Douglas Preston: The Kraken Project (UK 2015)

From the Publisher:
NASA is building a probe to be splashed down in the Kraken Mare, the largest sea on Saturn's great moon, Titan. It is one of the most promising habitats for extraterrestrial life in the solar system, but the surface is unstable and dangerous, requiring the probe to be outfitted with artificial intelligence software. Melissa Shepherd, a brilliant programmer, has developed 'Dorothy', a powerful, self-modifying AI whose potential is both revolutionary and terrifying. When miscalculations lead to a catastrophe during testing, Dorothy flees into the internet.

Former CIA agent Wyman Ford is tapped to help track down the rogue AI. As Ford and Shepherd search for Dorothy, they realize that her horrific experiences in the wasteland of the Internet have changed her in ways they can barely imagine. And they're not the only ones looking for the wayward program: the AI is also being pursued by a pair of Wall Street traders who want to capture her code and turn her into a high-speed trading bot.

Traumatized, angry, and relentlessly hunted, Dorothy devises a plan. As the pursuit of Dorothy converges on a deserted house on the coast of Northern California, Ford faces the question: is rescuing Dorothy the right thing? Is the AI bent on saving the world... or on wiping out the cancer that is humankind?

Douglas Preston: The Kraken Project. Pan, ISBN: 9781447274384 (April, 2015), 387 p., £7.99.

Douglas Preston: The Kraken Project (USA 2015)

From the Publisher:
From celebrated Relic author Douglas Preston, Wyman Ford races to stop a rogue AI in The Kraken Project, a New York Times bestselling thriller "as chilling as it is provocative" (James Rollins)

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center is designing a probe which will be dropped into the Kraken Mare, a methane sea on Titan, where it will embark on a journey of exploration. But things at Goddard go awry, and the AI program in the probe called "Dorothy" flees to the internet. Former CIA agent Wyman Ford is tapped to track down the software with the help of Dorothy's creator, Melissa Shepherd. As they trace Dorothy in cyberspace, they realize horrific experiences in the wasteland of the Internet have changed her -- and they learn she's being pursued by a pair of Wall Street high-frequency traders who want to turn her into an algorithmic-trading slave-bot.

Traumatized and angry, Dorothy jumps out of the Internet into a child's toy robot to hide. But is she bent on doing good -- or on wiping out the human race?

Douglas Preston: The Kraken Project. A Novel. Forge, ISBN: 9780765356987 (March, 2015), 402 p., $9.99.

Douglas Preston: The Kraken Project (UK 2014)

From the Publisher:
NASA is building a probe to be splashed down in the Kraken Mare, the largest sea on Saturn's great moon, Titan. It is one of the most promising habitats for extraterrestrial life in the solar system, but the surface is unstable and dangerous, requiring the probe to be outfitted with artificial intelligence software. Melissa Shepherd, a brilliant programmer, has developed 'Dorothy', a powerful, self-modifying AI whose potential is both revolutionary and terrifying. When miscalculations lead to a catastrophe during testing, Dorothy flees into the internet.

Former CIA agent Wyman Ford is tapped to help track down the rogue AI. As Ford and Shepherd search for Dorothy, they realize that her horrific experiences in the wasteland of the Internet have changed her in ways they can barely imagine. And they're not the only ones looking for the wayward program: the AI is also being pursued by a pair of Wall Street traders who want to capture her code and turn her into a high-speed trading bot.

Traumatized, angry, and relentlessly hunted, Dorothy devises a plan. As the pursuit of Dorothy converges on a deserted house on the coast of Northern California, Ford faces the question: is rescuing Dorothy the right thing? Is the AI bent on saving the world... or on wiping out the cancer that is humankind?

Douglas Preston: The Kraken Project. An eBook exclusive. Pan, ISBN: 9781447274957 (March, 2015), 0.49 MB (ca. 400 p.), £?.??.

Douglas Preston: The Kraken Project (USA 2014)

From the Publisher:
From celebrated Relic author Douglas Preston, Wyman Ford races to stop a rogue AI in The Kraken Project, a New York Times bestselling thriller "as chilling as it is provocative" (James Rollins)

NASA is building a probe to be splashed down in the Kraken Mare, the largest sea on Saturn's great moon, Titan. It is one of the most promising habitats for extraterrestrial life in the solar system, but the surface is unpredictable and dangerous, requiring the probe to contain artificial intelligence software. To this end, Melissa Shepherd, a brilliant programmer, has developed "Dorothy," a powerful, self-modifying AI whose true potential is both revolutionary and terrifying. When miscalculations lead to a catastrophe during testing, Dorothy flees into the internet.

Former CIA agent Wyman Ford is tapped to track down the rogue AI. As Ford and Shepherd search for Dorothy, they realize that her horrific experiences in the wasteland of the Internet have changed her in ways they can barely imagine. And they're not the only ones looking for the wayward software: the AI is also being pursued by a pair of Wall Street traders, who want to capture her code and turn her into a high-speed trading bot.

Traumatized, angry, and relentlessly hunted, Dorothy has an extraordinary revelation -- and devises a plan. As the pursuit of Dorothy converges on a deserted house on the coast of Northern California, Ford must face the ultimate question: is rescuing Dorothy the right thing? Is the AI bent on saving the world... or on wiping out the cancer that is humankind?

Douglas Preston: The Kraken Project. A Novel. Forge, ISBN: 9780765317698 (May, 2014), 352 p., $26.99.