Stupid Machine

Set in the year 2062, "Stupid Machine" is a hard science fiction novel exploring a world where technology is supposed to be infallible. Car accidents have been a thing of the past for over twenty years-until Jordan Bishop's vehicle undergoes a fatal crash.

What looks like a simple malfunction to the world is, to former police detective turned insurance investigator Araci Belo, a case of corporate malfeasance and maybe even a murder. As Araci digs into the suspicious death involving an autonomous vehicle, his path crosses with Jupyter Fuertes, a specialized technician who spends her days coaching appliances back to life.

At the heart of this techno-thriller murder mystery is an unlikely witness: Soteria Reizoko, a refrigerator obsessed with a missing delivery of orange juice. This smart appliance mystery asks questions about the ethics of AI and robotics.

In a race against time, Araci, Jupyter, and a persistent kitchen appliance must connect the dots before a killer-who is already monitoring their every move-strikes again.

Mark Niemann-Ross is a Portland-based author whose writing career spans the imaginative reaches of hard science fiction and the deeply personal terrain of family memoir. He is best known for his award-winning speculative fiction, including the Analog Reader's Choice Award-winning novella Phantom Sense and the novel Stupid Machine-a unique murder mystery solved by a refrigerator.Beyond his literary pursuits, Mark is a versatile professional and hobbyist. By day, he is a teacher for LinkedIn Learning, specializing in R programming and Raspberry Pi. He is a jazz bassist, an urban chicken rancher, and a dedicated "paddler of boats" with the Oregon Ocean Paddling Society. Known for his habit of giving compliments to strangers, Mark lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife, Janell, and continues to explore the intersection of technology, humanity, and the small, meaningful moments of daily life.