Synopses & Reviews
Christopher Marlowe and his Elizabethan set are reincarnated in a near-future dystopian London on the brink of destruction, battling AIDS and trapped by their shared past. A typically original and erotically charged novel by one of Britain's most idiosyncratic writers, The Grid is set in the not-too-distant future, when Britain is ruled by the autocratic Commissar, London has merged with Tokyo and police use flying cars to combat rogue Boeing pilots doing kamikaze stunts over the capital's skyscrapers. Amid the dystopian chaos a group of men attend a mysterious hypnotherapy clinic called the Grid to receive treatment for AIDSbut as the therapy progresses they begin to realize that they are, in fact, reincarnations of Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare, and other members of the dramatists' Elizabethan circle, including Nicholas Skeres, Henry Wriothesley, and Thomas Walsingham. As the past merges with the present they find themselves embarking on a journey that leads to the resolution of one of the all-time great literary mysteriesthe murder of Marlowe in a Deptford tavern in 1593as well as one the most extraordinary finales in recent British fiction.
Review
"Jeremy Reed is a fucking legendwhat more can you ask?" Pete Doherty
Synopsis
One of Britain's most idiosyncratic writers - also an acclaimed poet - returns with a typically original and erotically charged novel. Some time in the not-too-distant future London has merged with Tokyo, police use flying cars to catch kamikazee Boeings, and Michael Jackson shops incessantly. Amid the chaos two men are called into a hypnotherapy clinic named the Grid to get treatment for AIDS. They discover that they are the reincarnations of William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, a revelation that leads them to the truth about one of the great literary mysteries of all time, the murder of Kit Marlowe in a Deptford tavern in 1593.
About the Author
Jeremy Reed is the author of seven novels and five works of nonfiction. He has won the National Poetry Competition, the Eric Gregory Award, and the Somerset Maugham Award. He is also the author of well-received biographies of Lou Reed, Marc Almond, and Scott Walker.