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As we approached the island, I realized that this was probably the last time I would take this flight. I watched the shadow of the helicopter moving over the sea beneath us, warping and shifting as it dragged over the riffled surface. He plans to remain in the house with just a replica of me that will see through the house’s cameras and speak through a simulation of my voice built from recordings. When we first moved in, I stood outside the house and watched Robert darting through the building, rooms lightening to life ahead of him, dimming as he fled them. She runs baths, plays music, asks whether I’d like her to turn on the oven when she sees me readying to cook. We make verbal requests to our virtual assistant, Sadie. ![]() The rooms are wired with microphones and speakers, overlooked by cameras. Painter of the night book software#His vision is that my mind will be preserved in the software of our home. ![]() Previously Robert had exactly told me that I was just reacting to a technology I couldn’t grasp, the way that Gwen barks whenever she encounters the automatic vacuum cleaner buzzing across the floor. “We’ll preserve your neural patterns and your memories. ![]() “I don’t need to be reproduced,” I tried. He’d explained how they would scan me and attempt to rebuild me when I’m gone. His team has never successfully rendered a mind in software, and his idea is that mine should be their first project. It was easier to talk this way, each of us looking into the distance. Robert held the flight stick, stared steadily at the horizon. We wore headsets and spoke through an intercom. “But that’s what’s happening.” The flight was calm. “I don’t want to do it,” I told him as the coast receded behind us. It was two weeks ago, on the helicopter ride back from the mainland and the hospital and my final diagnosis, that discussing Robert’s plan became unavoidable. He would resist my commiseration, I think, and also-well-this is what he wanted. I hunch forward as he clips behind my left ear and the hair continues to tumble onto my shoulders. I think of mentioning this but then I look up at the bathroom mirror to see that Robert is weeping. “Hebridean hair,” we called it when we first bought the island and noted the way that the fierce winds would leave me looking like a cartoon madman. My own hair has stuck around until today, though, not graying but losing color like an old photograph. Robert’s hair was thinning when I met him, cropped off (on my advice) by the time I moved in with him. Over the whir, Robert says, “I always envied your hair.” I say, “I know,” because I do. Now, for instance, Robert’s fingertips trace the bulge of my skull behind my crown, draw very slowly down my neck, over the raw skin, following tendon and taut muscle to the bumps of vertebrae between my shoulder blades. The less said about the Fox family the better.There is still pleasure in these days occasionally. The Pearl family were costermongers and everybody knows that a Pearlie can sell feathers to a bird. The Silvers have a facility for lying and they run the finest law firm in London. The Crows used to rule the roost and rumours claim they are still the strongest. Soon, Lydia is neck-deep in problems: her new flatmate is a homicidal ghost, the intriguing, but forbidden, DCI Fleet is acting in a distinctly unprofessional manner, and tensions between the old magical families are rising. Painter of the night book professional#When a professional snafu forces her home, the head of the family calls in a favour, and Lydia finds herself investigating the disappearance of her cousin, Maddie. Which is why she carved her own life as a private investigator far away from London. Lydia has always known she has no power, especially next to her infamous and more-than-slightly dodgy family. Her stories are always a little bit quirky and have a thread of the supernatural running through them… The Night Raven is a fun read with interesting gregarious characters including a homicidal but helpful ghost’ ‘I’ve been a fan of Sarah Painter for some time now. – Keris Stainton, author of If You Could See Me Now and Counting Stars ‘Clever and charming and funny – and a bit creepy!’ – Stephanie Burgis, author of Snowspelled and Masks and Shadows Perfect for fans of Ben Aaronovitch, Genevieve Cogman or Robert Galbraith!’ ‘My favourite new urban fantasy series, clever and twisty and deliciously magical, with a shivery sense of wonder that feels utterly grounded in its London setting. THE NIGHT RAVEN features private investigator Lydia Crow and her magical (and slightly-dodgy!) family. If you’re after a paperback, you can support local bookshops by buying through uk. in the UK, or in the US: It’s out NOW from all good book shops (you can also request it at your local library): Painter of the night book series#THE NIGHT RAVEN is the first book in a contemporary fantasy series called Crow Investigations. ![]()
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