Audio Book Review: Culpability by Bruce Holsinger

Genre: Adult Fiction/Audio Book

Pub. Date: July 8, 2025

Publisher: Spiegel + Grau

Source: Personal Copy

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

 

 

Goodreads says, "When the Cassidy-Shaws’ autonomous minivan collides with an oncoming car, seventeen-year-old Charlie is in the driver’s seat, with his father, Noah, riding shotgun. In the back seat, tweens Alice and Izzy are on their phones, while their mother, Lorelei, a world leader in the field of artificial intelligence, is absorbed in her work. Yet each family member harbors a secret that implicates them in the accident.

During a weeklong recuperation on the Chesapeake Bay, the family confronts the excruciating moral dilemmas triggered by the crash. Noah tries to hold the family together as a seemingly routine police investigation jeopardizes Charlie’s future. Alice and Izzy turn strangely furtive. And Lorelei’s odd behavior tugs at Noah’s suspicions that there is a darker truth behind the incident—suspicions heightened by the sudden intrusion of Daniel Monet, a tech mogul whose mysterious history with Lorelei hints at betrayal. When Charlie falls for Monet’s teenaged daughter, the stakes are raised even higher in this propulsive family drama that is also a fascinating exploration of the moral responsibility and ethical consequences of AI.

Culpability explores a world newly shaped by chatbots, autonomous cars, drones, and other nonhuman forces in ways that are thrilling, challenging, and unimaginably provocative."

 

 

When the Cassidy-Shaw family is on their way to their older son Charlie's lacrosse tournament, and their autonomous family van collides with an oncoming car, their lives are impacted irrecoverably. Charlie, a seventeen-year-old, was "driving" the van at the time when the accident occurred with his father, Noah, sitting shotgun. In the back were sisters Alice and Izzy, along with their mother, Lorelei, who was working on her laptop as she holds a prominent position in the tech world of AI. The accident kills the people in the oncoming car and leaves the Cassidy-Shaws with various injuries, but they all survived the crash. Afterwards, they decide to escape to the Chesapeake Bay to recuperate at a rental house. But they can't escape the crash and the problems that have come up due to the complexities of the accident, as the car is considered autonomous. Charlie, a lacrosse star with a college scholarship, is now being investigated for this crash, and his parents are being dragged into it, as he is a minor. During their week on the bay, more secrets float to the surface about the crash, what each passenger saw, and the ramifications of it. To complicate matters further, their neighbor on the bay is a prominent tech guru, Daniel Monet, and Charlie starts to hangout with his teenage daughter. Plus, Lorelei seems to know him as they are in the same work circles, and what should have been a quiet week on the bay turns out to be filled with drama. Bruce Holsinger's Culpability is one of the smartest books I've read in a while. The audiobook was thought-provoking, compelling, and one of my favorites of the year.
 
The Cassidy-Shaw family is tragically flawed, but that is what I found most compelling in Culpability. Each family member is dealing with their own issues, and slowly, the issues come to the surface. I also felt like each character wasn't exactly likable and I was frustrated with their choices from time to time, but that is what made the story a page turner. Lorelei is brilliant, but is hiding something from her husband. Meanwhile, readers are wondering why Noah wasn't just driving the car? Why put Charlie at the wheel? What were Alice and Izzy texting about in the car, and did they notice anything before the crash? These are all questions that come up, and slowly Holsinger reveals this to his readers.
 
What was most compelling about Culpability was the AI storyline. Yes, this is a family drama, but the story also begs readers to think about AI. What are the implications of AI? What are the moral ethics surrounding AI and an autonomous car? Whose fault is it in an accident like theirs? It's a smart read that definitely got me thinking, and because of this, it would make for an excellent book club book as it lends itself to much discussion.
 
Culpability is one of my favorite audiobooks of the year. I really enjoyed the family drama, the beach house setting, and the moral questions that it poses. I will definitely read more of Holsinger's novels in the future. Have you read Culpability? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.