off Rowena’s past career as an editor. But Rowena finds her tiresome and doesn’t appreciate the taco station set up or the point of throwing a half-birthday. 

She sees her daughter almost eat a wood chip and panics, later scolding her husband Jacob for not paying attention to their daughter. She suspects him of flirting with his coworker. 

We get an insight into Rowena’s panicked state, where she imagines the worst-case scenario where Michelle chokes on the wood chip, Rowena tries to assist her, fails, ambulances arrive, they can’t save her either, and then it all ends with a tiny coffin. 

Considering Rowena’s mental state, what if the prologue, The Afterward, was also her imagination?

Anyway, Jacob isn’t too concerned about what could happen to Michelle and asks Rowena to get something to eat. 

Rowena doesn’t want tacos and uses the toaster oven to heat her pizza, then she is lost in her thoughts about her past. The fire alarm goes off, and Rowena freezes when she sees the toaster oven on fire. 

Jennee comes right on time to use the fire extinguisher and laments that the presents got soggy because of the sprinklers. Jacob comes to check on her and advises her to take a pill for her anxiety. Rowena is instead panicking about Jacob leaving Michelle with one of his coworkers. 

In the next chapter, we learn more about Rowena’s past and her friend Dane, who now has her job. She is a loyal friend who validates Rowena’s feelings. But she lives far away, and it is obvious that Rowena feels unsupported in her new house. 

Later, she finds a piece of floral paper and realizes that she may have left the paper towel with the pizza, which caused the fire. She discusses this with Jacob, who thinks she needs help because he has been learning about Postpartum depression. He doesn’t think that they will be able to make it otherwise. 

Rowena takes it very seriously, which is why she gives in to trying a new gadget that Jacob’s firm is working on. It’s in beta testing, of course. 

Maxine, your new digital friend. 

Rowena promises Jacob she will try to get better. She will use Maxine, and she will join his mother’s book club. 

By Chapter Three, Rowena is already pushing against her inner feelings. Forcing herself to be happy. 

Things are going to get complicated, aren’t they?

READ OR SKIP?

Rowena is not your typical protagonist. She is clearly struggling with a lot of issues, and her entire thought process shows that she is falling apart. At the moment, it seems that Jennee and Jacob are trying to be supportive and trying to get her to socialize. 

But could Maxine be right later on when she suggests Jacob may be trying to kill her? Or is it part of her anxiety that shows her a scenario where Jacob is tired of her being broken and cheats on her with his coworker?

Maxine is in beta testing. This suggests that Maxine is no doubt going to glitch in the worst way possible. 

Will Jacob be able to survive? Was what happened in the first scene really all in Rowena’s head? 

The story is naturally captivating, and the author manages to push you into Rowena’s anxiety-ridden world. You sympathize with her, you see her struggle, yet you can see that the other characters are also trying to be supportive in their own way. 

THE PREDICTION is a READ for sure. 

Get the book here