Deep Fake Double Down by Debbie Burke is this week’s Reader Friday. I don’t normally review general market books, but this is one that really opened my eyes to something that could affect us all. Here’s the first line: Monroe Old Child always wondered if his father knew that Monroe would be born seven months after his death.
But first the photo and Scripture verse. I took this not long ago during one of our many storms in April. I love the way the blue sky breaks through the dark clouds, reminding me that no matter the circumstances, God is always there. And I thought the verse fit our times. So many times what we see blinds and we believe what we see, but as the book I’m reviewing focuses on, we can not always believe what we see.
Now onto Deep Fake Double Down by Debbie Burke. Here’s the cover and back copy:
You can’t believe your eyes.
Video captures a daring prison break by a young Native American inmate and his lover, Lucille Ellwine, a middle-aged, biracial corrections officer. The videos go viral on social media and every cop in Montana is hunting them down.
Lucille begs for help from investigator Tawny Lindholm and her high-powered attorney husband Tillman Rosenbaum. Lucille swears the escape never happened, denies the romance, and claims the inmate was murdered.
Then she disappears, fleeing a brutal killer who wants to silence her and the cops who are ready to shoot first and ask questions later.
Nothing Lucille says makes sense until Tillman’s son Judah suggests the videos are frauds. Judah (who’s 18 going on 13) knows enough about deep fakes to get into deep trouble.
Between rescuing Judah and trying to help Lucille, Tawny and Tillman plunge into a sinister alternate reality where videos are illusions, but death is all too real.
My Take:
Oh, my goodness. I don’t even know how to start. One thing will tell you what I thought of the book…I stayed up until 3:15 a.m. reading, telling myself just one more chapter.
I had no idea there was such a thing as taking a photo of someone and superimposing it on a video. A video that looks amazingly real. One that will fool just about anyone unless you take the video frame by frame and examine it. Debbie Burke explains more about the process on Sue Colletta’s blog today. Just reading about how easily someone might fool us sends chills down my back. Even to cloning our voice.
Debbie Burke created a wonderfully twisted story with characters you really care about. I hated to see the book end, but I know the two main characters, Tawny and Tillman will be back. And Lucille and Monroe will stay with me.
Deep Fake Double Down is general fiction with a smattering of language not found in Inspirational fiction.
Did you know what deep fake was before you read this post? What do you think of AI (artificial intelligence) Leave your answers in the comments, and I’ll enter you in a drawing for a book from my library that just might include Counter Attack!
Deep Fake Double Down is this week's Reader Friday. What do you think of AI (artificial intelligence) Leave your answers in the comments on the blog, and I'll enter you in a drawing for a book from my library that just might include… Click To TweetRELEASING IN FOUR DAYS!!
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Comments 30
The thought is scary.
Author
Judy, it’s one reason I couldn’t quit reading it!
3:15 a.m. I guess that’s a comment on how the book grabbed you. I won’t start rdg. it at night!
Author
Good idea, Delores!
I agree on the blue clouds bursting through. It does give hope and also reminds me that truth prevails. God’s truth. The Scripture is one in which on we need to stand firm.
I never heard of deep fake, but it is very scary how someone can make a video of you AND use your voice. We live in n evil world and it is getting worse.
“Phame fingered the White pawn and opened the Tur browser from a USB drive. It took a minute to scroll through the sites before finding the right one on the dark web.” These are the opening lines of Counter Attack by our delightful host Patricia Bradley! And boy is is a good story!
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Thank you, Barbara!!And yes, deep fake is very scary!
Burke is a talented writer. Thanks for the link to her post on Colletta’s blog. I’ll go read it right away!
AI does scare me, but like other things in life, I try to focus on the eternal goodness of God and not the temporary scary stuff on earth.
Author
Vera, I so agree that Burke is very talented! And she went into depth on deep fake on Sue Colletta’s blog (which is a very good blog for writers). I like some aspects of AI–I use it to brainstorm. It’s some of the people using it that scare me.
I did not know about deep fake and I am worried about how AI could be used. I feel it is being pushed too much. I will be reading The Deadly Wilderness by Kelly Irvin next. The first line:
Prologue
The hunt had been good.
Author
I have that one and can’t wait to read it, Gloria!
I love it when storm clouds begin to break up, and the blue sky appears. I imagine this was even more exciting for Noah after a year on the Ark. The verse you chose reflects God’s interest in our lives, and how He is with us personally.
I’ve known about deep fake photos and videos for maybe a year or so. Combining voice closely matching a real person, and using that person’s speech patterns, and speaking style, make the whole concept very scary. I’m sure we will develop technology to determine real from fake. Perhaps, it will even be done with AI.
