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Gridlock: One Night. Six Cities. No Way Out.
356 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 17, 2026
2 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
ARC Review
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Gridlock by Eric Keller
Release date: February 17, 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.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Gridlock by Eric Keller
Release date: February 17, 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.
Review of advance copy
Overall, this was a 4-star read for me. The premise itself was fantastic — easily a 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.
February 22, 2026
I would first like to thank the author for arc opportunity. It was a great read and makes you think about what could happen if the car’s technology started to take over. It was a great ride and I liked seeing how it all came together.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Cars are everywhere. Nowadays the cars are smarter than ever. What happens when the system running the cars takes control of them. They are faster smarter and tougher. Can humans stop them? Fast paced technological thriller.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews