An entertaining social commentary on politics and advancing technology, I felt it lacked depth and left a lot unexplained. I would have enjoyed knowing more of the backstory as it felt like I picked up a book in the middle of a series. Characters and relationships were dynamic but the story was often confusing or hard to follow. This story has a lot to offer and lots of room to grow.

This was definitely different from the crime books I read. It was an interesting take on the world. Glad I got to read something I'm not use to grabbing! Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley.

It's a mystery

This book is mystery in more than one way. Firstly it's a whodunit: Who killed Carl Smythe? Chief of Police Jesse Laughton used to be a cop in Baltimore where he investigated lots of murders, but since moving to the Preserve his daily work seems to be corralling drunks. This is the first murder in the Preserve's short history, and it causes a big problem because it looks as if Carl Smythe was writing and smuggling contraband programs that have started killing the robots who have built the Preserve for the human remnants.

The murder gets solved, more or less, but other mysteries do not. Mysteries like why there is a preserve at all. Why the Preserve is not set up to be either economically and technically self-sufficient or formally subsidized? The big mystery though is mentally ill robots. Robots who are sentimental about humans. Robots who are contemptuous of humans. Robots who like humans. Robots who drug themselves with altered reality apps. Robots who court death when the apps are bad.

None of this is explained adequately and I am unsatisfied.

I loved that there was a society where humans are the minority and ruled by a robot government. The preserves are areas where humans can live without being governed by robots. I didn't find the crime committed nor the investigation into the identity of the perpetrator very compelling. It was the friendship between Jesse and Kir which really held my interest.

There’s nothing much more satisfying than a good police procedural in a futuristic setting and this book filled my craving quite nicely. The idea of humanity taking a back seat to robots quite peacefully and without a war going on is intriguing in itself and I applaud the author for making the scenario work naturally.

Character development takes precedence over plot although the murder investigation is well done and left me wondering for a long while. The relationships here are the real story, those between Jesse and his wife, the two of them and their child and, most compelling, Jesse and Kir. The latter is a dynamic partnership that evokes a real friendship between man and machine and I want to know much more. I really hope there will be a sequel to continue and expand the tale.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, November 2020.

The premise of this book was interesting and drew me in. The story was enjoyable and I want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy.

Today, I tore my way through Ariel S. Winter’s The Preserve. It was a fascinating distraction from the anxieties of present and I'm so glad to had the chance to read it before pub day!

The Preserve is set in a world where humans have been decimated by a plague, and robots have taken over. Much of the remaining human population now live in preserves, but when a series of murders threaten the survival of the preserves, Police Chief Jesse Laughton must team up with his former robo-cop partner, Kir, to discover who *or what* is behind the killings before its too late.

I really enjoyed the mystery element of this book - every page felt like it was taking me deeper into the underworld of this futuristic yet eerily familiar world. I did feel that Laughton as a character could have used a little more background and character building... but Kir was fascinating and engaging, and, as a woman, Betty’s side-story - and the questions of reproductive rights within the preserve and its world - was especially interesting to me.

The Preserve is my ideal kind of speculative dystopian fiction because, while it feels very classically sci-fi, it also poses some very timely questions about human and civil rights. It is also a short book - only 256 pages - which makes it a perfect pick for anyone looking to dip their toe into sci-fi for the first time.

The Preserve feels very reminiscent of the sci-fi greats like Isaac Asimov and Philip K. Dick and I highly recommend this book to fans of Blade Runner and iRobot.

It was completely weird to read this book during our current worldwide pandemic situation. Having nothing to do with it of course, but with all the uncertainty I kept thinking of the possibility of our world coming close to what THE PRESERVE is all about. Just.. you know without the robots. I love reading mystery novels, and this one is a little extra with the plot, in a such a good way. You get the mystery, set in a dystopian future, with an added blend of The Matrix. Imagine robots taking over the world (to put it simply) after the human race has almost completely vanished due to a plague.

Now all humans are separated from the robots, and placed into ‘the preserve’. That is until a murder occurs, and now it’s up to Chief Laughton to figure out the truth, before it’s too late.

It was a quick read, and the only thing I could say I wish I had more of is story. I wish it were a little bit longer, and a little more detail. The story has incredible potential, and I felt like i just breezed through the book.. too fast!

I definitely recommend it! To anyone who loves a mix of dystopian, sci-fi, and a murder mystery unlike any other!

**I was provided with a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Set in a society where robots live and work alongside humans, the Preserve tells the story of the first murder to take place on The Preserve, an area of land where robots are not permitted to live. This was such a fun concept to me and definitely different from other science fiction I've read before. I enjoyed the premise but found some plot points fairly predictable and was overall disappointed with the ending. I felt as though it ended fairly abruptly and with some loose strings I would have liked tied up. Overall, a fun read, but left me wanting more in a less than stellar way.

In a world where the robots created by humans now outnumber humans, the preserve is the one region only populated by humans. The Chief of Police of one of the towns in the preserve reunites with his old robot partner to try and solve the first human murder.

Usually the only crimes on the preserve are meaningless acts of boredom and drunkenness. Most of the humans don’t have much to do, since the robots are the majority of the population, and taking care of themselves. When a cyborg (still considered human) is found murdered on the preserve, the Chief of Police feels a little rusty in his policing skills. As he investigates the crime and finds a link to some crimes in the robot world, he calls for help from his former robot partner, and unfortunately many other robots in positions of authority follow. The robots question the wisdom of giving the humans their own area—the preserve—to live without robot interference.

While the appearance of many of the robots is close to human, they will never have the full range of emotions and empathy that the humans have. This is part of what makes Chief Laughton’s relationship with his former robot partner Kir so interesting. They never forget that they’re not the same (as the loving insults they say to each other prove—‘metal’ and ‘meathead’), but they’ve come to rely on each other in human-like ways, and Kir has developed relationships of a sort with the Chief’s wife and daughter.

Overall, I’d give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars. The evolving relationships between humans and robots was part of the point of the book, but it sometimes made understanding the plot a little confusing. This would be a great book for those who like this type of sci-fi or speculative fiction stories.

The Preserve by Ariel S. Winter is a recommended procedural set in a science fiction future controlled by robots.

Robots now control the world after the human population was almost annihilated by a plague. In this future world the AI rulers have opened a series of preserves, areas where people can live and rebuild their society and population. When the first murder occurs on the SoCar Preserve in South Carolina, Jesse Laughton, the Chief of Police in SoCar, is assigned to investigate the case. At the same time a series of robots have turned up dead from indulging in sims, which are illegal programs that are akin to drugs for robots. The murdered man was Carl Smythe, who turns out to be a hacker who wrote and sold sims. It's a tricky situation. It looks like the murders are related and could be used as a reason for the robots to close the preserves. Jesse's former partner from the Baltimore PD, a robot named Kir, comes to assist Jesse with the case.

This is essentially a procedural. If I look at it as simply a procedural and murder mystery, it is a satisfying read, but if I allow any of my sci-fi expectations to trickle in and expect more descriptions and background information it becomes a lesser novel. I chose to read it as a procedural in an interesting setting. The world building is rudimentary. The futuristic setting, with robots the controlling class who have allowed the setting up preserves for humans, is not so incidentally suppose to resemble any of a number of times the ruling group has set up an area, district, ghetto, camp, etc. to segregate another group. The groups of robots actually simply resemble humans in their prejudices, attitudes, etc. I guess I'd like a society run by robots to resemble not feuding human groups, but a more logical unemotional fact based system.

It is odd, but Kir, the robot partner of Jesse, is the most likeable character in the book. Jesse is not a character that you will connect with of feel a lot of sympathy for. He has debilitating headaches throughout the novel and they are almost mentioned too frequently. I am assuming they are migraines, but that is never openly said. I kept waiting for some explanation behind the continuous mention of them but any commentary about the cause for these headaches is never broached. The problem is that he repeatedly mentions that the headaches are interfering with his ability to do the investigation.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Atria/Emily Bestler Books.
After publication the review will be posted on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

This was a super-fun science fiction murder mystery! I loved the blending of police procedural and sci-fi. I struggled just a bit to get into the book. I was intrigued by the story, but the writing didn't flow easily for me. As I continued to read, that got easier, and I didn't notice it any longer.

Overall, I think this is a perfect story for fans of dystopian/science fiction stories and murder-mystery lovers!

I was provided a gifted copy of this book for free. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

It’s certainly been an interesting year for books about plagues! Tremblay, Donoghue, Scalzi just short of the coronavirus, now Winter—makes you wonder if writers are onto something.

In this plague, however, humans were nearly wiped out. AI have become a sentient, sapient reality and are now the majority. Humans live in separate communities, called preserves. Tensions are high between the two “factions,” but police of both AI and human variety keep an eye on things.

So who’s killing robots?

Police Chief Laughton and his former robot partner Kir are on the case.

The characters felt like the weakest part for me. While Kir was great and a fantastic example of human compassion and caring from a nonhuman, Laughton was a bit of a hardboiled cliche sometimes, but maybe that was the point. The trope has always rubbed me wrong, and I’m probably not the best person to make a judgment on it.

His wife though. Unbearable. Constantly nagging, constantly at their daughter for little things, constantly a harpy. Just...I couldn’t take her.

The setting and atmosphere are what drove me on here. Everything is bleak, but there are tiny holes of hope poked into the darkness. The underground crime scene with AI criminals was super cool too.

So overall it was a fun read, if a bit laborious at points. I think people will really enjoy this one.

The Preserve is such an interesting concept. A Sci-Fi murder mystery? Yes Please!

In the future, most of the human population has been wiped out by a plague. Robots now run the world and humans are in the minority. Set in the US, Preserves have been created as human only areas. Within the Preserves, humans work together to continue their way of life while also working to keep from dying out. Ex Baltimore detective Jesse Laughton is the current Chief of Police of the South Carolina Preserve. Him along with his wife, who runs the sites fertility center, are hoping to raise their daughter with as much human influence as possible.

