This is listed as a romantic thriller, but I'd say it's light on romance and heavier on suspense. It started a little slow but once I read about 20% of the way into the book it picked up nicely. The authors do a great job of keeping you guessing as to who has ulterior motives. I did figure out one of the characters early on, but there is much more to the story and I wasn't disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

"Tell me something I don't know."
"I think I was murdered."

Can you imagine getting that message from your late spouse?
This book combines advanced technology, bitcoins, deception, grief, romance and mystery, all wrapped in danger.
Katrina Berg, legal counsel for an AI chatbox company, has lost so much in the past year and now her grief rages again at a new loss. It's time to go home to northern California and be with her family. She is about to endure more twists and turns in her life. Seb Wallace is a successful restaurateur, an unexpected acquaintance from her past and may be the one who can help her seek out what the truth is. He may also reawaken her heart.
I received an e-copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. This is my own unsolicited opinion. This is a very different offering from author duo Colleen Coble and Rick Acker.
Wow, what a story! It is creepy to think that a person could create an AI program to assume a like identity to one's dead husband so a widow could have an on-hand communication with 'him'. It's well plotted and certainly kept me trying to solve things. (I did guess 'who dunnit'.) I really liked Katrina and could understand her dependency on the AI which kept her from fully accepting her grief. Seb is an excellent character, wounded yet moving forward with his life. I give this a 4.5 rating. In a way I could see this becoming the beginning of a series.
It's a good clean story.

Thank you Netgalley and Thomas Nelson for the chance to read an ARC of I think I was murdered by Colleen Coble, and Rick Acker. This was the 2nd book I read by this duo, and it was just as good as What we hide. I initially had trouble getting into the story that centered around AI, bitcoins, and chatbots, I quickly became hooked on the characters of Katrina, a recent widow using a chatbot to talk to her deceased husband, with it telling her "he thinks he was murdered". A solid suspense story and I look forward to reading more by this duo!

This book was a single sitting read for me. I was so immersed in the lives of the characters that I forgot about everything going on around me.

The main character is Katrina Berg. Her world has completely imploded which began with the death of her husband. Now she may lose everything she has worked so hard for, and then to make matters even worse, she has just lost her beloved grandmother. This is how she ends up back home in Northern California where she is in for a huge surprise. This grieving widow finds solace using a chat bot communicating with her dead husband. It makes her feel that he is almost present, although she knows he is not. When the chat bot delivers the crushing news that "I think I was murdered", her world is rocked off its axis. She will find solace with an old friend, Seb, who is more than ready to protect her. Seb is not the young man she knew all those years ago as she will soon learn.

The nail-biting suspense and tense mystery continues to build with each chapter from the bizarre world of artificial intelligence to the even more interesting world of bitcoins, this romantic suspense checkmarks everything I love in a romantic suspense novel. The hits just kept coming as more is revealed. I simply could not put it down. I look forward to more books from this dynamic duo.

Thank you to Thomas Nelson Fiction and NetGalley for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Katrina believes her husband Jason’s death to be an accident. Her grief is unbearable and she talks to him daily and feels his presence by communicating with a chatbot developed by her employer. She is unable to move on and relies heavily on the AI to give her comfort until one day it announces “I think I was murdered”.
What follows is a good clean mystery with a few twists along the way.
I like the amount of research the authors put into AI and making the storyline seem realistic and believable. The characters are well developed and you feel the struggles and angst as you follow along on their quest for the truth.
Thank you NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for my ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Widowed attorney Katerina is missing her husband. She is testing a unique app that lets her interact with Jason as if he were still alive. She is shocked when the app declares that Jason may have been murdered. Her career has fallen apart and her company is under FBI investigation. So when she inherits a cafe from her ffgrandmother, she moves back to the quaint mountain town of North Haven near where her husband lost his life. A note her grandmother left her says she can sell the cafe and names Seb, a childhood friend, as a good choice. There begins a tale of mystery, science fiction like technology, and a relationship that could go anywhere. There are a few side stories that made this a complex novel with sinister overtones. Themes of redemption, forgiveness and moving on from the past were evident.
The concept of AI chatboxes was intriguing and showed how Katrina was relying on fantasy and not really moving through her grief. But at the same time, the chatbox helped uncover the truth about Jason and his death.
My favorite characters were Seb who was loyal, honest and tried hard to honor his father and grandmother Frida, who, although she is not on the page, left a legacy of faith for Katrina and her brother.
Thought provoking, with up-to-the-minute technology and the possible consequences, this book kept me turning pages and I did not want it to end.
*I received a complimentary digital copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. I was not required to post a favorable review. All opinions are mine alone.*

