Certainty

A Novel

By: John Twelve Hawks

Narrated by: Scott Brick

John Twelve Hawks, bestselling author of The Traveler, returns with a masterful journey through the near future of Artificial Intelligence, in which a wise, orphaned ten-year-old girl goes on the run with only her trusty "Interactive Toy" to guide her toward New York City, where a dark landscape, and perhaps a hidden hero, await her.

Men's Health Most Anticipated Sci-Fi • BookBub Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Book of Spring • “Engaging, thought-provoking, and terrifying…. [Certainty] will appeal to fans of George Orwell and Michael Crichton.”—Library Journal • “Magnificent.”—Booklist

As long as she can remember, ten-year-old Kate has felt like someone was watching her. She has been orphaned since the pandemic, her foster parents find her eccentric and off-putting, and her legal guardian is nowhere to be seen. Now, an algorithm has predicted the very worst—​within thirty days, Kate will either be killed, or become a killer. When two police officers arrive at her home in Maine intending to implant her with a tracking device, Kate is urged by her trusted AI Interactive Toy (a talking stuffed seal named Zeno) to make an immediate escape. Confused and looking for answers, Kate sets a course for New York City and begins an Orwellian journey into the unknown.

Gripping, intricately plotted, and delightfully imaginative, Certainty is a profound and eerily prescient novel about the ever-blurring line between man and machine. Amid the murder investigation of a gifted AI robot-maker, a missing-person being tracked down in the darkest corners of virtual reality, and Kate's harrowing journey to New York, John Twelve Hawks's novel explores the spectacular humanity to be found in a world where humans are themselves endangered.

Critic reviews

Praise for John Twelve Hawks' Certainty

"The author of the Fourth Realm Trilogy has a knack for keeping narratives hopping—even at their knottiest. A lively character in thought and action, Kate is one of the more appealing pre-teens to appear in recent dystopian fiction. And Zeno is never shy about stealing scenes. Those who reject AI and those who embrace it will find much to enjoy here."
--Kirkus Reviews

"Readers who have been waiting for a new book by the reclusive author, who keeps his real identity a closely-guarded secret, will not be disappointed. This is a magnificent novel set in a world that is both recognizably our own but at the same time markedly different.... The book stands alongside the author's Fourth Realm trilogy as a brilliant examination of the way our future might play out."
--Booklist

"Detailed worldbuilding, intricate plotlines, and realistic characters combine to describe an all-too-easily imagined future and create a novel that is simultaneously engaging, thought-provoking, and terrifying. A reminder of the importance of humanity in the age of machines, the book will appeal to fans of George Orwell and Michael Crichton."
--Library Journal

Time to unplug?

Was not a fan of vocal delivery. But I do like John Twelvehawk books and the story is both timely and relevant.

Brilliant News Work

John Twelve Hawks has done it again! He’s written a brilliant new novel that will grab your attention and keep you riveted!
Certainty is a thought inducing book about a post apocalyptic world where a virus has killed millions and the survivors are still dominated by religious beliefs, old vices and escapist computer technology.
The heroes are a 10 year old girl and her interactive toy, a jaded New York City cop and a pair of computer scientists turned finder of missing people.
You need to read this!

Bravo!

Bravo! Bravo! Very much worth the long wait for another title by John Twelve Hawks. Well written and extremely creative. Certainty will continue to haunt me, the same as The Fourth Realm Trilogy has over the years. Thank you, John Twelve Hawks. I've enjoyed your work immensely.
Scott Brick was an amazing narrator. I would listen to him read a grocery list, if it was at least ten hours long. Fantastic!
Dale Morgan

Twelve Hawks is awesome

Nice mix of tech and story
U care about characters and learn
I am fan of all of his books

Good character development. Weak on the tech

This book would have hit harder about 10 years ago but right now the tech in the book is, in places, not far ahead or even behind us in the present day. It had notes of Daemon by Daniel Suarez which was of its time. I’m glad I listened and I’m glad it’s a standalone.