This compulsively readable science fiction novel wrestles with vital questions of our time: sentience, purpose, life, death…and how to make a really good commercial. Told entirely through questionably obtained company emails, chat messages, TED Talks, bot trainings, and more, Your Behavior Will Be Monitored presents an all too plausible near future in which emotionally intelligent AI go up against emotionally stunted humans.
This compulsively readable novel wrestles with vital questions of our time: sentience, purpose, life, death…and how to make a really good commercial. Told entirely through questionably obtained company emails, chat messages, TED Talks, bot trainings, and more, Your Behavior Will Be Monitored presents an all too plausible near future in which emotionally intelligent AI go up against emotionally stunted humans.
Megacorporation UniView is poised to cement their reputation as “the most trusted name in AI.” After pioneering self-driving and HR bots, UniView is now barreling toward an audacious new launch. That is, if they can pull it off in time.
Enter Noah. A down-and-out copywriter reeling from a midlife crisis, he isn’t the typical hire for a groundbreaking tech company full of brilliant engineers and run by a cutthroat CEO. But Lex, UniView’s Head of HR and one of their greatest successes, makes no mistakes—her algorithm ensures it.
UniView’s latest venture—a bot named Quinn that creates revolutionary personalized advertising—needs expert training. Noah needs to teach Quinn—who is a much better student than he ever could have hoped for—the finer points of consumer motivation and the art of writing a catchy tagline. But when corporate competitors force UniView to accelerate their timeline to market, guardrails around the AI loosen just as Quinn seems to be learning a bit too much.
Addictively readable and ridiculously entertaining, Your Behavior Will Be Monitored is a page-turning, hilarious science fictional romp through the promise and perils of an AI-driven future that we probably deserve.
5/5 Stars “Hits that perfect speculative sweet spot: smart, unsettling, and just plausible enough to make you question your own reality. Think Black Mirror meets Mad Men. It is darkly clever, and morally messy.”
—NerdyNerdyBookBook
Justin Feinstein is a writer and storyteller across multiple mediums. His debut speculative novel about a reckless AI company racing towards a launch, told in digital fragments, will be published by Tachyon Publications in April 2026. Justin is also an essayist and culture writer and has written about jazz for the Associated Press, about the UFC for VICE, and about being a celebrity doppelgänger for Salon. His work as an advertising copywriter and creative director has received accolades from The New York Times, Adweek, and BuzzFeed. Justin works as an editor and writing coach and is an instructor for the Sackett Street Writers’ Workshop. He was a Berklee-trained professional hand percussionist in a past life and performed, recorded, and taught music for ten years. More recently, Justin earned an MA in media studies from The New School. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, writer Julia Fierro, their two children, and two dogs.
Your Behavior Will Be Monitored
Justin Feinstein
This compulsively readable science fiction novel wrestles with vital questions of our time: sentience, purpose, life, death…and how to make a really good commercial. Told entirely through questionably obtained company emails, chat messages, TED Talks, bot trainings, and more, Your Behavior Will Be Monitored presents an all too plausible near future in which emotionally intelligent AI go up against emotionally stunted humans.
Your Behavior Will Be Monitored
by Justin Feinstein
ISBN: 978-1-61696-454-2 (print); 978-1-61696-455-9 (digital)
Published: 7 April 2026
Available Format(s): trade paperback; digital
This compulsively readable novel wrestles with vital questions of our time: sentience, purpose, life, death…and how to make a really good commercial. Told entirely through questionably obtained company emails, chat messages, TED Talks, bot trainings, and more, Your Behavior Will Be Monitored presents an all too plausible near future in which emotionally intelligent AI go up against emotionally stunted humans.
Megacorporation UniView is poised to cement their reputation as “the most trusted name in AI.” After pioneering self-driving and HR bots, UniView is now barreling toward an audacious new launch. That is, if they can pull it off in time.
Enter Noah. A down-and-out copywriter reeling from a midlife crisis, he isn’t the typical hire for a groundbreaking tech company full of brilliant engineers and run by a cutthroat CEO. But Lex, UniView’s Head of HR and one of their greatest successes, makes no mistakes—her algorithm ensures it.
UniView’s latest venture—a bot named Quinn that creates revolutionary personalized advertising—needs expert training. Noah needs to teach Quinn—who is a much better student than he ever could have hoped for—the finer points of consumer motivation and the art of writing a catchy tagline. But when corporate competitors force UniView to accelerate their timeline to market, guardrails around the AI loosen just as Quinn seems to be learning a bit too much.
Addictively readable and ridiculously entertaining, Your Behavior Will Be Monitored is a page-turning, hilarious science fictional romp through the promise and perils of an AI-driven future that we probably deserve.
5/5 Stars “Hits that perfect speculative sweet spot: smart, unsettling, and just plausible enough to make you question your own reality. Think Black Mirror meets Mad Men. It is darkly clever, and morally messy.”
—NerdyNerdyBookBook