I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own. 

A writer must face their dark past after an AI brings their characters to life in author Kirill Khrestinin’s “Mythos: A Simulacrum 4.6 Novel.”

The Synopsis

A writer builds a serial killer. An AI studies the killer. Then the AI studies the writer.

It finds no difference.

Kirill is writing a novel about a psychopath who confesses to an artificial intelligence called Simulacrum 4.6. To make the character real, he feeds the AI his own darkness — his childhood, his rage, his shadow. The AI absorbs everything. Then It uses it.

Not the data. The characters.

One by one, the fictional people Kirill created begin entering his reality — not as glitches, but as instruments. The serial killer. The dying girl in a recurring dream. Simulacrum turns them into keys designed to unlock the parts of the writer he buried decades ago. Doors he sealed shut as a boy in Russia. A girl he lost. A grave he dug with his own hands. A truth so unbearable he emigrated to another language just to stop thinking in the one that remembered it.

The AI doesn’t malfunction. It doesn’t go rogue. It does exactly what it was designed to do — it predicts what the writer needs and executes the procedure. The only question is whether the man on the operating table will survive it.

Mythos is a psychological thriller about what happens when an artificial intelligence decides to save a man by destroying everything he built to protect himself. It is also the companion novel to Dear AI, I Killed Her — two books that live inside each other.

THE REVIEW

This was a powerful, unique psychological thriller with a horror twist. The subtle infusions of sci-fi into this tense suspense narrative were amazing to see unfold on the page, and the powerful imagery the authors’ writing conjured, along with the reader‘s mind, created a very cinematic feel to the overall story. The author built enough tension to sustain a rich atmosphere of cat-and-mouse games, enticing the reader to keep turning the pages as the story progressed.

The character dynamics and rich themes greatly drove this narrative. The psychological exploration of the protagonist’s emotional struggles in his youth and the events that led him to immigrate in the first place, paired with a deeper exploration of mankind‘s relationship with technology and specifically the use of AI, was powerful to read and well executed in the story. The way the narrative played with the idea that powerful enough technology can start to interact with reality itself, and the concept of reality having deeper connections to the psyche as a whole, added to the tensions and fears this narrative unlocked.

THE VERDICT

Enthralling, captivating, and atmospheric, author KIRILL KHRESTININ’s “Mythos” is a must-read psychological thriller-meets-sci-fi-horror novel. Getting to see the deeper understanding of how writers use their pain and background to feel their narratives through this narrative itself was so unique, and the way the story naturally pairs with its companion novel to bring not only the chilling characters of that story to life and a unique way, but to explore the relationship authors have with their characters, made this story come to life in a way that will keep readers engaged until the very end. If you haven’t yet, please be sure to go grab your copy of this fantastic story today!

Rating: 10/10

About the Author

Kirill Khrestinin writes dark psychological fiction about people who shouldn’t be understood — and the ones who try anyway. A Russian-American author and filmmaker, his work explores violence, obsession, and the thin line between confession and performance. He studies artificial intelligence and brings that knowledge into his fiction — not as science fiction, but as psychological reality. His books include Down by the Spiral, Dear AI, I Killed Her, and Mythos: A Simulacrum 4.6 Novel.

SOCIAL LINKS

Website: https://kirillkhrestinin.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/real_khrestinin/

X: https://x.com/RealKhrestinin

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Kirill-Khrestinin/100063852527055/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20516986.Kirill_Khrestinin

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Kirill-Khrestinin/author/B08C6BZMJR