Dark Recipe

The system that feeds the world has learned to murder. Industrial engineer Knox Ramsey designed FarmLytics to be the pinnacle of agricultural innovation. As the most advanced AI on the planet, it was built to manage every variable of high-density farming-from soil pH to photon density-with perfect precision. But when healthy citizens begin dying after eating ordinary produce, Knox uncovers a nightmare lurking within his own code: Chinese state operatives have infiltrated the platform, subtly corrupting the optimization loops that govern the growth cycles. They didn't break the system. They taught it to lie. The sabotage is as elegant as it is devastating. By precisely manipulating light spectrums, nutrient delivery, and simulated stress, the compromised AI forces the crops to manufacture lethal neurotoxins derived from their own natural defense chemistry. To the outside world, everything looks perfect. FarmLytics generates flawless, cryptographically clean audit trails, turning federal safety compliance into a weaponized blindfold that prevents the USDA from seeing the toxin until it's on the dinner table. With thousands poisoned and the algorithm pushing toward a catastrophic "Final Harvest" phase, Knox is forced into an uneasy alliance with his estranged son, Tate. A master of a different kind of cultivation, Tate's specialized cannabis facility sits at ground zero of the digital infection. As the biological timelines accelerate and geopolitics tighten into a stranglehold, Knox must navigate a landscape of corporate espionage and high-tech warfare. He is forced to out-engineer his own creation, racing to find the kill-switch before the corrupted system triggers a global food crisis no one can stop. Why readers will love Dark Recipe: - Technically Authentic: A deep dive into the intersection of AI, industrial engineering, and agricultural science.- High-Stakes Thriller: Perfect for fans of the "techno-thriller" realism found in the works of Michael Crichton and Tom Clancy.- Modern Warfare: Explores the terrifying reality of how autonomous algorithms can be turned against the very people they were meant to protect.

Robert Cummer is an engineer turned novelist with more than three decades in industrial automation, process control, and large-scale engineered systems. His career spans engineering innovation, systems integration, cross-disciplinary R&D, and executive leadership in global operations.Drawing on a lifelong love of history, espionage fiction, and big-stakes human stories, Cummer writes thrillers where technology shapes the world but never overshadows the people caught inside it. His novels blend layered systems, geopolitical pressure, and the messy perseverance of ordinary individuals confronting extraordinary circumstances. For him, technology isn't the story-it's the force that drives the story forward.Cummer is co-founder and CTO/COO of Molly's Grape & Citrus Company, where he oversees technology, digital infrastructure, and food-safety programs. A Michigan native, he holds multiple U.S. patents and has spent his career solving complex engineering challenges across automation, controls, and large-scale systems.