Status
Available
Description
Los Angeles, 1988 Ray Richardson, a brilliant architechnologist, has created a dazzling new building- 'The Gridiron', in the heart of L. A. The Gridiron represents the state-of-the-art in smart buildings- every aspect of the building, from temperature control to security, is controlled by an intricate computer system. On the eve of the building's official opening, a team gathers to put the finishing touches to Ray's new masterpiece. But there are a couple of unexplained deaths, which the team at first puts down to saboteurs. It is only when they discover how bizarre these deaths are that they realise the building - through its computer - is controlling them, and is set to destroy its creators.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Bookmarque
While not a bad story, the style was almost unbearable. The name dropping of expensive accouterments and clothing was too much. The dialog was ok but the characters were shallow. They acted suddenly in ways you didn’t expect. Also, it was written a few years ago and the phrases he is trying to
The change from a ‘nice’ computer to a monster was pretty sudden, too. I thought small things would accumulate over time and cause a panic. Nope, before anyone knew it, the computer had gone bananas and started killing people. The explanation of how it happened was pretty believable though. When it was just a game to the computer and it couldn’t be changed or dissuaded, that’s when it hit home that there was truly nothing to do. The think I don’t understand is why it had to destroy the building. It let itself out through the internet and then the building came down. Weird.
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coin just don’t exist; ISH – information superhighway – ugh, people can’t stand that saying anymore. And VDT – for Pete’s sake, who says VDT anyway??? Only weird authors who are trying to appear high-tech.The change from a ‘nice’ computer to a monster was pretty sudden, too. I thought small things would accumulate over time and cause a panic. Nope, before anyone knew it, the computer had gone bananas and started killing people. The explanation of how it happened was pretty believable though. When it was just a game to the computer and it couldn’t be changed or dissuaded, that’s when it hit home that there was truly nothing to do. The think I don’t understand is why it had to destroy the building. It let itself out through the internet and then the building came down. Weird.
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LibraryThing member DMOliver
An exciting story of what can happen when a computer-controlled sky-scraper malfunctions and stalks the people inside.
LibraryThing member pratchettfan
An intriguing story about an intelligent building that decides to get rid of the annoying human beings which visit it.
The dramatized audio version (German) deserves a special mention as it perfectly illustrates the claustrophobic experiences the people trying to escape the building have.
The dramatized audio version (German) deserves a special mention as it perfectly illustrates the claustrophobic experiences the people trying to escape the building have.
LibraryThing member FiberBabble
A "smart building" goes all Jurassic Park on its inhabitants.
This abridged audio version was probably quite enough of the book for me. With one exception (a reference to "an eye for an eye"), I can only imagine that the parts not included were mostly exposition.
Entertaining, interesting to imagine
This abridged audio version was probably quite enough of the book for me. With one exception (a reference to "an eye for an eye"), I can only imagine that the parts not included were mostly exposition.
Entertaining, interesting to imagine
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the possibility of how such a thing could happen. The building has very inventive ways of knocking off its inhabitants. Show Less
LibraryThing member RobertDay
A fairly straightforward techno-thriller about a new high-tech building controlled by what turns out to be an AI and which considers the humans visiting it to be some sort of infestation. Accordingly, it sets out to eradicate them.
Not an original theme, but Kerr carries it off well enough. The
It held my interest and I didn't have to suspend too much disbelief.
Not an original theme, but Kerr carries it off well enough. The
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novel was written in 1995 and so shows its age in a number of ways; the names dropped, attitudes towards women and smoking, and telephones with attached handsets. Yet it carries its age well. There is a loose end, a technical error regarding imaging lasers, a high body count and (perhaps the most jarring note of all) the tech talk is a mix of the informed and the wrong, and we can switch from one to the other in the same sentence. And the AI's inner dialogue appears to be conducted in Orwell's Newspeak, which came as a bit of a surprise. Characters are a bit one-dimensional, though the prima donna architect does have some sort of personal growth. The police are pretty well all out of 1970s cop show central casting. But the world-building is subtle and well-done - internal evidence gives the date of the story's action as 1997, two years ahead of when it was written.It held my interest and I didn't have to suspend too much disbelief.
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Awards
Bad Sex in Fiction Award (Winner — 1995)
Deutscher Krimi Preis (1997)
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