Culpability

1. At the heart of the book is a family of five, struggling under extreme pressure to sort out what happened in the most pivotal moment of their lives. Did you guess who is responsible for the accident? Do Al and human action share in the blame?

2. When the family is first introduced, they seem happy and functional --- and yet the accident puts pressure on fault lines between them that existed long before the novel's beginning. How did the crisis expose each character's strengths and weaknesses? Who rose to the occasion, and who fell short?

3. Throughout the novel, the friction between family members often comes from comparison: the brilliant wife and the humble husband; the favorite child and the overlooked sibling. How do the characters assess their place within the family, and how do they react to it? Are those assessments accurate?

4. There's a memorable character in CULPABILITY: tech billionaire Daniel Monet. You likely bring a lot of associations and preconceptions to those words: "tech billionaire." How does Daniel Monet fit the type you expect? How does he subvert your expectations? Did you have anyone in mind when you read his character?

5. We're all anxious about our shared Al future --- and yet Al can also make our lives easier and even save lives. Did reading the novel make you more fearful of Al's possibilities? Are there any parts of Al that you use in your day-to-day life?

6. How did you feel about Alice's friend, Blair? When did you suspect she was a bot? Do you see Blair as helpful or menacing, or a mix of both?

7. Many of the characters have secrets they keep from each other. How would things have been different if the characters shared their secrets sooner? What about if they held on to their secrets longer? What would you have done in their shoes?

8. Lorelei, the wife in the story, is a world-class Al programmer and researcher and also a leader in the ethics of Al. Do you see her roles as inherently contradictory? Can Al be moral? Do you view her as ethical in her own life within the family?

9. There are two love stories in the novel --- the one between Charlie, the high school graduate who was driving the car, and Dissee, the daughter of billionaire Daniel Monet, and the marriage between Lorelei and Noah. In both cases, the relationships are between people who have very different backgrounds. Discuss the role of class and privilege and how they intersect in the novel

Book Club Talking Points:
If your book club loves a good thriller that really makes you think, then you absolutely have to consider Bruce Holsinger's Culpability. This isn't just a regular courtroom drama; it plunges you right into the cutting edge of Silicon Valley and throws in some mind-bending questions about AI. You'll finish this book and immediately want to pick apart who's really responsible when technology goes wrong, and what even is justice when an algorithm is involved? It's genuinely gripping and will spark some amazing debates among your group about where we're headed with AI and what it means for us.

- OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK - NATIONAL BESTSELLER

"I was riveted until the very last shocking sentence!"-Oprah Winfrey

"The most of-the-moment novel I've read all year, and it's the book of the summer."-Real Simple

"If you want an engaging novel sure to spark great discussion about that thorny [AI] future, this is it."-Ron Charles, The Washington Post

"A wise, propulsive, and deeply powerful novel."-Laura Dave, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Last Thing He Told Me

"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

"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

"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