The Gray Picture of Dorian

An Artificial Intelligence Techno Thriller Sci-Fi Short Story

By: Nick Thacker

Narrated by: Robert Meek

Dorian is a vain programmer who just wants to be left alone to write his masterpiece. He's a jaded AI developer with a family who wants nothing to do with him, working for a stagnant tech company.

In his spare time, he's also working on a secret project, combining the latest areas of research from his company into one forward-thinking prototype that he knows will change the world.

But it must start with changing his own world.

©2015 Nick Thacker (P)2015 Nick Thacker

Great Short Story!

This was a really enjoyable short book. It reminded me of The Twilight Zone series, which is a good thing. Definitely recommend!!

It was just ok...but good for the price

Somewhat predictable, but had some entertainment value commiserate with the cost. It was easy to see how the story would conclude, so I wouldn't call it a "thriller" as much as a nice "short story."

Great story...

Start of a very interesting book/series. Can't wait! I really like the dynamic of being in his head.

Sometimes the title is the hardest part

The Gray Picture of Dorian: An Artificial Intelligence Techno-Thriller Sci-Fi Short Story, my twenty-first (short) read/listen from author Nick Thacker. When I reviewed earlier Thacker thriller books I commented that his writings were reminiscent of author James Rollins. This Sci-Fi book is more like his normal style. No spoiler's here, though I will say that with Thacker's track record I can't wait to read his next book! I was been given an Audible copy of this book & am voluntarily reading & reviewing it. Robert Meek’s narration adds to the book's enjoyment. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).

Unlikable characters and a predictable ending

This short story is described as a techno thriller, but I didn’t find it very exciting. I liked the play on the Oscar Wilde story, but the ending felt predictable. The characters are selfish and not at all endearing. Wilde’s characters weren’t nice people either, but at least his Dorian had charm and style. Even in a short story, I want to care what happens to the characters, and in this case, I just didn’t. The AI D-RIAN did have a quirky sense of humor I enjoyed though.

The narration was provided by Robert Meek. His performance was well paced and easy to understand, but I thought he sounded a bit too robotic at times. That worked well for D-RIAN’s voice, but I wonder if I might have related to Dorian better if he’d had a more emotive voice.

If you have a dark sense of humor and enjoy contemporary reinterpretations of classic literature, this might be worth a read.

I was given a free copy of this audiobook by the author and volunteered to provide an honest review.