Amazing book club pick.

Honestly the shining star of CULPABILITY for me is the way it stretched my thinking about AI, especially as it's ever more prevalent in our daily lives (whether we've asked for that or not!).

A family of five is traveling to a high school lacrosse tournament when their autonomous vehicle gets in an accident. Who's at fault? How do they all make sense of what happened? And how do they move forward?

I did feel like it peaked in the middle, and the main character wasn't my favorite to follow around, but I'd still recommend this one to anyone intrigued by the synopsis. Note the audiobook is excellently narrated by Stacy Carolan and January LaVoy.

This book was very good but know that it's not a quick read. It has lots of science/AI terms but the story and premise is great.

Just me and Oprah picking the same books. #nbd This is the perfect book club pick as there is so much to discuss. AI, self driving cars, responsibility when something goes wrong, family alligences. So good!

This book was just selected as the July Oprah Book Club Pick. If you’re looking for a binge worthy summer read, I think this book is for you.

I was completely absorbed by this story. The first chapter immediately pulled me in I stayed up way too late reading every night. I don’t want to give away too much about this story, but with so much conversation about AI lately, this book really makes you think. It really dives into the moral dilemmas of AI. This was a perfect mix of thriller and family drama.

This is the third book I’ve read from Bruce Holsinger. I highly recommend his other titles too- 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 and 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴.

An excellent family drama which explores the difficult question of the moral and ethical responsibilities of AI powered systems. Noah and Lorelai and their three kids are on a driving trip when their AI car rams into another oncoming vehicle and causes the death of its two elderly inhabitants. Charles their seventeen year old son is in the driver seat although the car is on auto drive. Noah is in the front seat but is busy typing out a memo for his company. Who is responsible for the tragic accident? Is it Charles, is it Noah, is it the AI car? The book delves into these complex and contemporary issues while weaving together an unputdownable tale. An easy, fast paced read. Definitely recommend.

Thank you Spiegel and Grau for the ARC

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has infiltrated our everyday lives. What was once just a futuristic imagining in science fiction movies and novels has slid its way into virtually every facet of our lives. While this is not news to anyone, Bruce Holsinger’s latest novel, Culpability, explores AI from the perspective of the family structure. Who is to blame to when a tragedy occurs and AI may have played a part.

In Culpability, 17 year-old Charlie, is behind the wheel of the family vehicle, when a devastating crash occurs. Also in the car is Charlie’s father, mother and younger sisters. But this isn’t any car, it’s an autonomous vehicle. From the POV of Noah, the dad, with interspersed text messages from one of the daughters to a friend, this unthinkable crisis of a family, takes many twists and turns that were both suspenseful and thought-provoking. As a parent of young adult children, I found the often-tricky topic of doing what’s best for our children, how that responsibility plays out as they mature into adults, and within todays’ framework of a technology-based society, to be on-point.

Many parents will likely be able to put themselves into the shoes of Noah, the dad, and Lorelei, the mom, to a certain degree. The concerns and fears that they deal with in this book are universal, however each parent has some idiosyncrasies which seemed extreme on both ends of the spectrum, resulting in some questionable choices at various points in the story.

Topics of societal and parental responsibility during modern day, family secrets, and wealth and privilege, is central in this family drama. Set on the Chesapeake Bay in the sultry months of summer, along with some Succession-like vibes, makes Culpability a great book for someone who is looking for a beach read with substance. Likewise, this would be a fantastic book club pick. Lots of juicy topics to discuss!

Holsinger is a new-to-me author and I will definitely be diving into his backlist.

Thank you NetGalley and Spiegal & Grau for an ARC of Culpability by Bruce Holsinger in exchange for my honest review.

I have read The Displacements, and The Gifted School by Bruce Holsinger.. I absolutely LOVED both of those books. So, when I saw that he had a new book out, Culpability, I jumped on the chance to ask for an ARC! I was so lucky to get one. Many thanks to NetGalley and Spiegel and Grau for the opportunity to read this one early.

The Shaw family is on the way to a lacrosse tournament when their autonomous mini van is involved in a fatal car collision. Charlie, the 17 year old son is in the driver's seat, his dad is in the front passenger seat. His mom and 2 sisters are in the back seats. They all must come to terms with what has happened. As the story develops, and secrets come out, each family member must come to terms with their role in what happened.

