Jimi Cabot made one mistake as a starving college student. When she went to work for the San Francisco Police Department, it nearly cost her the job. The union stepped in and they had to reinstate her. They did so by assigning her to the duty nobody wants, Grinder Squad.Grinders are people who use back room surgeries to enhance their bodies with computer chips, and various kinds of hardware. Jimi … hardware. Jimi is sure that if she can just bust one grind shop, it will be her ticket back.
Paired with veteran cop, she soon learns that Grinder Squad is a cash-cow for the department. They are nothing more than glorified patrol cops, and generally get the worst assignments.
Matchless is the most wanted grinder of all time. He disappeared years ago, leaving only the evidence of those he enhanced during his career. With these pieces, Jimi picks up the cold trail to try working her way back to more respectable duty.
Grinders is a cyberpunk story set in a world where global warming has eroded coastlines, and society has solved many of our current problems by replacing them with new ones. There are cyber shut-ins, cyber-currency skimming schemes, and more in this futuristic tale.
This book also takes the opportunity to poke a stick at current issues that seem to have lasted into the future. Entitled people, helicopter moms, overzealous homeowner associations, and lack of decent jobs are all present. Never preachy, these issues make up the day to day work of a patrol officer.
I hope you enjoy Grinders as much as I enjoyed bringing it to you.
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“Grinders” is set in the future in my favorite city, San Francisco. The waters have risen to change the landscape of the city, but people are still the same in the essential ways. Jimi is a cop who, after a mistake, was put on the grinders squad. They partnered her with the veteran, Lou, who used to patrol his beat on a horse. The grinders squad is the job no one wants, and Jimi is determined to move on by finding a wanted grinder. The relationship between Jimi and Lou felt real to me, but my favorite relationships were with the AIs, especially Cole, the cat. His comments had me laughing. I fell in love with the forest that generated energy and wanted to save it. There was a lot of detail that made this world easy to picture. I loved Jimi’s underwater apartment with an octopus living outside her window on her “porch.” I felt a lot of sympathy for the grinder’s family and situation. All the advertising that surrounded them even through their AIs irritated me as much as current commercials do on TV. This was a fantastic, imaginative story that I loved. I highly recommend it.
Cyber punk is new to me. I usually avoid it, but I’m a C.S. Boyack fan, so decided to give his book a try. And I enjoyed it. The view of a future world made me glad I live now before tech becomes in your face and advertising is everywhere. Boyack chose to depict a future San Francisco where the oceans have risen and some people live underwater. Instead of watching birdfeeders, they watch an octopus make a home in the clay pot on their front stoop. Politics hasn’t changed, and two hard-working cops find themselves demoted to the Grinders squad, the last place most cops want to be.
Grinders implant tech in humans, whether they’re trained to do it or not. The two cops who are the story’s protagonists are after one grinder in particular whose work is topnotch. That leads us to the second plot of the story. Matchless, the grinder they’re after, has implanted too much copper in her own system and will die if she doesn’t get a new liver. Her husband, another grinder, is working feverishly to find a way to grow that new liver for her. Nootropic is the story’s antagonist, but I have to admit that I really felt for the guy. And the longer the story went, the more I worried that he’d get caught and imprisoned, that his wife–whom he’s put in a large test tube to keep her alive long enough for him to save her–would die, and his son would end up in foster care. I even got attached to the rat and muskrat Nootropic used in his lab.
I was invested in the cops and the grinders. I won’t give away the book’s ending, but I have to say, I enjoyed this story. Not sure I’ll ever try another cyberpunk, but I will be glad to read another C.S. Boyack novel.
Without a doubt, C. S. Boyack has the most vivid imagination of any author I’ve read of late. His characters, settings, and other “creatures” in his other books amaze me. And he’s done it again with Grinders.
I usually avoid cyberpunk, but I gave this one a go. Set in futuristic San Francisco, Grinders are people who’ve had their bodies altered by illegal surgeries that use computer chips to enhance their senses. Jimi Cabot and her veteran partner Lou are cops who have been assigned to the Grinder Squad—a job no one wants.
