February 2026 Books Read: 17

The Road - Cormac McCarthy

No Place To Hide - Rebecca Griffiths

Before I Go To Sleep - SJ Watson

The Motel - Nancy Savage

The Lucky Winners - K L Slater

Dust - Arthur Slade

Snowdrops - A D Miller

*Locker 19 - J Cronshaw

The Last Trip - Rowan Chambers

The Burning Stones - Antti Tuomainen

Containment - Christian Cantrell

A Neighbour's Guide To Murder - Louise Candlish

The Society Of Unknowable Objects - Gareth Brown

The Never Game - Jeffery Deaver

The Life Of Chuck - Stephen King

The Martian - Andy Weir

Reacher: Killing Floor - Lee Child

Did Not Finish:

Island Builder - Andrew Karevik

2084 - Mason Engel

*Locker 19 by J Cronshaw was the first book that I began to suspect was AI generated part way through, and read to the end to confirm my suspicions. Then I went back to scrutinise other books I'd read recently.

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After realising that I had unintentionally read an AI-generated thriller on Wednesday, I spent yesterday reviewing the last 30-odd books that I've bought, to see if any of them are also AI-generated, and what red flags to look out for.

I checked:

Publication date
Publisher
Publisher's website
Author's website
Number of books written per year

So far I've come to the following conclusions about the "authors":

1. Has self-published 8 books in 2025, with virtually identical covers, via a "book publishing company" that's basically him and his wife. His website is awful, and he didn't bother editing a large part of the one book I read.

2. Has self-published 5 books in 2025, with very similar covers, and his website is flagged as suspicious. The two books I read had been edited well enough to read as human-created, and the plots were reasonable, but not altogether credible.

1/3

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January 2026 Books Read: 23

Mickey 7 - Edward Ashton

Bullet Train - Kotaro Isako

Mr Mercedes - Stephen King

*The Night Before Christmas - Maria Frankland

Finders Keepers - Stephen King

The Winter Visitor - B P Walter

*The Winter Retreat - Maria Frankland

The Woman In The Opposite Window - Rose Hard

Friend Request - Laura Marshall

Dead Of Winter - Keri Beevis

*The Life I Had - Aaron Quinn

End Of Watch - Stephen King

The Christmas Party - Kathryn Croft

Everyone Here Is Lying - Shari Lapena

Two Truths One Lie - Alex Sinclair

Wish - Alexandra Bullen

The Perfect Wife - Hannah Price

Little Siberia - Antti Tuomainen

*I Don't Like Mondays - Maria Frankland

Seven Bodies - V J Randle

You Are Fatally Invited - Ande Pliego

Run Away - Harlan Coben

Anxious People - Fredrik Backman

Currently Reading: Island Builder - Andrew Karevik

* Aaron Quinn and Maria Frankland appear to produce AI-generated human-edited books very frequently.

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December 2025 Books Read: 13

2025 Books Read: 151

The Kraken Wakes - John Wyndham

The Last Hour Between Worlds - Melissa Caruso

The Stepford Wives - Ira Levin

Cold People - Tom Rob Smith

The Apocalypse Codex - Charles Stross

The Woman In Black - Susan Hill

Child 44 - Tom Rob Smith

The Rhesus Chart - Charles Stross

About Time - Jodi Taylor

The Book Of Guilt - Catherine Chidgey

The First Fifteen Lives Of Harry August - Claire North

The Christmas Guest - Aaron Quinn

The Other People - C B Everett

Currently Reading: Mickey 7 - Edward Ashton

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November 2025 Books Read: 12

Saving Time - Jodi Taylor

Something In The Walls - Daisy Pearce

The Thief On The Winged Horse - Kate Mascarenhas

Holy Terrors - Simon R Green

A Man Called Ove - Fredrik Backman

How To Survive Camping - Bonnie Quinn

Chalcot Crescent - Fay Weldon

Neverbury - Chris Lloyd

In The Library With A Knife - Martin Edwards

Rosemary's Baby - Ira Levin

12 Ways To Kill Your Family At Christmas - Natasha Bache

The Book Of Accidents - Chuck Wendig

Currently Reading: The Kraken Wakes - John Wyndham

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October 2025 Books Read: 14

At Home - Bill Bryson

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro

The Kaiju Preservation Society - John Scalzi

The Atrocity Archives - Charles Stross

The Jennifer Morgue - Charles Stross

The Fuller Memorandum - Charles Stross

Life of Pi - Yann Martel

Beartown - Fredrik Backman

Ascension - Nicholas Binge

Dr No - Percival Everett

We Live Here Now - Sarah Pinborough

Us Against You - Fredrik Backman

Just One Damned Thing After Another - Jodi Taylor

The Winners - Fredrik Backman

Currently Reading: Saving Time - Jodi Taylor

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September 2025 Books Read: 14

The Troupe - Robert Jackson Bennett

Jerome And The Seraph - Robina Williams

In Other Worlds - Margaret Atwood

Predictably Irrational - Dan Ariely

Planet Word - J P Davidson

Room - Emma Donoghue

The Gospel Of Loki - Joanne M Harris

The Testament Of Loki - Joanne M Harris

The Midnight Library - Matt Haig

Runemarks - Joanne M Harris

Runelight - Joanne M Harris

How To Stop Time - Matt Haig

Murder In The Dark - Margaret Atwood

This Perfect Day - Ira Levin

Currently Reading: At Home - Bill Bryson

Did Not Finish: Lucid - Michael S Milano

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August 2025 Books Read: 14

Everyone This Christmas Has A Secret - Benjamin Stevenson

Ready Player Two - Ernest Cline

A Right Shambles In York - Kim M Watt

Doing Time - Jodi Taylor

Tomorrow And Tomorrow - Thomas Sweterlitsch

Futureproof - Stephen Albrecht

Storm Front - Jim Butcher

A Line You Have Traced - Roison Dunnett

A Universe Less Travelled - Eric von Schrader

The Water Carriers - Gregory Greunke

Troy - Stephen Fry

Hard Time - Jodi Taylor

Santa Grint - Jodi Taylor

Dodger - Terry Pratchett

Currently Reading: The Troupe - Robert Jackson Bennett

Possible DNF*: Lucid - Michael S Milano

*Having issues with the language in this book, as it is coming over as pretentious and overblown, and is getting in the way of the story.

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July 2025 Books Read: 15

Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch

Oracle - Thomas Olde Heuvelt

The Science Of Discworld II: The Globe - Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart, Jack Cohen

Flint In The Bones - Eva St John

How Soon Is Now? - Paul Carnahan

The Other Side Of Midnight - Simone St John

Ready Player One - Ernest Cline

Artificial Selection - Marianne Pickles

The Quantum Curators And The Enemy Within - Eva St John

Everyone In My Family Has Killed Someone - Benjamin Stevenson

Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect - Benjamin Stevenson

Hex - Thomas Olde Heuvelt

Service Model - Adrian Tchaikovsky

The Gone World - Tom Sweterlitsch

Currently Reading: Everyone This Christmas Has A Secret - Benjamin Stevenson

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June 2025 Books Read: 12

Terminus - Peter Clines

Dead Moon - Peter Clines

The Demon Hunter's Wife - C J Powell

The Rains Came Down - Julian Shaw

Summer Frost - Blake Crouch

A Slip Of The Keyboard - Terry Pratchett

Run - Blake Crouch

A Stroke Of The Pen - Terry Pratchett

Cell - Stephen King

The Time-travelling Caveman - Terry Pratchett

Edie Investigates - Nick Harkaway

Under The Dome - Stephen King

Currently Reading: Rivers Of London - Ben Aaronovitch

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