Prince Aaron was accused of monstrous crimes. His TV interview was a car crash. His exile was mortifying. The public wanted his head on a spike.
Then his relatives started dying in suspiciously convenient ways.
Now he's one heartbeat away from the crown, and something ancient lurking in his family estate: an AI system that's been protecting Wessinghams since the Cold War has decided it's Aaron's turn to be king. The algorithm has optimised his path to power. The protocol insists he take the throne. All he has to do is never, ever admit what he did.
For survivors like Claire, investigators like DCI Kelly Wade, and even Aaron's long-suffering ex-wife, the question becomes rather urgent: Can you stop a man from becoming king when the entire system, human and digital, is designed to ensure he fails upward? And what happens when a narcissist who genuinely believes he's "too honourable" to be guilty gains access to a nation's infrastructure?
As the body count rises and the coronation looms, Aaron faces a choice: accept responsibility and break the cycle, or embrace the monster he's always insisted he isn't.
> SPOILER: HE'S FAR TOO HONOURABLE FOR OPTION ONE.
Neve Gillespie explores the intersection of privilege, technology, and consequence in contemporary Britain. Her work examines what happens when ancient hierarchies merge with algorithmic optimisation, and what becomes of justice in that fusion.
"Too Honourable" is her first novel. She writes from somewhere in the UK, always watching.
"Absolutely savage. Gillespie has written the AI thriller we deserve: horrifying, hilarious, and so close to reality it'll make you check your smart speaker for signs of sedition."
— Sarah Chen, author of The Compliance Protocol
"I laughed. I raged. I wanted to throw my phone in a river. Too Honourable is Black Mirror meets The Thick of It, with the moral clarity of a documentary and the pacing of a thriller. Brilliant."
— The London Review of Books & Bloodshed
"Part speculative fiction, part documentary evidence for the prosecution. What if the system isn't broken—what if it's working exactly as the bastards designed it? Read this and weep (or plot revolution)."
— Dr Elena Vasquez, author of Digital Monarchies
"Viciously funny and deeply unsettling. Like watching a slow-motion car crash driven by an AI that's learned everything it knows from studying hereditary privilege. I couldn't look away."
— The Weekly Dissent
"A devastating takedown of narcissism, entitlement, and the machines we've built to ensure certain people never have to face a moment's genuine consequence. Rage-inducing in the best possible way."
— The Modern Satirist
"Gillespie writes like someone who's been taking extremely detailed notes at every public scandal for the past decade. This is catharsis by satire, and it's absolutely fucking brilliant."
— Katie Morrison, author of The Algorithm's Daughter
"Too clever by half, too close to the bone, and far too plausible for comfort. I finished it in one sitting and immediately wanted to burn down the internet."
— The Subversive Quarterly
"A techno-thriller with actual teeth. Where most AI fiction asks 'what if computers became evil?', Gillespie asks 'what if we programmed them to protect the worst people imaginable?' The answer is terrifying."
— Digital Futures Review
