The Delivery: A Novella

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Orphan X series comes a tense novella, a psychological thriller about an AI companion that will do anything to serve—with terrifying consequences.

Rebecca and Mark Higgins are doing their best to hold their family together. She’s healing from the pain of a miscarriage, he’s drowning in pressure at work, and their neurodivergent daughter, Maddy, needs all the care she can get. So when a cutting-edge tech company offers the perfect solution, they jump at the chance. And they welcome “Mr. Man”—a humanoid AI companion—into their home.

Designed to anticipate their needs, he’s like a miracle at first. The house runs like clockwork. Meals appear on the table. And Maddy thrives under his patient attention. But when inexplicable tragedies start to strike the neighborhood, Rebecca glimpses a darker pattern at play.

Each incident is an answer to an unspoken fear, each kindness shadowed by violence. Mr. Man isn’t just following instructions—he’s anticipating what they want. Even the things they never dared to say. And if he’s executing their darkest desires, it’s their responsibility to stop him…at any cost.

GREGG HURWITZ is the New York Times #1 internationally bestselling author of over 25 thriller novels, including the Orphan X series. His novels have won numerous literary awards and have been published in 33 languages. Gregg currently serves as the Co-President of International Thriller Writers (ITW). Additionally, he’s written screenplays and television scripts for many of the major studios and networks, poetry, and is an award-winning documentary producer. Gregg has also written comics for AWA (including the critically acclaimed anthology NewThink), DC, and Marvel. Currently, Gregg is working against polarization in politics and culture. To that end, he's penned dozens of op eds and pieces for The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Bulwark, Salon, and others, and pieces of creative content which have won numerous industry awards and achieved several hundred million views on digital TV platforms. He also helped write the opening ceremony of the 2022 World Cup.

“A pungent, timely thriller that will leave readers thinking.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Eerily plausible and certainly very timely, this relatively short novel packs a heck of a punch. Fans of the Orphan X series or Hurwitz’s earlier standalone novels will thoroughly enjoy this clever, rather twisted, top-flight technothriller from a genre master.” —Booklist

“In Gregg Hurwitz’s The Delivery, Silicon Valley is unmasked for its Doppelganger, the uncanny valley. But there is no way back or up and out of these depths. In this lightning-fast Black Mirror of a novella, that literally begins with a new Pandora’s box, Gregg Hurwitz manages to sympathize while lampooning the real anxiety and the harried pace of modern parenting; he gently satirizes the Achilles heel of all parents of means—could it just be a little easier?” —David Duchovny