The Assistant
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
The Assistant by S. K. Tremayne
The Assistant goes off an interesting premise utilizing the modern-day paranoia of ever-increasing AI assistants, and big tech listening in on your every word. The premise is no doubt what carries the book, but the execution and characterization do almost everything to kill whatever potential it had.
It's a book that's definitely much longer than it needs to be, and its biggest problem is the main character herself, Jo. Her actions seem nonsensical at times to the point where she's often a victim of her own ignorance. Adding to this is her increasing annoyance as the book goes on, as her rambling inner monologue trying to solve the mystery gets rather repetitive and often doesn't lead anywhere. It's almost the equivalent to trailing off while talking: it started out intriguing, got tedious, then just kind of droned on for a while, and gradually lost its way.
This leads to its ending that's beyond basic, even for non-thriller books. It all but abandons its AI tech premise in favor of a more action-oriented climax. This is disappointing for me because I feel that psychological thrillers like this are often better when ending on a downer, rather than the "good" ending where the protagonist survives, and the antagonist gets what's coming. It's ironic how they're always filled with twists and turns but never end with the unexpected.