AI is another matter altogether. Back in the late 1970s, Japan embarked on a national effort to develop AI. After that announcement disappeared from the news cycle, we never heard of it again. It was too hard to do at the time. The AI in today’s news is fairly advanced, but I don’t believe it’s near where the gushing reports would have you believe. It’s scary for another reason, in my opinion. Remember back 50+ years ago, if someone said a computer determined this or that? It would sway many people, even if the results later proved to be incorrect. I think we are seeing this again today. I’ve watched a number of scientists who have taken a good look, and have posed questions, some simple, and some deep, on various subjects in their fields. The results show AI still has a long way to go. Some of the wrong answers are even silly. Some show the biases of the people feeding the data used to build the AI knowledge bases. There is great potential for good, great potential for evil, and great potential for those who are too trusting of what they hear from and about AI. I need to stop. There is so much we need to know to even begin to start making good evaluations of this technology.
Time to get back to more fun things. “Vengeance in the Mist” by Robin Patchen begins with “Two breaking-and-entering cases, two assaults, one bribery and—Misty Lake flipped through the last few files—a couple of narcotics possession charges.” Misty is an Assistant District Attorney. She’s just about recovered from a recent abduction. Her D.A. boss thinks she is not clearing cases fast enough, and asks another A.D.A., Tate, to “help” her work faster. They are attracted to each other, see many things differently, and begin to see that one case in particular may not be as simple as Tate originally thought. Robin writes really good Christian suspense, and this is #10 in her Coventry series.
Yikes! I sure wrote a lot. Maybe I need an editor. 🙂
Author
Tim, I love your answer! And, no you don’t need an editor. I just wrote a blog post on Christian Reads about AI and the writer. I have an AI program specifically for writers and use it to brainstorm. I would never have it write an article or book for me, not only because it would be wrong, but it would probably be technically wrong. 🙂 And dry. AI-generated reports are notoriously incorrect, and are so dry, most readers would quit after the first paragraph. It has no voice. But it’s great to trigger ideas for me.
Hi, I have heard of it, which sounds pretty scary how anyone can do stuff like that to use it to hurt someone, lots of evil people out there. This book sounds very intriguing , thank you for sharing about it , I will have to look it up for sure so that I can read it. Have a great weekend. Your photo is Beautiful!
Author
Thanks, Alicia! Yes, the world is full of evil people…but good ones as well.
Beautiful picture and verse, Patricia. We know where our hope lies.
Debbie Burke has not only written a fabulous thriller with characters we care about, her timing was perfect. Deep fakes are becoming part of our culture, and we all need to be skeptical of what we see.
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Absolutely, Kay! Have you tried AI for anything?
I’ve heard about both these things through the news and documentaries. Scary stuff. Even cloning a teenagers voice to make it sound like they have been kidnapped.
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I know, Gail! After reading Deep Fake Double Down, I did some research and what I found really scared me. Can you imagine a parent or grandparent getting a phone call like that? Families need a code word!
can be creepy
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Absolutely, BN!~
I love looking at clouds and viewing pictures of clouds. Your comment reminded me of my Facebook cover photo. We’re saying the same thing with different words. Great scripture verse to go with the picture.
As scary as that book sounds, stop and think about what the devil has been doing since the garden of Eden: convincing people to swallow lies and take the wrong road in life, a road that leads to destruction and eternity without God. As far as AI is concerned, I’m not sure which is worse, AI or people who think they are intelligent and convince others they are when they are actually dumber than rocks.
I just finished reading Counter Attack last night. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I’ll have my review ready to share on Tuesday. I am starting the first read of the fourth book in Jody Hedlund’s Colorado Cowgirls series later today.
Author
Thanks, Edward, for the kind words about Counter Attack! And I so agree with you about how satan has convinced people to swallow lies!
Oh my goodness, Patricia! I’m honored you would talk about my book. Thank you so much!
Even leaders of Big Tech that profit the most from AI are worried over this current blitzkrieg. A few weeks ago, Steve Wozniak, Elon Musk, Andrew Yang, and more than 1000 engineers, developers, and scientists called for a six-month pause on new development to give time to assess the moral, legal, and ethical consequences of unfettered, unregulated AI.
My books are fast-moving beach reads but I also hope they will make people think.
Author
Debbie, you have definitely written a fast-moving beach read-thriller! I do hope there’s a pause in new development of AI. It has to be regulated. I’m looking forward to catching up on your other books! Thanks for stopping by.
love the verse and picture! the book sounds interesting!
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It is, Shelia!
That’s really scary! Sounds like a good book.
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Megan, it’s very scary! And the book is great!
Have a blessed Mother’s Day weekend, Pat!
Debbie Burke is a new-to-me author. Thank you sharing your thoughts on Deep Fake Double Down.
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Thanks, Caryl! Wishing everyone a Happy Mother’s Day!