the style
grimwood has a hell of a style - graphic violence, sex, drugs and - yes - rock and roll. most people i've talked to were taken aback at the sheer level of sex and violence that blasts through his books; but at the same time they're a full-on read. grimwood first came to my attention when i unpacked an order with ReMix in it - sexy cover design and the claim that grimwood was "william gibson meets quentin tarantino". of course, those don't mention on the cover that their star quote comes from a review in new woman - they tuck that inside :)
grimwood doesn't pull any punches, even compared with other cyberpunk authors. he's constructed a world and a story and hurled the reader into it. it takes a lot to register shock with a cyberpunk audience, but grimwood manages to do it.
works
reMix
as a virus sweeps across europe, literally eating all the steel in its path; the young schoolgirl LizAlec Fabio disappears. her mother hires Fixx Valmont to get her back - even though Fixx is a seriously screwed up methhead. still, armed with killer dj tricks he's got to do his best. but with religious fanatics getting involved as they prepare to create a new ark; it's hardly an easy task.
a lot of copies of this book got off the shelves more or less on the basis of a brash writeup and a sweet cover design. happily it was a worthy read; with plenty of people coming back for more when redRobe came out the following year... not to mention picking up on his previous releases.
grimwood tied music into the fabric of this story pretty neatly; in one scene the protagonist uses a deephouse dub remix as a bribe - what else do you do when you have no money?
First published 1999. Pictured: Earthlight release; ISBN 0-671-02222-9
redRobe
axl borja has a soundtrack in his head and a gun which talks back to him; and it's all real. unfortunately he is rapidly headed for all kinds of things he'll wish weren't real, in places he really doesn't want to go.
another dose of serious "cybershock".
First published 2000. Pictured: Earthlight release; ISBN 0-671-02260-1
Neoaddix
a deadly shadow hunts along the banks of the river seine; leaving bizarre, mutilated corpses which disgust and baffle the investigators sent to the scene. prosecutor clare fabio investigates in her usual fashion; only to have her whole world come crashing down around her.
her fast and furious actions, fighting for survival, place her in some very strange company. the freshly-crucified alex gibson; who kept some highly sensitive data in his eye a little too long. johnnie t, japanese gang leader, hacker and surgeon. and a silver-skinned exotic fighting machine called razz.
First published 1997. Pictured: New English Library/Hodder release; ISBN 0-340-67472-5
lucifer's dragon
lucifer's dragon is a multi-level 3d computer game which learns all the best moves of every player - it never does the same thing twice and it never repeats its mistakes. rich young aurelio tries to beat lucifer's dragon, he's just no good at it. aurelio is the heir to the massive CySat empire - the biggest media giant imaginable. the silver samurai razz has been hired to guard him; keep him safe.
but with the upheavals ahead; that's more easily said than done.
First published 1998. Pictured: New English Library/Hodder release; ISBN 0-340-67473-3