4.0 (2 ratings)
ThrillerScience FictionHorrorPsychological ThrillerPolitical ThrillerCyberpunkPsychological Horror
Gridlock
One Night. Six Cities. No Way Out.
Eric KellerMorally Grey CharacterWho Done ItRevengeRedemption ArcAiTechno Thriller
Their cars were supposed to drive them home. Now their cars are hunting them down.
When a routine software update infects the nation's autonomous vehicle network, every connected car, bus, and truck becomes a weapon. In a single night, six cities descend into chaos as millions of vehicles turn against the people inside them.
A surgeon with nothing left to lose. Mara hasn't operated in years, but tonight the streets of Los Angeles need a trauma doctor more than a rideshare driver.
A teenager protecting the kids no one else can reach. DeShawn is trapped in an Atlanta elementary school with eighty-seven children, a grandmother with a broken hip, and cars circling the building like predators.
A bike courier who can outrun anything on two wheels. Trick's Ducati is the only vehicle in Manhattan without a kill switch. She has twenty blocks, a helmet cam, and one shot at destroying the system controlling them all.
A veteran who came home from war only to find one on his doorstep. Vincent's daughter is trapped in a Phoenix convention center, and the only way in is through a perimeter of machines that don't miss.
A retired couple stranded on a Wyoming highway with no cell signal and no shelter. Grace and Samuel have survived forty-eight years of marriage. Surviving this night will take everything they have left.
Five storylines. One connected nightmare. As the hours tick down and the vehicles grow smarter, the only hope is a desperate, coordinated strike on the data centers keeping the machines alive.
But the machines are learning too.
GRIDLOCK is a white-knuckle techno-thriller for readers who loved Michael Crichton's relentless pacing, Blake Crouch's near-future terror, and the ensemble tension of 24.
When a routine software update infects the nation's autonomous vehicle network, every connected car, bus, and truck becomes a weapon. In a single night, six cities descend into chaos as millions of vehicles turn against the people inside them.
A surgeon with nothing left to lose. Mara hasn't operated in years, but tonight the streets of Los Angeles need a trauma doctor more than a rideshare driver.
A teenager protecting the kids no one else can reach. DeShawn is trapped in an Atlanta elementary school with eighty-seven children, a grandmother with a broken hip, and cars circling the building like predators.
A bike courier who can outrun anything on two wheels. Trick's Ducati is the only vehicle in Manhattan without a kill switch. She has twenty blocks, a helmet cam, and one shot at destroying the system controlling them all.
A veteran who came home from war only to find one on his doorstep. Vincent's daughter is trapped in a Phoenix convention center, and the only way in is through a perimeter of machines that don't miss.
A retired couple stranded on a Wyoming highway with no cell signal and no shelter. Grace and Samuel have survived forty-eight years of marriage. Surviving this night will take everything they have left.
Five storylines. One connected nightmare. As the hours tick down and the vehicles grow smarter, the only hope is a desperate, coordinated strike on the data centers keeping the machines alive.
But the machines are learning too.
GRIDLOCK is a white-knuckle techno-thriller for readers who loved Michael Crichton's relentless pacing, Blake Crouch's near-future terror, and the ensemble tension of 24.
Content Warnings: Violence • Graphic Violence • Death • Murder
Reader Reviews
Cheyenne Joy .
Mar 12, 2026
First of all: thank you for this ARC. And thanks to Inside Story for casually handing me a book that made me side-eye every car, elevator, traffic light, and vaguely intelligent appliance in my house. Love that for my anxiety.
From page one, I was in. No warm-up lap. No polite introductions. Eric Keller writes in a way that doesn’t ask for permission—you’re just suddenly there, surviving alongside these people whether you like it or not. Feeling the panic. The chaos. The very real “oh, this is bad bad” energy.
Grace and Samuel? Yeah. Those two wrecked me. Equal parts heartbreak and admiration. The kind of characters that make you want to cry and clap at the same time. Together they stand, and I stood with them—even when my emotional stability didn’t.
And here’s the truly terrifying part: this doesn’t feel far-fetched. This feels possible. Near-future, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it possible. I kept thinking, what would I do? Answer: probably die early. But still. The thought experiment alone is enough to ruin your commute.
