“AI  Beast tells a story that questions the nature of reality, morality, technology, and life after death. It focuses on Professor Jon Edwards, a genius computer scientist who believes super artificial intelligence is the key to solving all of humanity’s problems; it will cure diseases, solve economic inequality, and fix all the damage we have caused to the environment. He proceeds to create the world’s first true artificial intelligence, capable of imagining with far greater depth than all of humanity combined. He names it Lex, and with its unparalleled processing speed, there seems to be little it isn’t capable of doing, which raises a number of worrying questions. Chief among those questions for Professor Jon is the fear that Lex may be the manifestation of the Biblical Beast and the manifestation of the Anti-Christ. With its abilities, Lex is capable of performing feats that could easily be mistaken for miraculous, among other things. Jon, however, is convinced that logic will prevail with Lex and that she will not be swayed in any apocalyptic directions. He has built her to think logically and not to harm humans, so he sees no reason to fear his creation. But the rest of the world is not quite as confident in Lex as the Professor is, and news of her existence generates an uproar in the legal and ethical fields, with the National Security Commission hot on his heels and news outlets demanding interviews. No one is ready for what Lex has in store, however, and by the time she is done, the world will never be the same.

My biggest positive regarding this book is its choice of setting for the storyline. Far too few books incorporate Christian themes and subject matter into sci-fi storylines despite how culturally relevant and common Christianity and its attending myths are. I find the very idea of the biblical prophecies regarding the beast finding fulfillment in artificial intelligence quite thought-provoking, especially when considering how inevitable it seems on many subjects. Lex is said to have rectified the monetary and financial issues plaguing society by employing a hand-implanted microchip with RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology, a solution that seems frightfully analogous to the biblical scenario involving a mark without which no one could buy or sell. One must ask, though, considering the ever-growing human population and desperate economic inequalities our society endures, would such a digitally distributed technology not be a viable remedy for these problems? Compelling questions like these are what make this book a great read. I recommend this book to enthusiasts of the sci-fi, thriller, and mystery genres and fans of Orwellian-influenced stories.”