Sike

PRE-ORDER FOR MAY 20, 2025

Sike by Fred Lunzer

A Smart, Sharp, and Emotionally Resonant Debut About Love, AI, and the Search for Self-Control
Boy meets girl meets AI therapist—in a world obsessed with emotional optimization.

In Sike, Fred Lunzer delivers a thought-provoking and emotionally charged debut novel about modern love, mental health, and the role of technology in our most intimate relationships. Perfect for fans of Sally Rooney, Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun, and contemporary fiction with depth and edge, this novel explores the messy intersection of connection, ambition, and artificial insight.

Adrian ghostwrites lyrics for rap stars he’ll never meet. His biggest hit? A song about the heartbreak he can’t seem to recover from. Reeling from a breakup, he turns to Sike—a cutting-edge AI therapy app that tracks his every emotion, action, and thought, promising mental clarity through relentless self-optimization.

Enter Maquie, a no-nonsense venture capitalist disillusioned by London’s tech scene. Ironically, the only innovation that excites her—Sike—is the one she refuses to use. When she meets Adrian, the two are drawn together, even as their radically different views on control, vulnerability, and emotional intelligence threaten to drive them apart.

🧠 Perfect for fans of introspective, character-driven fiction with a tech twist
🧠 Explores AI therapy, mental health culture, modern dating, and emotional detachment
🧠 Dual POV storytelling with razor-sharp prose and emotional nuance

Format: Hardcover / Paperback / Ebook
Genre: Literary Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Speculative Fiction
Themes: AI & Mental Health, Modern Love, Anxiety, Identity, Self-Discovery
Audience: Readers who love literary debuts with cultural relevance, emotional insight, and bold questions about the human psyche

✨ Sike is a poignant, stylishly written exploration of love in the digital age, where the quest for emotional mastery may come at the cost of real connection. A stunning debut that interrogates whether self-awareness is healing—or just another kind of performance.