A very, very smart concept. Without a doubt. But you have to be into slow burns to really get into this one. The pace at which things unfold is painstakingly slow, however, I’m not sure this story could have been told in another way. Hard to say. You just have to stick with it until the last third of the novel when it steps up the pace and starts to hit us with more information and crucial developments in the story. Once a couple of pieces of information were revealed around the 2/3’s mark things dropped into place for me but despite my beliefs about where it was going there was no way to know for sure until I got there. The author keeps you in the dark and wondering right up until the final reveal. You may think you know but you cant know that you know. The author keeps his cards close to his chest. Overall, it is worth sticking it out thru the slow burn portions even if that’s not your thing. The writing was impeccable and the execution was flawless. Waiting to see it all unfold was engaging even if I believed I knew where it was going. I think my only complaint is the super slow burn for the first two thirds without some spikes in excitement to propel us along a bit. But that’s just me and mileage will vary by reader depending on their preferences. Lastly, i’m not sure if the author intended for the reader to feel any particular way after reading Beta, but as for me, people still scare me more than AI. Hands down.