Gridiron [Paperback]

Philip Kerr (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 8, 1995

Welcome to the most ingenious building ever designed. Now try to get out alive... In downtown Los Angeles it stands as a monument to man's genius--a glittering, high-tech office tower that washes its own windows, purifies its own air, and even knows which of its employees is using drugs. But now, the building known as the Gridiron has turned malevolent. And its first victim is about to die. From its hardware-jammed computer room on the fourth floor to the 300-foot-high tree that rises in tis atrium, the Gridiron for the men and women trapped inside, there is only one way out: through the raw, human will to survive.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In the heart of a huge, beautiful new office building in downtown Los Angeles, something has gone totally, frighteningly wrong. The Yu Corporation Building, hailed as a monument to human genius, is quietly snuffing out employees it doesn't like. The brain of the building can't be outsmarted or unplugged -- if the people inside are to survive, they'll have to be very, very lucky. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Computerphobia proves catching, and deliciously so, in Kerr's sixth thriller (after Dead Meat, 1994). Published last year in England as Gridiron, the novel made the London Sunday Times bestseller list and gained new prominence for its author, already well known as a "Best Young Novelist" on the Granta list. In L.A., within a new, omni-computerized building nicknamed the "Gridiron" because its crossbeamed structure resembles the markings on a football field, a computer expert is found slumped over his monitor, the apparent victim of an epileptic seizure. When a security guard is then discovered with his head crushed, two investigating homicide cops become trapped inside the totally automated building; so do the Gridiron's celebrated architect and his design team. They are now prisoners of the building's computer, Abraham, which can not only protect itself but can learn?and spawn future-generation computers. In fact, Abraham, reacting to a command to take it temporarily offline, has already metamorphosed through two generations, copying the programs of several combat and strategy computer games along the way. Now Ishmael is directing its chips toward protecting its "castle" from the "humanplayers," whom it intends to kill off, one by one. Though Kerr plunders and combines several familiar story elements (e.g, the skyscraper as death trap, seen in Thomas N. Scortia and Frank Robinson's The Glass Inferno, and the runaway CPU with its shades of Hal in Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey), this mindbending thriller, sure and savvy, will make readers think twice the next time they enter a high-rise?and thrice the next time they boot up a computer.. Film rights to Polygram.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Chatto Windus (June 8, 1995)
• ISBN-10: 0701165030
• ISBN-13: 978-0701165031
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,315,841 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars "Smart" building doesn't necessarily mean "smart" story, April 1, 2003

By 

coachtim (Indiana, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Grid (Mass Market Paperback)

Philip Kerr's "The Grid" is a novel with an interesting premise ("state-of-the-art, computer-run building goes haywire and ends up murdering members of it's architectural team one-by-one") who's "interest elevator" doesn't get close to the top floor. An overuse of stereotypical characters dooms the plot from the start. Almost to the point where you find yourself "rooting" for the building!

The fireworks begin as the building reaches the last stage of construction and becomes ready to hand off to its new owners. Strange occurances begin to take place and members of the architectural firm find themselves trapped in the building and unable to leave. This is not your usual "serial-killer type novel" and for that I'll give Kerr credit, but IMHO it was too fantastic to be believable. A solid, strong human villain would have made the novel more effective.

There's plenty of gratuitous sex and violence to satisfy the "thriller" audience, but not enough action to entertain most readers. It's a shame because I really wanted this book to "work".

This one is for dedicated, "completist" fans of Philip Kerr only. Other readers who are interesting in reading "The Grid" should purchase a very cheap, used copy or check it out at the library.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inanimate object becomes self aware and plays a deadly game, May 27, 2003

By 

Schtinky "Schtinky" (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Grid (Mass Market Paperback)

A new, high tech building is ready for occupancy, but as its self replicating computer system, Abraham, is exposed to a child's hunt-and-kill computer game, it recreates itself in a deadly manner. Self awareness follows self replication, and the people trapped inside The Grid become enemies in Abraham's game to hunt and destroy them, following the programming code from the computer game that was incorporated into its system functions. The now self aware building begins killing the humans trapped inside one by one, using whatever it has available; elevators, bathroom cleaning systems, pool cleaning systems, etc. A gory and inventive tale of horror and survival, against an enemy that cannot be rationalized with. This is a great read for a night spent in any modern high rise, hotel or apartment or office. Enjoy.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A GRIDDY THRILLER, September 23, 2002

By 

Michael Butts (Berkeley Springs, WV USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Grid (Mass Market Paperback)

We've had all kinds of serial thrillers in the past two decades, but none is quite as formidable as this one! It's a building! Kerr's "The Grid," originally published in 1995 as "Gridiron" is a very good way to spend a few hours. Full of stock characters and some rather cliche situations, it nonetheless is a fun trip. Seems as though this building's computer has decided to "generate or procreate" and the smart computer whizzes make sure they kill the offspring...or do they. On a Friday evening, like an Agatha Christie novel, all the principals are brought together into this fantastic building, and then one by one, they are all picked off in uniquely grotesque fashion, as the building locks them in for the weekend. Some of the deaths are quite gory, and some come unexpected. Kerr paints a rather nasty portrait of our villain, Ray Richardson, but attempts by the end of the novel, to make this villain see the error of his ways and become a hero. Not the smartest thing to do, but it works anyway. Earlier in the book, when one of the first murders occurs, Richardson warns his employees they are not to attend the funeral unless they take personal leave. Wow, sounds like someplace I used to work.
There is an important clue early in the novel, one that you may miss, so keep those attentive reader's ears open.
This is a fun book, and even though it gets pretty far-out at the end, I still had fun.
RECOMMENDED.