I Think I Was Murdered is written by the dynamic duo of Colleen Coble and Rick Acker. This edge of your seat thriller had me riveted from the very beginning. The concept for this book is very relevant in the age of artifical intelligence. Honestly, with the way technology evolves, this may not be that futuristic at all. When a young widow keeps a bot on her phone that has her dead husband's voice on it, she asks it to tell her something she doesn't know. It answers by saying he thinks he was murdered. With the help of an old friend, who happens to be a handsome restaurateur, they look for answers. Action, suspense and romance ensues.
I listened to this nail-biting thriller and the narrator was spot on. She was perfect for the performance. My husband listened to it with me and he agrees wholeheartedly. 5 stars!!

This one wasn't for me. I expected much more of a thriller but this was more of a cozy mystery plus a romance. Also, somehow I missed that this was Christian fiction--guess I should have paid more attention to who the publisher was! For people who like cozier stories and romance, especially if they like a religious element, I think this could be a big hit! Would definitely recommend to those readers, and recommend that anyone expecting more of a traditional thriller to be sure they know what they're getting into.

Wow was this a wild ride. There was so much going on that it was hard to know who to trust. I felt like I had an idea where the story was going but sure was wrong on some of it. Very well written. I liked the addition of the technology and of the faith. It was a nice touch.

Fantastic, creative, original, kept me glued to the pages! I had no idea what to expect, and I loved every minute of it, I could not stop turning pages. I've read many wonderful suspense stories by Colleen Coble, this is the first story I've ready by the duo authors Colleen Coble and Rick Acker. I will definitely be checking out more of their collaborative stories.

From the first lines in the prologue "In 2009 Satoshi Nakamoto laid an egg. Jason Foster had found it two weeks ago, and he'd been running for his life ever since." to the last lines of the epilogue, I could not put it down!

This suspenseful page-turner involves an incredible AI chatbot program, a search for an illusive bitcoin egg containing a USB drive worth millions, including dangerous people after it as well, family relationships, forgiveness, loss, grief, betrayal, and finding your place, your people, and your purpose.

I enjoyed the wonderful cast of characters from Katrina Foster and her family, and Seb Wallace and his family. Seb came from a broken childhood and somehow turns out to be the nicest guy. I loved watching their interactions.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for allowing me to read an early copy. All opinions are my own.

I have been a fan of Colleen Coble's writing for many years. I was excited to receive an ARC of her newest release that she wrote with Rick Acker.

Katrina is a year in to the grief of losing her husband. Her job is imploding and her beloved grandmother has died. Katrina and her best friend have created an AI bot to recreate Katrina's husband's conversations.

I know AI is out there and frankly I find its power frightening. But this storyline felt disjointed and too crazy for me. Not sure the duo writing works in this case.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was an interesting look at chatbots and AI, and a deeper look at dealing with grief. Technology cannot replace people, and the love of money really is the root of all evil. This was a good book, one I enjoyed, but it could have been a great book. I didn't really connect emotionally with the characters, and there were several characters with a lot going on.

This is billed as Christian fiction, but this is more clean romantic suspense.

Family friendly.

Katrina Berg lost her husband Jason in a horrible car accident. And now her grandma has passed away, her company went under, and she is under scrutiny by the FBI. How could it possibly get worse? But it somehow does.
Katrina worked for an emerging AI chatbot company and as a test, they uploaded all electronic files, texts, emails, pictures etc. of her late husband Jason's. So now she can talk to "Jason." The chatbot then claims that it was murdered making Katrina question if Jason's death really was an accident.
As she looks into it more, more danger comes her way. Before long she has recruited an old friend from high school, Sebastian Wallace into helping her find clues and discover what really happened to Jason.

