Less Than Human — Maxine McArthur

Using the same flavor of gripping suspense and mystery set in a science fiction world, she employed in her successful first novel Time Future, Maxine McArthur brings us a new novel set in near future Japan where she explores the line that separates human and machine in a world torn apart by terrorism and injustice.

Eleanor McGuire lives for her research in robots and machines. She is truly unprepared when an "accident" with one of her creations results in a man's death. But is it an accident or a homicide? What could possibly have made the robot disobey its controlled prerogatives? Brought in as an expert to help the police, Eleanor is alarmed when the investigation turns up more dead bodies. It appears a cult may behind these deaths, a cult that believes the next stage of human evolution is coming through computers¾an evolution they believe will bring much needed peace and happiness to a world miserable with economic problems. When Eleanor's work and even her life are threatened, she begins to reassess what reality is.