Killing Time

Killing Time is a novel based on real people, places, devices, and events, such as the newly elected U.S. President firing the FBI Director, and Russian interference in the U.S. Presidential election. The story combines technologies from robots to rockets with wry comment on the contemporary social and political scene.

The book is about computer software industry intrigue, and the real world is blended into the story, blurring the line between fiction and reality. It follows the lives of Dave and Janie, who work for the giant software maker 'Microcomputer Software' - MS. It's told with a sprinkling of humor from their perspective, and from the point of view of the book's other characters.

Dave uses the MS Web Search Engine as the basis to develop a software 'Time Machine' Prediction Engine, or just 'Time', aka Tim the Time Machine, that can forecast future events. A rival software company tries to steal Time and the FBI investigates, but MS kills the project in a corporate reshuffle.

With the advent of Quantum computing and Time Crystal chips, MS resurrects Tim and builds a robot body to give him mobility. As he ages Tim begins to fail and is replaced with two new humanoid robots, Rob and Tina.

The story predicts how intelligent machines will be accepted into society, from vacuuming robots and self-driving cars, to autonomous life-like robots. It also looks at topics such as religion and politics with a critical eye.

And just as in the real world, it's up to readers to decide what's factual and what's fictional. But to remind us that truth is stranger than fiction, after writing the book I discovered that Microsoft Research is actually developing Prediction Engine software …

The Story Behind the Book

Killing Time was written in about 4 months as a story with the thread runnung through it of my life and the people I've met. It's a true story in that respect, but thrown in are a number of fictional elements, such as
the attempted theft of software in Chapter 1.

I especially wanted to avoid it being just another cookie-cutter murder thriller. So the story revolves around intrigue in the computer software industry, with detours into areas such as global warming and space travel.

But I wanted to make it socially relevent, with for example the discussion of homelessness and the U.S. political situation. And I also wanted to make it as true to life as possible, with the descriptions of a Foundation modelled after real-world organizations like the Gates Foundation, and actual devices that are currently under development such as Quantum computers, and the experimental Neuromorphic and Time Crystal computer chips.

However, some events and technologies are futuristic, like the trip to the nearest star at the end of the book. The introduction of intelligent machines though, is an ongoing reality, and the renouned TV interviewer Charlie Rose, actually talked to a lifelike, humanoid robot on his show in 2016!