Access Denied

Yes, I like these books. Perhaps they are just fantasy but we can always hope for such progress! And, yes, I would deem it progress.

Donna Andrews has created a facinating and original amateur dectective. Turing Hopper is an "Artificial Intelligence Personality", a super computer who has achieved sentience and who belongs to The Universal Library. Only her two friends Maud and Tim know her secret, and they are very careful to keep her secret for fear that her program will be altered or deleted. In this their third adventure, Turing has been monitoring the credit card of notorious criminal Nestor Garcia, when she becomes aware of suspicious activity on his card. Turing has Tim stake out the address in Virginia where items bought with Garcia's card are shipped to, but unfortunately, Tim is so tired that he falls asleep at the stakeout. A murder takes place on the property and Tim becomes the prime suspect. Turing and Maud team up and use their respective talents to find clues to the real murderer. Turing uses her database and Maude deals with an FBI agent who is developing a romantic interest in her. Andrews focuses on the growth of Turing's personality and her struggles to understand humans while at the same time advancing the plot as Turing and Maud race against time to find the real murderer. It's worth while to begin this series with the first book, "You've Got Murder" so the reader can go back to Turing's "creation" and her subsequent personality development. A very important premise in these books is the nature of Turing's existence. Would she be considered 'property,' or would she be recognized as a 'real person?' This ethical question is ongoing in the books. There are a couple of weakness in this book which prevented me from giving it 5 stars. Nestor Garcia's motivation was difficult for me to understand. Also the resolution of the mystery was a little ambiguous. However, the whole was greater than the sum of it's parts, so I highly recommend this book and series.

It's a fun ride, very similar to her two others in this series. She does a good job of creating a personality for a program that's gained sentience.

For the last six months, artificial intelligence personality (AIP) Turing Hopper has been monitoring the credit card account of Nestor Garcia, hoping to gain a clue on the were abouts of this criminal. Still, she's shocked when she finds a charge on the account. When she finds the order is going to an empty house, she sends Tim out to see who shows up. Unfortunately, Tim falls asleep on his stake out and wakes up to find the police accusing him of a murder that occurred while he was out. With the stakes raised, Turing, Maude, and Tim spring into action. But can they solve the puzzle? Is there more here then simple credit card fraud? Was Garcia a victim even though he doesn't fit the pattern? And will they give away Turing's secret with all their on-line snooping? I loved this book! It drew me in from page one and I had a hard time putting it down until I was finished. Turing, though an AIP, is a very real character. The sub-plot dealing with her relationships with her human friends is very well done. The mystery plot is deftly handled as well, and I couldn't wait to see where things were going. The ending left me intrigued and I'm already impatient for the next in the series. This is not your normal cozy series because it includes a strong hi tech/sci-fi element. But for anyone looking for something different, this is a great place to start. Just be sure you read them in order starting with YOU'VE GOT MURDER because this series builds on each other big time, both in character interaction and plot. This book will spoil the first two for you by necessity.

Artificial Intelligence Personality (AIP) Turing Hopper has gained sentience and with the help of her two friends is now in charge of Universal Libraries and Alan Grace Inc. All three sentient beings are on the lookout for Nestor Garcia because he knows about Turing and wants to steal her just like he did her clone T2. When someone uses his credit card to make online charges and have them delivered to a house where he family is on vacation, Tim, a private investigator sets up a surveillance, which collapses when he falls asleep on the job. When he wakes up, the person who was supposed to pick up the packages is dead. And he has to talk his way out of jail. Turing hacks into databases where she finds that a stolen credit card ring is operating in her part of the city. That information leads them to a collection agency where a skip tracer who is the ringleader has all the credit cards, the names, what was purchased and where it was delivered in a spreadsheet. When he disappears, Turing and company set out to find him because they want to know if he is connected to Nestor. Turing is absolutely adorable as she tries to understand how carbon based entities operate. She constantly contrasts their personality traits to that of AIPs and decides she wants to be part of both worlds. Turing's lawyer is let in on the AIP's secret and id already making plans for her to gain recognition in the courts. Turing wants to keep a very low profile until Nester is caught and T2 is returned to her. Readers will find ACCESS DENIED a charming mystery with a delightful heroine. Harriet Klausner