Culpability

A Novel

By: Bruce Holsinger

Narrated by: Stacy Carolan, January LaVoy

Oprah’s Book Club Pick * New Yorker Best Books of 2025 * 2026 Aspen Words Literary Prize Longlist * Kirkus Best Books of 2025 * Real Simple Best Books of 2025 * Washington Post Noteable Fiction 2025 * NPR's 2025 "Books We Love" * Minnesota Star Tribune 20 Best of 2025 *

“I was riveted until the very last shocking sentence!”—Oprah Winfrey

Set at a summer rental on the Chesapeake Bay, a riveting family drama about moral responsibility in the age of artificial intelligence.

When the Cassidy-Shaws’ autonomous minivan collides with an oncoming car, seventeen-year-old Charlie is in the driver’s seat, with his father, Noah, riding shotgun. In the back seat, tweens Alice and Izzy are on their phones, while their mother, Lorelei, a world leader in the field of artificial intelligence, is absorbed in her work. Yet each family member harbors a secret that implicates them in the accident.

During a weeklong recuperation on the Chesapeake Bay, the family confronts the excruciating moral dilemmas triggered by the crash. Noah tries to hold the family together as a seemingly routine police investigation jeopardizes Charlie’s future. Alice and Izzy turn strangely furtive. And Lorelei’s odd behavior tugs at Noah’s suspicions that there is a darker truth behind the incident—suspicions heightened by the sudden intrusion of Daniel Monet, a tech mogul whose mysterious history with Lorelei hints at betrayal. When Charlie falls for Monet’s teenaged daughter, the stakes are raised even higher in this propulsive family drama that is also a fascinating exploration of the moral responsibility and ethical consequences of AI.

Culpability explores a world newly shaped by chatbots, autonomous cars, drones, and other nonhuman forces in ways that are thrilling, challenging, and unimaginably provocative.

©2025 Bruce Holsinger (P)2025 Spiegel & Grau by Spotify Audiobooks

Cautionary Tale

Excellent premise and the book was interesting, overall. There were things about the book that I found irksome (i.e., it was overwrought at times, particularly when describing the perfect spoiled son's difficulties). The family was rich, the children were spoiled brats, and in the end, there was little accountability for the characters' misdeeds. Maybe I'm too judgy but having the mad genius Lorelei write a book to warn others about AI seems hypocritical and not really a fitting atonement. Despite my criticism of the lack of justice and the overly-emotional prose, the book showcased the different set of rules for the well off, ticking me off. Any book the creates feelings is a success. To sum this up: it's not my favorite book of the year but I found it credit worthy and it kept me engaged until the end (I kept hoping one of them would end up in the clink!).

Thought Provoking

I enjoyed this book. In a world where I daily use some type of AI and have conversations with my personal assistant named Clark, this story made me take pause. It is both believable and entertaining. I highly recommend it.

Timely

The story line kept the reader engaged. Was hard to put down. Loved the twists especially the last one. Listen/Read to the very end.

what about AI in real life?

A lesson about artificial intelligence intermingling with real life
circumstances and situations was delivered in an engagingly relevant human condition. Excellent read!

Complexity of story

Fascinating from the beginning. Gives the layperson an insight to AI, what’s part of our lives now, what’s to come. Chilling and incredibly thought provoking encased in an actual story of a family.
Highly recommend!