Our story begins when a known ‘sims’ maker is found murdered. Sims are basically robots form of drugs, so utlimately he’s a drug dealer. There has never been a murder on the Preserve until now, and Jesse’s quite Chief of Police job has ended. Instead he finds himself caught in the middle between humans and robots, and it’s up to him to catch the culprit before robots take over the The Preserve for good.

The premise sounds so good, and I felt this book had so much potential that it didn’t live up to. It’s a fairly short book so I wish it would have been a 100 pages longer and more fully fleshed out. The story felt a big rushed and I still have so many questions. Why did Jesse have so much face/head pain? How do humans live outside the preserve? How are robots running society? What type of plague? What year is it? So many questions and not enough answers for me.

I did enjoy the relationship between Kir (Jesse’s ex robot police partner) and Jesse, but that was the only relationship that had any substance behind it. Besides this relationship, I found it hard to keep track of characters because I really didn’t care about any of them and details around them were scares.

The Preserve was an enjoyable short read, but ultimately it needed more for me. If robots and dystopian crime novels are of interest to you, maybe give it a try.

I hope you enjoyed my thoughts on The Preserve If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof_books. Huge thank you to Atria for my eARC!

Robots? ✔ Murder? ✔ Sign me UP! Oh... this is a dystopian future where mankind has been almost completely depleted by a plague and complex AIs are now the ruling majority? Oh, and the robot government decided to say some of the preserves can be designated human areas where there will be no robot interference. Sound a bit familiar? 😉 Clever.

I'm a bit torn with this read. Concept is fantastic. It's moderately paced and we get a lot of story for 239 pages but I do wish it was a bit longer and incorporated more background to how the robots took over and maybe expanded to see if any humans lived among the robots and what that would look like. I'm super curious about it! More robots please! I'm a crime fiction kinda girl as y'all know... so for the police procedural part of this book, it was a fun murder mystery... I think I just wanted more sci-fi. 🤷

Basically, concept is amazing, loved the idea of the layers within this new society but needed more expansion and less surface level type world building. Am I mad I read it? Not at all. It has all the ingredients that would normally wet my appetite... it just didn't quite hit that sweet spot.

Definitely give this a go if it intrigues you and see what you think of it. I'm in the minority here so go look at other reviews before passing this up.

In an all too possible future, Robots rule the earth and humans have been almost wiped out by plague. The Preserve starts nine months after a series of preserves are opened (reluctantly) by the robots, for the humans. These preserves are places set aside where humans can live with other humans and free from robots.

Jesse Laughton is the Chief of Police on the SoCar Preserve. When the first murder happens on the preserve, Jesse is the one who has to deal with it. He is not looking forward to this as he knows the factions who were against the preserves will try to use this as proof that humans can't be trusted to govern themselves.

When he discovers that the dead man was a hacker and made sims that the robots found addicting, he realizes that there is more going on than he first thought. To add to the pressure, there has been a sim passed around that kills robots. Jesse must find the killer, and stop the killer sim or the robots will take over the preserve.

I loved this book! The characters are well developed and the world is terrifyingly possible. I will be looking for more of Ariel S. Winter's books.

This was a kind of unique storytelling. A murder mystery, but involving "robot" type humanoids. I thought it was well-written, easy to follow, and the story was engrossing. I would absolutely read further books by this author.

This sci-fi thriller is what happens when...when we let the robots take over.

Humans live in 'the preserve' to live their life without robot intrusion - then people start dying, etc etc. I think that this could almost be an allegory about the white man taking over the land of the Native Americans - but maybe I'm reading TOO much into it.

Still, it's a cool idea - I just found it kind of dull.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

The premise of this one initially caught my attention - a dystopian America where robots have taken over and much of the human population has moved into the titular preserve - a humans-only area set aside in South Carolina. Not even a year into the preserve's existence, Chief Jesse Laughton is saddened for the first murder to have occurred. An ex-Baltimore detective who worked alongside, Kir, a robot that he considers a true partner and friend, this current violence forces Laughton to put his rusty investigative skills back to work, amidst the tenuous political situation the murder creates.

The backdrop, quite frankly, is more interesting than the mystery itself. The plot does take some surprising turns, but I felt more curiosity about the hasty and events leading up t this strange version of our world. Some of the technology feels quite familiar to today, but there are some new aspects as well. I do wish that the characters had been a bit more developed - I think that would have helped improve the plot. Laughton suffers from some sort of facial/head injury that is never explained which drove me to distraction! The injury makes up such a large part of his character and that missing background frustrated me throughout. I did appreciate the relationship between Kir and Laughton. Honestly, in many ways, Kir was my favorite - and I wish that there was a book set in their past in Baltimore instead... I guess the book felt a little bit like watching a reunion episode for a TV show that I had never seen - I was interested, but always felt like I was missing something. I just never connected to anyone. Still, the overall premise is certainly a discussion starter!

First off, it is a bit scary to think that robots will take over the world one day and us humans will be like trespassers own planet, thanks a lot of smart people. Lol. Anyway, this is an interesting story. It felt like it's not enough that there’s a designated place humans can only live; let’s throw a murder in it too. It is a good detective mystery story with just enough suspense and grip. Characters are okay. I like it.