Culpability is both a family drama and a thriller. It builds the tension from page 1. I can not recommend this book enough. The story explores the ethical responsibility of AI, family dynamics, and grief all while building suspense. The ending was a WOW!! This is a book you will be thinking about long after it is over.

Thank you to NetGalley and Spiegel and Grau for the ARC.

I loved The Displacements, Holsinger quickly becoming an auto-buy for me. Culpability is brilliant. The writing shines, and the story captures both the mechanics of AI and the mental/emotional components. Neither can be underestimated. I've long been preaching: AI/the internet's strengths are its greatest weaknesses. Holsinger sheds remarkable, well-researched light on this timely topic (which needs more of our attention) through an unputdownable family drama. Highly recommend.

Five stars!! So good and so appropriate to the times we live in these days with AI. I couldn’t put this book down

What an incredible timely story! First book I've read by Bruce Holsinger, and what a provocative story. A self driving car is the original setting and the impact of a car accident reverberates through the family for months to come. Each family member has to deal with their own actions and their family relationships and modern technology. Can't wait to discuss this book with others.

I was fortunate to receive copies of Culpability by Bruce Holsinger in both ebook and audiobook format and enjoyed it in both forms. The Cassidy-Shaw family is on their way to their son's lacrosse game with their teen son Charlie behind the wheel of their autonomous vehicle. The entire family of 5 is on their electronics when their van strikes a vehicle in the oncoming lane, killing both occupants. Who is to blame? Did the other car veer into their lane? Is Charlie responsible because he wasn't fully attentive while "driving"? Should his dad be held accountable because he was sending work memos instead of monitoring Charlie's driving? As the story unfolds, we see the ways in which each family member may be culpable.

This is a timely story, focusing not only on artificial intelligence but also on politics, the power of the wealthy, and the pervasive influence of technology on all of us, especially our children.

Thanks to Spiegel & Grau, Spotify Audiobooks, and NetGalley for review copies of Culpability.

Culpability was a story that I was interested in exploring. The story is riveting, a family headed out to a sports event on a normal day and ending up in a catastrophic accident, one that no one is sure how happened or who was at fault. There’s a son texting, while sitting in the drivers seat. Dad is sitting in the passenger seat, emailing a memo to his law firm. Mom and the sisters are in the back seat, using their own electronics. The fact remains that the car is supposed to drive itself and is texting to blame? The book centers on who is to blame for the accident, man or vehicle. It is a confusing dilemma. Without giving any spoilers, I was a bit shocked by the ending and found that the author wrapped everything up in too tidy of a package,

I'm so happy I was able to get to this one after seeing so many people loving it! It was a compelling read. A family drama that also deals with AI. The Cassidy Shaw family is in an accident in an autonomous minivan that's controlled by AI. The other vehicle's passengers die when the car catches on fire. They all feel culpable for the accident. When they all go on trip to Chesapeake Bay, they confront their moral dilemmas that are triggered by this accident. Culpability explores a world newly shaped by chatbots, autonomous cars, drones, and other nonhuman forces in ways that are thrilling, challenging, and unimaginably provocative.

I found this book very well written and interesting . This would make a great book club choice. There would be so much to discuss.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

Fascinating and suspense-filled book on the impact of AI. The Shaw-Cassidy family are headed to an important lacrosse game for eldest child, Charlie. He’s driving the family car, a self-driving, state of the art car, when an accident occurs the question arises who’s at fault. The book explores this issue and more - what is our daily life, just a series of algorithms or moments of chance and chaos. The clever twist at the end is the best! Really enjoyed this book. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me have an ARC.

Thank you for this advance copy. This was one of my most anticipated books of the summer. I love Holsinger’s previous work, and I rarely dislike an Oprah Book Club pick. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a disappointment for me. I appreciate what the author was trying to convey, but it came across as preachy and heavy handed. He used the mixed media format to literally tell the reader versus showing through plot and character development. The characters came across as dull, one dimensional stereotypes. The plot was a little all over the place. Clearly I’m in the minority, because many readers are loving this book. Who am I to disagree with Oprah! I’m really happy for Holsinger’s success and recognition. Maybe more people will check out his excellent backlist!

