Editorial Content for Incarnate

By definition, “incarnate” means embodied in flesh; in human form. Alma Katsu takes this concept and places it inside a story of the same name. It is a cautionary tale for the modern age, where the nature of what is human and what is real is in the eye of the social media beholder.

Katsu has created works of literary horror, as well as fiction involving the US spy game, which she knows about firsthand. INCARNATE is unlike any of her prior novels as it provides psychological thrills, mystery and a touch of very human horror in a story that lambastes the deepfake technology that we have seen become a daily occurrence due to the power of artificial intelligence.

"Alma Katsu refers to the book as a modern retelling of Oscar Wilde’s THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY, and she does so masterfully with a lead character and a story that are quite unforgettable."

All Dorothy Wagner ever really wanted was to be seen by someone. We learn about a bullying incident involving a young Dorothy that ends tragically, resulting in her being put away in a reform school. Upon release, she goes to college and gets a degree that fuels her drive to be in the technology field. She moves to LA where she sleeps on the couch of a family friend while starting her job as a computer media influencer working for a brilliant coder whose company is on the cutting edge of deepfake technology.

Dorothy’s boss, Tomas Delgado, is more than a little impressed with her and immediately involves her in several interesting projects. Dorothy is a workaholic who rarely goes to her temporary home. Instead she chooses to work all night at Tomas’ business, where she uses his technology and computers to create an imaginary online star named Isabella. She provides her with an Instagram account, among other things, and is amazed by how many followers Isabella gains. Over time, her popularity is almost at a Kardashian level, and Dorothy contacts a friend of Tomas who is an outstanding agent to get her to manage Isabella’s career. All along, she is not revealing to anyone that Isabella is not a real person.

Someone who knows frighteningly too much about Dorothy and her dreams reaches out to Isabella, offering to make her bigger than anything else in the world. The nameless online contact comes off initially as a creepy stalker type, but when everything he promises comes true, Dorothy begins to listen. He then focuses on transforming the plain and unseen Dorothy, who physically begins to resemble Isabella herself. Astute readers will realize at this point that this is going to go bad in a big way, and Dorothy will end up paying a huge price for the new recognition she has garnered from her fake persona.

INCARNATE is a wonder to behold. It takes us behind the curtain of social media influencers and the powers of deepfake technology, and completely corrupts them with an evil that is as tempting as that of original sin in the Garden of Eden. Mystery, murder, deceit and more surround Dorothy, who flees her identity and even her country to escape the retribution she must face when payment comes due to her deal with the devil. 

Alma Katsu refers to the book as a modern retelling of Oscar Wilde’s THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY, and she does so masterfully with a lead character and a story that are quite unforgettable.