This book was so interesting and whole concept of the chatbot was quite fascinating. The book was full action and mystery and some turns that I did not see coming!!
Seriously give this book a read!

Really great, clean mystery with romance by one of my favorite Christian authors, Colleen Coble along with Rick Acker. This is their second book together and I think I liked it even more than What They Hide. The AI aspect was pretty interesting to me and I can see how one can get addicted to the communication with someone who has passed through the app Katrina had. I loved watching her and Seb's relationship grow and it was fun to try to figure out who killed her husband.

Once again, Karen Peakes is a wonderful narrator. I was able to read/listen to this book in 2 afternoons and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Publication date: 12 November 2024

"I Think I Was Murdered" is a tense murder mystery from authors Colleen Coble and Rick Acker. A year after her husband Jason's unexpected death, lawyer Katrina Berg continues to find ways to talk to him, using the AI Chatbot created by the startup company she works for. Chatting with Jason helps her handle the grief until one day he tells her that he thinks he was murdered. As her AI company starts to come under scrutiny by the FBI, Katrina decides to return to her hometown to see if she can solve her husband's murder. In her hometown, she reunites with her friend and local Seb Wallace and enlists his help to solve her husband's murder. Unfortunately, danger continues to turn up wherever Katrina goes and everyone falls under suspicion.

This was a tense murder mystery that kept me suspecting all the main characters at any given moment. I thought the concept of handling grief through AI Chatbots was super interesting and I hope someone is doing this in the real world, if they haven't already. The slow-burn romance between the two main characters was cute as well and nice to see how people handle moving on once a loved one dies. The side characters of her business partner, her brother, and Seb's recently discovered half brother and their father were nice additions and kept the suspense going.

*** I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. ***

This story is about a grieving widow, Katrina, who talks to an AI program-chat bot that poses as her husband that passed away. The chat bot has all of her husbands social media accounts, photos, information from his phone etc. So it can truly feel like he is talking to her. One day, the chat bot responds to her "I Think I Was Murdered" and she goes on this hunt to find out what really happened to Jason. The story has some side characters and mysteries going on as well.

The authors have delivered a terrific cyber-crime/chatbot murder mystery. Still grieving widow Katrina Berg returns home after her grandmother dies and the company that she is an attorney for is shut down by the FBI. Katrina gets comfort from the chatbot that contains all her deceased husband Jason's texts and emails. In one of her exchanges with the chatbot, Jason believes that he might be murdered. With the help of a former classmate Seb, she starts looking for answers. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. There is plenty of action, suspense, twists and turns in this Christian romantic suspense mystery. Adding to the story is a little family drama and the start of a sweet romance. Even though this is a standalone story, I would love to see a follow-up story revolving around Dylan or Magnus. The Norwegian dishes and culture flourishing in her hometown also add to the story.

I have read many books from Coble in the past and enjoyed them, but this one missed the mark for me. There was a lot of unnecessary detailing and backstories that really stalled the plot. It could have benefited from a tighter focus and edit. The premise was interesting, particularly the AI angle, and things did pick up in the latter third of the story. However, this was a "meh" overall for me.

A suspense story based on artificial intelligence, chatbots, and cryptocurrency, with romance thrown in for good measure. A bitcoin key is found worth millions of dollars. The finder is killed for it, but the killers never get the key. A grieving widow has to deal with more attacks while grieving the loss of yet another family member, plus sorting out feelings for an old friend. Who can be trusted? Who's the enemy? Another well written book Colleen Coble and Rick Acker.
I received an ARC copy from NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

This was a strange book. I had trouble getting interested in this story. Katrina has lost her husband and having trouble coping with her grief. On top of that her company is about ready to go under and is being investigated by the FBI. Katrina is talking to a chat box that was created by her company that is a compilation of text messages from her late husband. She talks to it as she would her deceased husband. Weird. As I said, it was a strange book.

I was given this book by Thomas Nelson Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated in any way.