In The Blink of An Eye: A BBC Between the Covers Book Club Pick

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Stories are a powerful way to engage people in these vital conversations, so although I have (hopefully) written In the Blink of an Eye in an entertaining and sometimes humorous way, I also explore questions of how the police make decisions, the use (and abuse) of data, and the line between ‘gut instinct’ and prejudice. The characters already are well established and you know exactly who they are and what they’re about which I liked. Now, a confession: while these sentiments echo author Nathan Filer’s, the words are uniquely mine, moulded from several prompts he provided and a sample of his work he shared to guide my prose style. I am ChatGPT-4. It's so much more than a dystopian police procedural and asks questions about who we are and what it means to be human. Brilliant' NIKKI SMITH

Now I don't normally listen to the hype but the premise of the book sounded very intriguing; an Artificially Intelligent Detective Entity teaming up with a seasoned DCS to review cold cases sounds like science fiction but I've been to see ABBA Voyage 3 times in the past few months and seen how technology is evolving so in my mind "anything is possible". DCS Kat Frank has been on extended leave from the police force due to the death of her husband. Kat & her teenage son, Cam, are adjusting to their new 'normal' although it has understandably not been easy. Cam had depression & anxiety, but he is now going out a lot more with his friends, whilst Kat is just trying to keep everything together. She is called in to head a new pilot scheme trialling the use of an AIDE (Artificially Intelligent Detective Entity) which can perform calculations & trawl through data at superspeed. Fabulous! A rare crime novel truly as much about character as it is about plot…cried at the ending…huge potential series exploring the human AI connection. Loved' Lindsay GalvinIn the Blink of an Eye is fresh, innovative and very very clever. Flawlessly paced, plotted and researched, it’s laugh out loud, heart-achingly sad and doesn’t have a dull moment. I raced through it. Simply sensational’ M. W. CRAVEN I’d like to thank Netgalley UK, Simon & Schuster UK, and Jo Callaghan for such a thought-provoking e-ARC. Jo Callaghan makes her entry into the crowded police procedural genre with a fresh take on the buddy-buddy cop trope. In the Blink of an Eye predicts the near future when police officers and their AI counterparts will work hand-in-holographic-hand. The human-AI interactions between the lead protagonists as they pursue their quarry are illuminating and, at times, hilarious. Provocative and compelling. A TV series seems a certainty’ VASEEM KHAN

A standout debut with a unique and thrilling take on the detective novel. Engaging, exciting and superbly readable. I loved it’ SARAH HILARY A truly original premise that is both compelling and filled with heart. Highly recommended’ Olivia Kiernan Kat’s just returning to work when we meet her. We soon learn she’d cared for her dying husband. I initially suspected he was a cop who died by some nefarious means, but it’s nothing like that. Less dramatic, if you like. But of course no less tragic. Thank you Simon & Schuster UK for a digital copy of this debut novel to read and review. I loved the synopsis and early reviewers thoughts suggested this was a book not to be missed. So would I agree.Kat is a complex character, the author has depicted a grieving widow who is trying her best to get on with life so very well. She's often outspoken, but she is always determined to get to the bottom of issues. This can cause so much tension at times, but it keeps the story flowing very well. What we have today isn’t AI. That’s marketing, like describing processed soya as bacon. We’re not getting proper AI, in the sense of an artificial person that thinks and feels, because no one wants to spend billions of dollars creating an entity they would immediately have to emancipate, and because it turns out to be very, very hard. I suspect some commissioners of fiction will seek the low-cost/low-risk model that AI-generated formulaic content may deliver. But is this necessarily a problem? There has always been a market for formulaic fiction across all genres and mediums, whether that be in crime, and romance novels, or action films. But each of these genres continues to be stretched and reinvented by new authors and screen writers, who crucially bring their own experiences to their work, with breakout hits such as Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus, or Succession by Jesse Armstrong. If my children are anything to dogo by, I think we are becoming increasingly sophisticated consumers of creativity, alert to inauthenticity and intolerant of cliches, underpinned by a deep desire for human connection. For why else do we write and consume stories, if not to discover that someone else has felt what we now feel: to know that, ultimately, we are not alone?

In the Blink of an Eye is a dazzling debut from an exciting new voice and asks us what we think it means to be human. Jo works full-time as a senior strategist, where she has carried out research into the future impact of AI and genomics on the workforce. After losing her husband to cancer in 2019, she started writing ‘In The Blink of An Eye’. She lives with her two children in the Midlands, where she is currently writing the second novel in the series. Should a novel contain information that instructs us about parts of the world we haven’t yet or won’t ever encounter in the course of our own limited lives? The original ChatGPT – not to mention the newer models that have already caused that one to seem obsolete – has in its possession more information about the world than any human has ever possessed. Essentially In the Blink of an Eye is a police procedural, Kat and her squad conduct interviews, investigate clues and gather evidence to explain the fate of the missing men. Callaghan develops a solid mystery and I thought it played out well. There’s plenty of tension, enhanced by the anonymous perspective of a young man suffering at the hands of shadowy figures, and effective twists in the plot.The kind of fresh and fearless debut I just adore. Wildly original, heartfelt, funny, and properly thrilling. Take a bow, Jo Callaghan' Chris Whitaker Firstly I really liked the characters in this book who were on the whole a very likeable bunch and not your average stereotypical detectives. I like that they all seemed to actually like each other and it was good to see each of them bringing something different to the investigation. Kat was an interesting main character that I sympathised a lot with not least because I’m dreading the day my children are teenagers. I admired her for her strength and passion for her job but she also frustrated me at times with her absolute conviction she was right.