Kill Decision
Paperback edition
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| Author | Daniel Suarez |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Techno-thriller novel |
| Publisher | Penguin Group (US) |
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Publication date
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July 19, 2012 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 512 pp (paperback edition) |
| ISBN | (paperback edition) |
| 813/.6 22 | |
Kill Decision is a science fiction novel by Daniel Suarez, published in 2012. It deals with themes of espionage, artificial intelligence, and warfare using robots and drones. The story deals with the fictional scenario where insurgents have created automated drones that identify enemies and make the decision to kill them (the "kill decision") without human intervention.
The book opens with a video feed from predator drones in Karbala, Iraq, where it is observed that an unmarked drone with American colors fires a missile on the dense crowd during a religious ceremony, killing many people. Repercussions of this attack are felt worldwide.
A team at the vision lab in Stanford are informed by a patent lawyer that their computer vision code has been stolen by some people and appears in public forums. One of the students then traces the code, and observes that it initially appeared in a location in China. Just as they assemble the team to discuss this development, they are killed by a laser guided missile.
Linda McKinney is studying the swarming behavior of weaver ants in Africa. Later that night, Linda is woken up by some noises, and is lured away from her house just as her house is completely destroyed in a missile attack. She is then sedated and kidnapped by Odin and his crew. On the way back to the US, we observe a military operation in Pakistan to reverse engineer US predator drones. Odin realizes that it is a farce put up to implicate Pakistan for the attack at Karbala, and decides to stick to his original plan. They land in Kansas City, and then make their way to the base of operations, which is located in SubTropolis, an old limestone mine.
Linda manages to escape the base in a Fire truck. She seeks protection of the FBI from the people who have 'kidnapped' her. Ritter, claiming to be from the Department of Homeland Security turns up and takes her into custody. Ritter is unable to convince Odin to step down on his mission to prevent the widespread adoption of unmanned kill-drones. Odin takes charge of Linda again. Odin realizes that his base of operations has been compromised. They execute their mission quickly, which is to capture one of the automated drones in Northern Utah. They manage to capture a drone just before it self-destructs, but then their plane is targeted by missiles. The teams jumps off with parachutes and lands safely. Odin and Linda make their way to another base in Colorado. Soon after they land, they find that their communication has been tapped. Suddenly, Hoov is killed by a sniper, and they are attacked by many automated drones. The team barely manages to escape in a plane, but sustains many injuries in the process.
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