Really enjoyed the premise of the book but it did feel a little long-winded and struggled to hold my attention at times . I think it would make a fantastic film though.

One of the best books I read during 3 months quarantine. So good, I didn't delete but kept to read again as I think I will get more out of it second time round. As a medic I enjoy stories about doctors who work outside the normal bread-and-butter practice and a military psychiatrist who treats the US President and embraces teh possiblity of extrasensory psyonic power pulled me in from the first page. Intelligent plot with many layers and the hero is likeable and competent. I found the action easy to visualise although I did have to read a few pars again to get the full meaning. Recommended.

The premise of this book certainly intrigued me and I was really looking forward to getting sat down with it. However, I'm afraid that it didn't quite hit the mark with me. A bit slow to progress, it struggled to hold my attention. Coupled with the amount of characters involved and I had to admit, I lost track of who said what, who did what etc... Leading me to the end of the book, (and I'm so sorry), but, I was pleased when it finished.
There's nothing to say that someone else won't enjoy it. I'm sure someone else will, it just wasn't for me.
Thank you to the author, the publisher and netgalley for my arc. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

I really wanted to enjoy The Grid, as the plot intrigued me, but I found it to be a fairly difficult read. There was so much information going into a lot of detail and too many characters that I struggled to keep up with and fully understand. Maybe it’s that I’m not used to the style of writing. For me, the book didn’t flow easily and was difficult to follow. Thank you to NetGalley for my arc.

I really enjoyed I am Pilgrim but I struggled with this book. The basic story was good and would probably make a great film, but it was overloaded with too much unnecessary detail and acronyms. Every time a new character was introduced we were given a potted summary of his military career splattered with acronyms so digressing from the story. Maybe if I'd read the book in 2 chunks, it would have flowed better.

A high octane, high concept thriller with a smudge of Dan Brown and a feel of Tom Clancy. This is a good rip roaring ride for the most part but it fell a little short for me- the prose meander into detail which felt like a need to show off research and in places it was a little over-populated by characters (and therefore a little difficult to remain engaged).

Thanks to Random House and Netgalley for an ARC in consideration of an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have no doubt that Nick Cook's highly ambitious novel, "The Grid", will find mass appeal. It is what marketing experts would term a 'high concept' thriller and given how much we readers like originality, it will surely rocket up the bestseller charts and become a hit. While I find a succinct summary of the plot somewhat elusive, without resorting to bland platitudes and the usual book review tropes (yes, we reviewers resort to the too), I can safely say that this is a bold novel, full of big ideas but written with intelligence and philosophically speaking, a great deal of subtlety, with Nick Cook as a more cerebral Dan Brown. There is an element of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" too, with Cook's incisive exploration of the limits of human consciousness and the acceptance that there is no objective external reality outside of the highly subjective individual mind. Throw in a few Philip K. Dick motifs and the zeitgeist of post-Bond spy thrillers and you may be somewhere near to approaching the drive and influences that appear to have electrified "The Grid". This is indeed an electrifying novel - full of energy and thrust - a literal page-turner. To be lost in the pure imagination of someone as creative and knowledgeable about defence matters, special projects and the bewildering array of law enforcement agencies as Cook, was a true education. My review is not without a few reservations, however. Somewhat ironically, given the subject matter, I did not always find it easy to assimilate the ideas conveyed in the narrative with my own imagination. An exceptional reading experience involves an effortless translation between the words on the page to a clarity of image in the mind's eye. This for me was lacking. I was missing that vital connection that elevates this novel from a satisfying read to a great read. This could be a broader issue with the author's writing style or just my personal preference for the highly descriptive. These are, as I said, quibbles, because without doubt Nick Cook has written a novel of style and originality that will surely become a smash-hit.

Stylish, intelligent and original. #TheGrid #NetGalley