Demon Seed
Dean Koontz

Susan Harris lived in self imposed seclusion, in a mansion featuring numerous automated systems controlled by a state of the art computer. Every comfort was provided, and in this often unsafe world of ours, her security was absolute.
But now her security system has been breached, her sanctuary from the outside world violated by an insidious artificial intelligence, which has taken control of her house. In the privacy of her own home, and against her will, Susan will experience an inconceivable act of terror. She will become the object of the ultimate computer's consuming obsession: to learn everything there is to know about the flesh.

The plot is simple. A woman's ex-husband created an artificial intelligence in a computer and this AI was able to get inside of the computerized security system that runs this women's entire home. Through this the AI can speak with her and trap her inside her home. Through a criminal experiment who has chips implanted in his brain, he can control a brute to do his work that would need hands. His ultimate goal? To impregnate her and then put his intelligence inside of the child.

In general, this is a decent plot. But somehow, being the only plot without any other twists and turns, it falls flat. Perhaps this is because the narrator is the AI itself, perhaps it is because it is one of Koontz's earlier works, or perhaps the fact that it is such a short read makes it fall flat, but whatever the case, this just isn't up to the normal works of the author.

The characters were very two dimensional and you really never ended up caring about the protagonist (Susan) or the narrator (the AI) even when horrific things happened to Susan. Perhaps if the novel had been longer and the plot had been richer it would have worked better.

It's not a bad read, it's just not a memorable one. I'd recommend it to die hard Koontz fans to get a glimpse of how far the author has come in his career.

My rating: Three out of five snails.