Certainty, John Twelve Hawks
Certainty, John Twelve Hawks
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Certainty

Author: John Twelve Hawks

Narrator: Scott Brick

Unabridged: 13 hr 41 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/28/2026

Synopsis

John Twelve Hawks, bestselling author of The Traveler, returns with a masterful journey through the near future of Artificial Intelligence, in which a wise, orphaned ten-year-old girl goes on the run with only her trusty "Interactive Toy" to guide her toward New York City, where a dark landscape, and perhaps a hidden hero, await her.

Men's Health Most Anticipated Sci-Fi • BookBub Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Book of Spring • “Engaging, thought-provoking, and terrifying…. [Certainty] will appeal to fans of George Orwell and Michael Crichton.”—Library Journal • “Magnificent.”—Booklist

As long as she can remember, ten-year-old Kate has felt like someone was watching her. She has been orphaned since the pandemic, her foster parents find her eccentric and off-putting, and her legal guardian is nowhere to be seen. Now, an algorithm has predicted the very worst—​within thirty days, Kate will either be killed, or become a killer. When two police officers arrive at her home in Maine intending to implant her with a tracking device, Kate is urged by her trusted AI Interactive Toy (a talking stuffed seal named Zeno) to make an immediate escape. Confused and looking for answers, Kate sets a course for New York City and begins an Orwellian journey into the unknown.

Gripping, intricately plotted, and delightfully imaginative, Certainty is a profound and eerily prescient novel about the ever-blurring line between man and machine. Amid the murder investigation of a gifted AI robot-maker, a missing-person being tracked down in the darkest corners of virtual reality, and Kate's harrowing journey to New York, John Twelve Hawks's novel explores the spectacular humanity to be found in a world where humans are themselves endangered.

About The Author

JOHN TWELVE HAWKS is author of the New York Times bestseller, The Traveler, the first book in a trilogy that includes The Dark River and The Golden City. The Fourth Realm Trilogy has been translated into 25 languages. Known as “JTH” by his readers, Hawks followed the trilogy with Spark, a stand-alone novel, and a nonfiction book, Against Authority: Freedom and the Rise of the Surveillance States. His readers have translated this e-book into multiple languages. For more than 20 years, JTH has lived a deliberately “anonymous life” to show his resistance to the continual government and corporate attack on privacy. He has discussed his life choices in a published essay, Writing as the Sky Rains Death. In addition, Hawks and the British DJ, John Digweed, created The Traveler Album, a musical collaboration that combined spoken passages of the novel with progressive house music.  JTH worked as a war correspondent and turned to fiction to understand a fractured reality. Like several of his characters, he has lived in London, New York City, Paris and Berlin.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Bruce on May 04, 2026

I loved this book ─ but then I’ve enjoyed everything this author has written so that is my bias ─ cared about the characters, intrigued by the multiple plot lines especially as they converged near the end, and reflected on the creative future scenarios and thoughtful ideas presented. Not being a lit......more

Goodreads review by Demetri on April 21, 2026

The Child the Machine Could Not Finish “Certainty,” John Twelve Hawks turns AI dread into a strange, tender chase about prediction, possession, and the small miracle of being held without being owned. By Demetris Papadimitropoulos | April 21st, 2026 Safety is one of the most dangerous words in “Certai......more

Goodreads review by Julie on January 14, 2026

3rd person from multiple POVs/ themes of dangers of AI, love of an AI pet/ little or no swearing that I can remember I've heard of this author but never read any of his books before. His style, at least for this book, is contemplative, thriller set-up without the usual thriller-type of writing (in ot......more

Goodreads review by Armando on April 08, 2026

Certainty by John Twelve Hawks delivers an engaging, multi-layered story that gradually pulls you in and rewards your patience. Like many multi-POV novels, it starts off a bit slow as each character’s backstory is established, but once the threads begin to connect, the narrative becomes genuinely co......more

Goodreads review by Melissa on April 26, 2026

John Twelve Hawks is back with Certainty, a great cyberpunk story which is sure to be a big hit of fans of dystopian and speculative fiction. This book explores the perils of AI’s impact on a post-pandemic society. With the same level of interest, relationships and humanity are also examined. JTH do......more

Quotes

Praise for John Twelve Hawks' Certainty

"The author of the Fourth Realm Trilogy has a knack for keeping narratives hopping—even at their knottiest. A lively character in thought and action, Kate is one of the more appealing pre-teens to appear in recent dystopian fiction. And Zeno is never shy about stealing scenes. Those who reject AI and those who embrace it will find much to enjoy here."
--Kirkus Reviews

 "Readers who have been waiting for a new book by the reclusive author, who keeps his real identity a closely-guarded secret, will not be disappointed. This is a magnificent novel set in a world that is both recognizably our own but at the same time markedly different.... The book stands alongside the author's Fourth Realm trilogy as a brilliant examination of the way our future might play out."
--Booklist

"Detailed worldbuilding, intricate plotlines, and realistic characters combine to describe an all-too-easily imagined future and create a novel that is simultaneously engaging, thought-provoking, and terrifying. A reminder of the importance of humanity in the age of machines, the book will appeal to fans of George Orwell and Michael Crichton."
--Library Journal

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