At the beginning of Feral Vengeance, my 19th Sydney Rye Mystery.

"I think a lot of the corporate world is pretty culturally neutered. Masculine energy is good, and obviously society has plenty of that, but I think corporate culture was really trying to get away from it. I think having a culture that celebrates the aggression a bit more has its own merits that are really positive." - Mark Zuckerberg

Half the world’s population are on his social media platforms, and this man believes we need more masculine aggression in the workplace. This is the guy whose first iteration of Facebook was a way to rate the attractiveness of his female classmates at Harvard. The original tagline: "Were we let in for our looks? No. Will we be judged on them? Yes."

But sure. The problem is not enough masculine aggression.

“The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy — the empathy exploit. They’re exploiting a bug in Western civilization, which is the empathy response.” - Elon Musk

The richest man in the world believes empathy is a weakness. This is the man who ended USAID—a program that saved millions of lives around the world. He also said he'd donate $6 billion if the UN World Food Programme could show him a clear plan to stop 42 million people from starving. They presented the plan. He never responded. Less than 2% of his wealth could have saved 42 million lives, and he couldn't even be bothered to say no. Just ghosted them.

Which is very male aggression, actually.

“I love the idea of getting a drone and having light fentanyl‑laced urine spraying on analysts that tried to screw us.” - Palantir’s CEO, Alex Karp

Palantir—co-founded by Peter Thiel— has contracted with the US government to consolidate our data. All of it. In a way that every security expert says is dangerous on its face. When asked what he'd do to analysts who criticized him, Karp fantasized, out loud in front of a crowd, about drone-spraying fentanyl-laced urine on them. What. The. Fuck.

Thiel, by the way, financed much of JD Vance's political career. And when asked in an interview if he would prefer the human race to endure, he paused so long the interviewer had to prompt him: "You're hesitating... this is a long hesitation." He had to be asked again before he finally said yes.

These men are not monsters. They're just men. As fallible and human as the rest of us—but with less empathy, kindness, and compassion. They are the worst of us. And we're letting them run the world.

I wrote Feral Vengeance in response to my rage about this stupid fucking pattern. And the fact that these men are about to have more power than any other human in history.

AGI—artificial general intelligence—is coming. Some experts say five years. Others say sooner. They all agree on one thing: whoever controls AGI will have more power than we can imagine.

Surveillance on a level only Santa understands. Systems that can predict, manipulate, and control at a scale no dictator in history has ever achieved. The ability to monitor every transaction, every communication, every movement. To know what you're going to do before you do it.

It could also help solve the climate crisis. Cure diseases. End hunger. Because here's the thing about tools: they reflect the values of whoever wields them.

Right now, the people racing to build AGI (with massive support from the US government, aka our tax dollars) are men who openly tell us that empathy is a flaw, aggression is a virtue, and caring about other people is a weakness. They already have the power to radically change the world for the better and they are ghosting it.

And we're just... letting them. Calling them geniuses. Conflating their wealth with wisdom. Handing them the keys to a technology that will reshape what it means to be human.

My books are fiction. But the danger is real.

I think you can guess how Sydney and Blue might deal with these types of men. 😈

Preorder Feral Vengeance: emilykimelman.com/FV

Feral Vengeance is available for preorder now. It will be available on retailers January 30th. However, if you order directly from me, not only do you save money, you also get the book early. 😃

We don’t have a date for the audiobook yet, so you can’t preorder it. But we will keep you updated as we work with Sonja.

Paperback orders, including preorders, should start shipping in early February.

📚 Pay what you want for the first 8 Sydney Rye Mysteries in ebook or digital audiobook. Save 40% on paperbacks:
emilykimelman.com/SR18

📚 Continue the adventure with books 9-12:
emilykimelman.com/SR912

📚 Catch up with books 13-15:
emilykimelman.com/SR1315

📚 Catch up with books 16-18:
emilykimelman.com/SR1618

📖 Preorder Feral Vengeance, Sydney Rye Mysteries Book 19:
emilykimelman.com/FV
**This preorder is for early 2026, so please be aware it won’t arrive until then.**

📙 If you’re all caught up with Sydney Rye, read A Spy is Born, Starstruck Thrillers Book 1:
emilykimelman.com/SB

📖 If you read book 1, Lone Spy, Starstruck Thrillers Book 2 is now available:
emilykimelman.com/LoS

☕️ If you’ve read all the Sydney Rye Mysteries and Starstruck Thrillers THANK YOU.

The best way to reward yourself for all of that reading is with your very own mug, tote, or wine tumbler with quotes from the books, check out my exclusive merchandise:
emilykimelman.com/Merch

💝 Want to share your love for Sydney and Blue? I have gift cards 😉:
emilykimelman.com/GC

Oh, and just so you know...I'm already writing book 20.

I'll be in touch soon.

Emily

P.S. I promise the dog doesn’t die…but I make no assurances about anyone else. 😈

P.P.S. You should unfollow me now if you have issues with "strong" language, sex out of wedlock, or LGBTQ+ characters. 👈 Top 3 things my one-star reviews complain about.