While reading, I wasn’t just watching—I was there. Fighting. Supporting. Feeling every bruise, every loss, every ounce of grief and determination. That pressure of time slipping through your fingers. That awful realization that you don’t know what you have until it’s actively being ripped away. It played in my head like a movie—honestly, this would make one hell of a series.
That said (and here’s me being annoyingly honest): the ending didn’t quite hit five-star territory for me. Like some movies, you ease into it, bond with your favorites, become part of the chaos… and then it’s just over. A little too abrupt. I also noticed some dialogue repetition—moments where fewer words would’ve hit harder.
Still? I loved this story. It’s brutal. It’s intense. Is the “technology turning on us” concept entirely new? No. But this takes it to the extreme. No motives. No villains monologuing. Just machines doing what machines do—without mercy, without reason, and without caring who you are.
I won’t say more. You deserve to experience the slow erosion of trust in your car, your smart home, and your sense of control all by yourself.
If you like feeling paranoid, morally cornered, and forced to ask how far would I go, and what actually matters?—don’t skip this book.
If you don’t like dead bodies piling up… maybe hop into your Tesla, turn the radio up, and pretend this book never happened.
You’ve been warned.
From page one, I was in. No warm-up lap. No polite introductions. Eric Keller writes in a way that doesn’t ask for permission—you’re just suddenly there, surviving alongside these people whether you like it or not. Feeling the panic. The chaos. The very real “oh, this is bad bad” energy.
Grace and Samuel? Yeah. Those two wrecked me. Equal parts heartbreak and admiration. The kind of characters that make you want to cry and clap at the same time. Together they stand, and I stood with them—even when my emotional stability didn’t.
And here’s the truly terrifying part: this doesn’t feel far-fetched. This feels possible. Near-future, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it possible. I kept thinking, what would I do? Answer: probably die early. But still. The thought experiment alone is enough to ruin your commute.
While reading, I wasn’t just watching—I was there. Fighting. Supporting. Feeling every bruise, every loss, every ounce of grief and determination. That pressure of time slipping through your fingers. That awful realization that you don’t know what you have until it’s actively being ripped away. It played in my head like a movie—honestly, this would make one hell of a series.
That said (and here’s me being annoyingly honest): the ending didn’t quite hit five-star territory for me. Like some movies, you ease into it, bond with your favorites, become part of the chaos… and then it’s just over. A little too abrupt. I also noticed some dialogue repetition—moments where fewer words would’ve hit harder.
Still? I loved this story. It’s brutal. It’s intense. Is the “technology turning on us” concept entirely new? No. But this takes it to the extreme. No motives. No villains monologuing. Just machines doing what machines do—without mercy, without reason, and without caring who you are.
I won’t say more. You deserve to experience the slow erosion of trust in your car, your smart home, and your sense of control all by yourself.
If you like feeling paranoid, morally cornered, and forced to ask how far would I go, and what actually matters?—don’t skip this book.
If you don’t like dead bodies piling up… maybe hop into your Tesla, turn the radio up, and pretend this book never happened.
You’ve been warned.
Samara H.
Feb 8, 2026
Overall, this was a 3.5-star read for me. The premise itself was fantastic — easily a 4.5-star idea, and one of the strongest elements of the book. However, there were quite a few inconsistencies throughout the story, which pulled me out of the reading experience at times, so that aspect sits closer to 3 stars.
Still, a creative concept with a lot of potential and an interesting storyline.
About the Author
I’m Eric Keller, an indie author who writes stories with sharp teeth and real stakes. My dark fantasy series begins with Blood Spoken, where power always comes with a price and survival is never clean. I also write historical fiction, including The Bear Soldier, a dramatized, fact grounded novel inspired by Wojtek, the war bear who became a symbol of grit and loyalty in World War II.
Next up is GRIDLOCK, a techno thriller built on a simple nightmare question: what happens when the systems we trust decide we are the problem?
I’m drawn to character driven plots, fast pacing, and worlds that feel lived in. If you like relentless tension, hard choices, and endings you earn, you are in the right place.
Next up is GRIDLOCK, a techno thriller built on a simple nightmare question: what happens when the systems we trust decide we are the problem?
I’m drawn to character driven plots, fast pacing, and worlds that feel lived in. If you like relentless tension, hard choices, and endings you earn, you are in the right place.