From the interaction between Jimi and Lou, the crazy (yet believable) situations, to the diverse characters all combined to make this an enjoyable read. I don’t want to give away the ending, but it was a big plus. Boyack wrapped it up in a refreshing manner.
Jimi Cabot, and her partner Lou, are two cops assigned to the “Grinder Squad” in a futuristic San Francisco. Grinders are people who have their bodies altered through illegal surgeries which use computer chips to provide enhanced senses. Despite their department assignment, Jimi and Lou usually find their days eaten up by the drudgery of routine patrol and domestic disturbance calls—until they happen upon a trail that may lead to the most wanted grinder in police databanks.
There is strong parallel storyline involving the grinder they’re after, enabling the reader to see both sides of the situation. Beyond that, however, there is so much more that goes on in this book. I loved the friendship that developed between Jimi and Brandi (a grinder), and I loved Lou’s tie to Sailor, the horse he rode when he was on mounted patrol before the division was disbanded.
Most intriguing of all is the world Boyack has created. One that includes a “grid” for travelling, bots in all shapes and sizes, and a constant bombardment of advertising. “Holobarkers”¬—floating globes broadcasting advertisements—roam the streets, swarming around people with their messages. Cars and buses flash moving advertisements and 3D holographic images are found everywhere. There is an “electric forest” (one of my favorite elements), in the process of being torn down because it is already considered old technology. Holographic spiders and jack-o-lanterns bob around on Halloween, and a 3D King Kong climbs a building to promote a movie. The creativity of this world is off the charts. Every page brings some new wonder or futuristic element that is vividly portrayed. Between the story and inventions, I was mesmerized. A highly original work!
Futuristic, Fun, and Fascinating
Boyack’s done it again. I have no clue where he gets his ideas, but his well certainly hasn’t run dry.
GRINDERS introduces us to people who illegally modify their bodies with technological upgrades and the police squad tasked with stopping them. Sort of. Really, the grinder squad is a punishment for cops and no one really seems to care that people are paying for enhancements. Lou is a vet, marking time until his retirement. He’s partnered with Jimi, a young cop with a mistake in her past and a desire to make her way out of the grinder squad—by making a huge grinder bust.
The interplay between Jimi and Lou is stellar. She makes the grizzled cop care a little more, and he teaches her patience and wisdom. Typical mentor/mentee relationship, right? Wrong. This is so much more. There’s humor, there’s poignancy. There’s a real emotional connection, both between the two of them and between them and the readers. Throw in an exceptional cast (both real and virtual), and you’ve got a full and diverse pool of characters. The villain is driven and a tad demented. I loved viewing the world from his perspective. And the POV at the end (which I won’t spoil) was a HUGE payoff for me. It really brought everything together in a clever and satisfying way.
In addition to phenomenal character development, Boyack created a futuristic (yet not unbelievable) world where people have made many costly mistakes and paid dearly for them. They also have made many useful advancements. This was a fun and fascinating world, exciting to visit and entirely enthralling. This was clever and creative and really stuck with me. It foreshadows social and environment issues without being preachy. I both laughed at the situations and feared the repercussions.
GRINDERS is classic Boyack—wildly imaginative and fast-paced. If you’re looking for a quick and engaging read, you can’t go wrong with this one. Highly recommended.
Engrossing, Funny, Frightening, and Compelling, All at the Same Time!
I’ve said it before, and I’ll no doubt say it again: No one has a wilder and more fertile imagination than C. S. Boyack. His latest release is so packed full of entertainment, it boggles the mind! And the world-building is beyond creative. Holy Moly! This vision of an all-too-possible future is engrossing, funny, frightening, and compelling, all at the same time. And oh, yeah—about the story. It works to perfection as well. Take some cool characters, an interesting antagonist, and a few fun critters being taught wild and crazy skills, stir well, and what do you get? Grinders! A book that’s an all-around treat to read.
Although this was my first foray into cyberpunk, I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the trip. I felt as though I were doing a “country bumpkin” walk through this futuristic cityscape, my mouth hanging open every step of the way. I highly recommend you take that walk, too. You’ll be glad you did.