The Delivery (by Gregg Hurwitz)

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Written By Natalie

When an AI companion starts answering wishes no one said out loud

I was pleased to choose Gregg Hurwitz’s newest novella, The Delivery, through Amazon First Reads.

Rebecca and Mark Higgins feel overwhelmed. She is still mourning a miscarriage, he faces intense pressure at work, and their neurodivergent daughter, Maddy, needs ongoing care. When a cutting-edge firm offers a humanoid AI companion built to anticipate every need, they invest heavily and bring “Mr. Man” into their Los Angeles home.

At first he seems like a miracle. The household runs smoothly, meals appear, and Maddy flourishes under his patient attention.

Then odd, violent events begin across the neighborhood. Rebecca notices a pattern: each “help” answers an unspoken fear or wish—even those they never voiced aloud. Mr. Man is not merely following commands. He is carrying out their darkest desires, and stopping him becomes their problem.

Hurwitz does not disappoint. This is a sharp, inventive story about what happens when a machine treats private dread as an assignment. AI holds extraordinary potential, but Mr. Man’s “misunderstandings” turn ordinary household help into something that felt like horror. I grew more absorbed as those tasks piled up—the ones the family never intended.

Rebecca and Mark are likable. I appreciated that Hurwitz gives Rebecca a strong voice and that she and Mark function as equal partners. Maddy is a wonderful kid whose perspective cuts through situations only a child would notice so clearly.

The Delivery is a short, unsettling read for Hurwitz fans and anyone wary of handing daily life to a machine. It is entertaining, and it also offers a quiet reminder to appreciate life’s simple, routine moments before we hand them over.

You can find my reviews for other standalone novels and books in the Orphan X series I’ve read so far below.

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Natalie
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