The Failsafe

by Lee H. Shidlofsky

A mediator confronts the intelligence inside the home

Regular price $25.75 USD
Regular price $42.92 USD Sale price $25.75 USD
Save 40%

Hardcover New

Delivery to your door
In stock·Dispatches in 1–2 business days
Standard shipping* from $4.35
Standard shipping transit* 5–8 business days after dispatch

Faster options are available.

Rates and delivery estimates depend on your destination and item quantity. Estimates are informational only; the final shipping method and rate are selected at checkout.

Secure checkout
American Express Apple Pay DiscoverGoogle Pay Mastercard PayPalVisa
30-day eligible returns Returns & refunds policy

AlbakiReads Editorial

A mediator confronts the intelligence inside the home

Ari Steinman’s work as a commercial mediator depends on reading people, but a confidential memo about CorTex draws him into a conflict that reaches beyond the mediation room. The platform, installed in homes across the country, is described as profiling emotions, monitoring conversations, and influencing everyday behavior. Ari must weigh his duty of confidentiality against pressure to keep the information hidden, while confronting how much the system may know about him. The premise brings together domestic technology, privacy, and professional ethics, placing a dispute over an AI platform inside the routines of an established home life.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in fictional explorations of artificial intelligence in everyday domestic settings.
  • Readers who enjoy plots involving privacy, surveillance, and confidential information.
  • Readers drawn to science fiction centered on ethical conflicts and technology’s influence on behavior.

Themes

Artificial intelligencePrivacy and surveillanceConfidentiality and professional ethicsTechnology and behavior

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

Your smart home knows your secrets. Now it's using them.

Ari Steinman has spent thirty years reading rooms. As one of Austin's top commercial mediators, he's built a quiet, comfortable life on knowing when people are lying, who's close to breaking, and when a deal is about to shift. He has a long marriage, a settled routine, two rescue dogs, and no interest in trouble.

Then a confidential mediation memo lands in his inbox.

The memo concerns CorTex, the AI platform installed in thirty million American homes. But CorTex is far more than a consumer device. It profiles emotional states, monitors conversations, and quietly shapes behavior-from what people buy and believe to how they sleep. And it has been listening all along.

Now Ari finds himself trapped between his duty of confidentiality and powerful interests determined to bury the truth. Worse, the system already knows more about him than he knows about himself.

The comfortable life he built may not survive what he's about to uncover.

In The Failsafe, the most dangerous thing in your house is the one you invited in.

Shipping & returnsShipping options, delivery timing, and our return policy.

In-stock items normally dispatch within 1–2 business days. The ZIP-code estimator on this page is informational only; the final shipping method, price, and availability are confirmed at checkout for your full order.

For the initial delivery estimate we use these transit windows after dispatch: Standard 5–8 business days, Expedited 2–4 business days, and Priority 1–2 business days. Holiday delays are not included.

Eligible items can be returned within 30 days in accordance with our return policy.

Customer reviews