“For all its eerie timeliness, Culpability should age better than yesterday’s Instagram post. Holsinger, a medievalist at the University of Virginia, has a sharp eye for the eternal values and foibles that animate human affairs. . . . The plot of his latest book [is] a searching examination of family dynamics and the burdens that no machine will ever lift for us. . . . For all the story’s contemporary details, Culpability is a 19th-century novel in the spirit of William Dean Howells—explicitly concerned with morality. That’s not to say it’s didactic, only that it presents deep ethical questions about fault and responsibility. It’s also an irresistibly anxious book, the kind that scratches all your worries about the fragility of upper-middle-class life, the financial and legal perils that lurk behind every open-ended risk we take.”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post
“In this tightly paced novel, domestic intrigue is transposed into the fraught world of AI. . . . This Zeitgeisty discussion is balanced with plenty of drama: as it turns out, the family vacation house is next to a compound owned by a shady tech billionaire—a discovery that unleashes a torrent of deception.”
—New Yorker“This is a wonderful book. . . . [It] has everything for someone like me. . . . It’s an incredibly nuanced book that brings up a lot of issues and, most importantly, allows you to talk about them in a way that’s discernable. I'm recommending it to lots of people.”
—Kara Swisher, On with Kara Swisher“A family drama with a shocking twist. Bruce Holsinger tackles timely topics and the ties that bind in
Culpability . . . a who’s who of hot-button issues, including AI, corporate greed, tech addiction and even a subtle subplot about the encroachment of youth sports on family life. But the topic most likely to spark appreciative group texts among book club members of a certain age has to do with a less trendy subject: teenagers. Specifically, the relationship between a father and his 17-year-old son, which Holsinger depicts in all its maddening complexity.
Culpability always returns to Noah and Charlie. . . . We meet them at a tender time—a ‘hinge of life,’ as Noah calls it—and Holsinger does it justice.”
—Elisabeth Egan, New York Times“Holsinger seems to have created his own subgenre of psychosocial thriller, spinning super-smart, propulsive page-turners out of zeitgeisty worries . . . If you are not already hooked on Holsinger, it’s time to join the club.”—Kirkus (starred review)
“In this twisty family drama . . . Holsinger grapples evocatively with the trade-offs of automated life. This timely tale leaves readers with much to chew on.”—Publishers Weekly
“Riveting . . . a propulsive, difficult-to-put down novel. . . . The best kind of suspense usually comes from realistic situations where we are, as the title hints, somehow culpable for the bad things that happen to us, and that’s true here. . . . Holsinger, whose previous novels include
The Gifted School, is adept at capturing the tiny errors humans in the same family can make, thinking they’re protecting each other. . . . You needn’t have been in a trauma such as a fatal car wreck to recognize these people, who are blessed with the illogical logic we all sometimes fall victim to.”
—Minnesota Star Tribune “Secrets swirl and the stakes rise in this sharply modern family drama.”
—People (“Best New Book”)“
Culpability is the thinking man's page-turner, absolutely of the moment.”
—Newsday “There is nothing tastier to me than the dynamics of a family on vacation. Culpability asks what is the ethical responsibility of those running the world on AI and what effect will it have on our very human, imperfect, beautiful children. But mostly it’s rich storytelling about marriage, first loves and family, with a fantastic twist at the end.”—Kathryn Stockett in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Culpability is a thought-provoking and riveting meditation on family, parental love, morality and artificial intelligence—and where they all intersect. A wise, propulsive, and deeply powerful novel.”—Laura Dave, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Last Thing He Told Me
“Bruce Holsinger has written a novel that is as propulsive as it is thought-provoking, a thriller with a brain. Reminiscent of the work of Richard Powers and Don DeLillo, Culpability is a compelling narrative about the perils of the digital age while addressing the challenges of living as a family. This novel might feel futuristic, except it isn't. It's happening now.”—Mary Morris, author of The Red House
“Culpability is whip-smart, fascinating, and gripping. It reads fast like a thriller, but this novel takes on the great cultural challenges of today: AI, electronic surveillance, and billionaire culture. A successful but fragile family collides with these forces and wrestles them down to life-size. I was recommending this book to friends before I'd even finished it.”—Stephen Kiernan, author of The Glass Chateau and The Baker's Secret
“In Culpability, Bruce Holsinger brings his sharp eye and fearless storytelling to one of the most urgent questions of our time: What does it mean to be responsible in a world shaped by systems we no longer fully control? Part family drama, part techno-thriller, this riveting novel traces the moral fallout of a self-driving car crash through the lens of a fractured family. With piercing insight and deep compassion, Holsinger captures the unsettling drift between human intention and algorithmic consequence—never losing sight of the fragile, fallible people at the heart of the story. Gripping, wise, and eerily prescient, Culpability is a family novel for the age of AI.”—Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train
“Culpability is a wildly timely book, an exploration of the ethics of the technology age tucked inside a gripping story about family and loyalty. It's equally emotional, entertaining, and important, and I lingered over every page.”—Janelle Brown, author of What Kind of Paradise
“A fascinating, thought-provoking novel. Bruce Holsinger is a master at combining revelatory social commentary about important, timely issues (AI this time) with deeply moving insights about family dynamics. I highly, highly recommend this book.”—Angie Kim, author of Happiness Falls
