Review of A Dying Machine by Mark Tremonti & John Shirley

I've been a fan of Mark Tremonti since his early days as the guitar player for Creed, one of the most popular rock bands of the early twenty-first century before the band split due to personal struggles of lead singer, Scott Stapp. I continued to be a fan of Tremonti when he formed Alter Bridge with former Creed members (sans Stapp). When I heard that Tremonti was writing a novel, a couple thoughts went through my mind. First, this might be cool. He is my favorite guitar player and has written several songs that I enjoy listening to again and again. My second thought focused more on the lens through which I've seen Tremonti for the past two decades, which is not as a novelist. It's easy to get caught up in a personality. I'm reminded of when Michael Jordan decided to play baseball. Of course, Jordan fans wanted to see him play, but Jordan wasn't a baseball player; he was a basketball player.

Still, I wanted to at least check out A Dying Machine to see if it turned out to be better than I imagined. I was pleasantly surprised when only after a few pages in, I couldn't put it down. The story deals with artificially designed and programmed humans, which serve to meet the needs of their owners. The main character, Brennan, is a ball of emotion in the wake of losing his wife, and he wins a lottery that allows him to purchase one of these artificial humans, called vessels. Hoping to fill the hole in his life, Brennan brings Stella, his vessel, home, and all seems well at first. Until Stella begins to think for herself. Which isn't part of her design. She loves Brennan, but begins to doubt his allegiance to her, with violent consequences.

The rest of the story explores what happens when a cyborg's humanity refuses to stay buried. What I enjoyed about the story is that I wasn't sure who to root for and who to feel bad for. The novel wrestles with big questions in a way that doesn't ignore them. Tremonti and Shirley have produced an interesting and thought-provoking story that proves Tremonti's chops as a storyteller just as much as an expert guitar player. I hope he continues to write more novels in the future because I'll be sure to read them.

Note: This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.