Oprah’s latest pick. Great premise here — car accident in an autonomous vehicle and questions of who is at fault. Much here about technology (in many forms, but especially AI). This novel raises many questions, but is a bit clunky in the plotting/storytellind, IMO.

I was starting to read this just as it was announced as Oprah’s next Book Club pick and it’s definitely a very discussable book! I absolutely loved this completely propulsive story that is very of-this-particular-moment. The Cassidy-Shaw family is driving to a lacrosse game in their driverless minivan when they get into a terrible accident. Each family member has secrets they are keeping related to the accident that are gradually revealed over the course of the book. As the title says, the crux of this book is analyzing who is at fault for the accident and that is a fluid concept both in the events of the book and in the reader’s mind. The mom of the family is a leading expert on the ethics of artificial intelligence, which leads to some interesting discussions and a meaty side plot. This is a highly plot-driven book that I almost wished were a bit longer because we don’t have a lot of breathing room here - things happen at a breakneck speed, but I absolutely could not put it down.

I can comprehend why Oprah chose this as a Book Club title. It presents an intriguing viewpoint on how AI, smartphones, self-driving cars, automated drones, and other technologies are progressively reshaping our world. Personally, I’m a staunch advocate for drivers who never text while driving. Self-driving vehicles are a distant dream (nightmare) for me.

Culpability is a relevant novel that combine domestic family drama with the advent of AI technology and the repercussions the Cassidy-Shaw family faces after a deadly accident on a Delaware highway. On what should have been an exciting day, their son Charlie's last lacrosse tournament before starting school at UNC on a full scholarship, Lorelei and Noah's lives are changed in seconds. Who is responsible for the accident that killed a beloved elderly couple? Charlie was driving but at 17, the law in Delaware looks at the adult in the car. Was it the Drummonds-did they almost cross the center line as Charlie and Alice, his younger sister, indicate? Noah, front-seat passenger was working on his laptop, rest assured that their minivan has the latest in AI technology and autodrive features, but he took his eyes off the road to hammer out a memo. While a local detective is determined to get to the bottom of the accident, brilliant, double PhD Lorelei (injured in the accident) has an opportunity to take her family to a house on the Chesapeake Bay to recover for a week. However, once there, things take a weird turn.

Their neighbor is one of the richest men in the world, Daniel Monet, who owns a tech company-and he seems to know Lorelei-who is one of the world's leading experts in AI. When Daniel's daughter meets Charlie she develops an immediate crush and the two are inseparable. Noah realizes that this trip was no accident or chance of fate and he's determined to find out the connection. He develops an almost immediate dislike to the enigmatic Daniel. At first, Lorelei's and Daniel's connection seems unrelated to the preceding events but soon it's clear, more than one person is culpable for the life changing circumstances that Noah and his family are facing. Told in spare prose and interspersed with Lorelei's AI research, Culpability will sit with readers after they read the last page.

While I feel this is a timely novel and well-written I didn't like most of the characters; Alice was written younger than she is (much) and her texts were a little off-putting (maybe in the final edited version this is flushed out more). However, the story is extremely relevant to the times we are living in and it asks tough ethical questions of the reader. I received an ARC when it was an October release before it was Oprah's Book Club selection for July which moved up the publication date-and given the current technological/political climate this was a smart pick.

Thank you to the NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

Wow, this was such a unique and fascinating read. I was immediately intrigued by the premise and quickly got pulled into the story. It starts with a family dealing with the aftermath of a car accident in their self-driving vehicle, but it becomes so much more than that.

The characters felt real and layered, and I loved how the story gave a glimpse into the minds behind AI technology. That’s not something I come across often in fiction. On top of that, there was plenty of suspense and drama beyond the accident itself that kept me turning the pages.

One of the standout elements for me was the character navigating both a brilliant, almost untapped level of intelligence and a mental health condition (OCD). I really appreciated this portrayal. It felt thoughtful and honest, and it’s something I rarely see written with this kind of care.

This was also selected as Oprah’s Book Club pick for July 2025, and I can absolutely see why. It’s timely, thought-provoking, and would make a great discussion starter about the future of AI and how it’s already starting to shape our world.

It held my attention from start to finish, and I definitely recommend it for your summer reading list. It’s smart, emotional, and hard to put down. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my review copy.