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.

Who's responsible when AI makes a mistake? That's the question at the center of Bruce Holsinger's novel, which also tackles how AI affects humans, accountability, responsibility, tech bro culture, and wealth.

This book practically opens with a spectacularly horrifying car crash on a freeway, where the Cassidy-Shaw family survives, at the expense of the occupants of the other car. The title and compelling and complex plot both involve family relationship drama and legal intrigue. Dad Noah was born on the wrong side of the tracks, did an adequate job at university and became a passing-not-brilliant lawyer. Prior to marrying the high-born OCD genius Lorelei Shaw, Noah Cassidy had no connections to speak of. Together they have 3 childen, Charlie the high school lacrosse star with a full scholarship to Dartmouth, dour Alice attached to her cell phone, and sweet little people-pleaser Izzy.

Throughout this book I was concerned by what I would consider Noah's many parenting/character fails, and there was a generally paternalistic bent that bugged a little bit, but the latter is probably due to a rhetorical analysis class I'm in right now that's focused on that subject. Even more though, I was drawn in and fascinated by all the varied ways and means that AI is entangled in our daily lives, that I'd never really been aware of. I loved the passing references to mythology like Venus and Adonis and other classics. This was a smart read, and I'm recommending it highly and widely.

Fascinating read. Not my usual style but the AI topic is top of mind lately. I'll be thinking about the complexities here for a while. Well done.

The end reveal was stupid and obvious and I think the book would have been stronger without that mini subplot.

4+ stars
“We program the system, we give it license to translate our moral distinctions, we press go.”

As a child of the sixties I was obsessed with the cartoon The Jetsons. I wanted to be teen sister Judy and held a fascination with the world of smart homes and appliances, flying cars, robot maids and business calls on t.v. screens. But now in my sixties artificial intelligence terrifies me and reading this novel was a calculated risk.

Bruce Holsinger’s brilliant portrayal of a present day family caught up in a fast moving digital age is an exploration of how we maintain the human element among machinery of convenience. It begins with a family outing, with 17 year old Charlie behind the wheel of a self-driving vehicle and a fatal accident lights the fuse of the ensuing drama. Mother Lorelei is a renowned leader in the field of ethical A.I. and lends a compelling perspective to the unfolding events and father Noah (an attorney) provides another unique viewpoint to the conundrum. Two young teen sisters add to the mix; the collective guilt leaving a vacuum where each character analyzes their role in the tragedy.

There is a lot to unpack in the novel but the heart of the story is a father son relationship and the juxtaposition of a dad living with regret and a college bound son living with a sense of invincibility. With lives being lost and lives being saved readers learn how inserting humanity into the algorithm is far from black and white.

Holsinger’s first person point of view is artfully laced with quotes from Lorelei’s research and a fascinating/disturbing communication between a tween and a chat bot, keeps the plot moving forward with the speed and efficiency of a search engine.

The Oprah endorsement aside, the cover should draw readers in. It’s one of the most representative examples of cover art I have seen to-date; a present day bucolic scene with a sense of chaos intervening.

Thanks to Net Galley and Spiegel & Grau Publishing for the early copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is going to be just an ok from me. I didn’t love it but have to say the opening few chapters did really hook me. Poor character development and too much from the dad spoiled it being a very good read.

This is a page-turning read that would make a great addition to your pool bag or a highly discussible selection for a book club. The book begins with a car accident. 17-year-old lacrosse star Charlie is at the wheel of his family’s autonomous driving vehicle when the car strikes an oncoming vehicle, and as the novel unfolds we learn how nearly every member of the family is culpable in some way. Adding to the intrigue is the fact that Charlie’s mother is an ethicist and consultant in the world of artificial intelligence and the book is interspersed with her philosophical writing on AI as well as daughter Alice’s frequent chats with an LLM bot. Filled with cliffhangers and reveals, Culpability was the fast-paced palette cleanser I was looking for this summer. Now this book certainly has it’s issues: POV issues, predicability issues, plot issues…if I squint at it too hard the whole thing kind of falls apart. But you know what? I had a great time reading it. It grabbed me from the first chapter and I needed to know what happened. In fact, I have this book to thank for helping me get through the early stages of jet lag. The other thing that saves it is that while it’s extremely obvious the social issues it wants to explore, it’s not heavy handed in terms of it’s own moral vision. There’s groan-worthy symbolism and dollar-store philosophizing, but it’s not beating the reader over the head with a single message. While the questions it poses are blatant, there’s still room for readers to arrive at their own answers, and I think that makes for a better beach read.

I read this before it became an Oprah pick and it was a great choice. This was a compelling story and I was swept up in the drama until the very end. I went in blind and was surprised by the mystery and twists. This was a perfect length, well written story, and I will be reading work by this author again.

Bruce Holsinger's Culpability is a timely novel that does not fit neatly into one category. It's a family drama mixed with a thriller, all woven around some of the most pressing ethical questions of our time. This book is an absolute page-turner, and it's also one of the most thought-provoking I have read in a long time.

This book explores the ideas and questions of AI in our every day world. Who is really responsible when we rely on AI and mistakes are made that lead to tragic consequences? Can we as humans walk away without guilt? And if the legal system does not hold us accountable, what about our emotional state and moral compass?

At the heart of Culpability is the Cassidy-Shaw family, whose lives are irrevocably altered by a tragic accident involving their autonomous minivan. As each member of the family struggles with the accident and its aftermath, we learn who they are and the roles they each play in the family In the middle of the ethical dilemmas posed by the book is a fairly typical American family with all of the drama that comes along with marriage, raising children, being a teenager, etc. And of course as the story unfolds family secrets are revealed and exposed.

Culpability seamlessly blends these personal and technological themes. Holsinger has crafted a story that is not only a thrilling mystery but also an exploration of what we owe to each other—and what we owe to ourselves—in a world where the line between human and machine is becoming increasingly blurred.

The book is a definite page turner that will stay with you long after you finish it. For anyone looking for a read that is both a thrilling escape and a meaningful reflection on our future, this book is for you.