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K. W. Jeter
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Dr. Adder Mass Market Paperback – February 1, 1988

by K. W. Jeter (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars 90 ratings
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Signet, 1988. Mass market paperback, 1st printing. Afterword by Philip K. Dick. 1st in a cyberpunkish trilogy of thematically linked novels. The other books are "The Glass Hammer" (1985) and "Death Arms" (1987).
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  1. Print length
    237 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Roc
  4. Publication date
    February 1, 1988
  5. Dimensions
    7 x 1 x 5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0451151976
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0451151971
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Roc
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 1, 1988
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ 1st mass market paperback
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 237 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0451151976
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0451151971
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7 x 1 x 5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.8 out of 5 stars 90 ratings

About the author

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K. W. Jeter

K. W. Jeter

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K. W. Jeter is an American science fiction and thriller author known for his literary writing style, dark themes, and complex, paranoid characters. His latest novels are THE KINGDOM OF SHADOWS, set in the sinister & glamorous world of the film industry of the Third Reich, and the Kim Oh Thriller series -- KIM OH 1: REAL DANGEROUS GIRL, KIM OH 2: REAL DANGEROUS JOB and KIM OH 3: REAL DANGEROUS PEOPLE, with more to come.

Jeter is an exhilarating writer who always seems to have another rabbit to pull out of his hat.

-- The New York Times Book Review

Brain-burning intensity . . .

-- Village Voice

Customer reviews

3.8 out of 5 stars
90 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book's pacing engaging, with one describing it as a nonstop rollercoaster ride. The readability receives mixed reactions from customers.

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PacingReadability
6 customers mention "Pacing"6 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the pacing of the book, appreciating its edgy ideas and comparing it to greats of science fiction, with one customer describing it as a nonstop rollercoaster ride.

"...and religion; it's driven, to some degree, by a handful of clever technological ideas..." Read more

"This book is the beginnings of cyber punk, the combination of science fiction dystopia and nihilistic adventure...." Read more

"...That being said A rather original premise, which is something rare. I enjoyed it overall." Read more

"...rolled on and lo and behold, with the demise of many taboos, a masterpiece emerged. Not for the faint hearted or prudish." Read more

6 customers mention "Readability"3 positive3 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the book's readability, with some finding it a great novel while others describe it as a very tiresome read.

"Strange and compelling..." Read more

"...Adder's a callously evil, uncaring, misogynistic bucket of amorality start to finish, and Limmit's con doesn't quite go as planned, pulling both..." Read more

"Brilliant first novel..." Read more

"...The overuse of profanity and provocative subjects makes this an unpalatable read...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Tim Emmons
    5.0 out of 5 stars A nonstop rollercoaster ride from start to finish.
    Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2022
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    I've read a lot of scifi. Love the genre. But, I've got to say, even as disturbing as some of this book can be, it's so worth it, just for the fact that Jetter creates a world so chaotically weird, you can't wait, to explore deeper, even if it means getting a little dark and dirty to do it. I found about KW Jetter when he wrote the sequel to Bladerunner a few years ago. He creates adystopian world like no other in a future that is more grim than even our darkest imaginations can conjure up, but he does it in such a way as to make it slightly appealing. He gives his villains and heroes alike characteritics that make them personable in willyou that. i recommend from you’re not into some dark and disturbing scenes, and if you’re not. fan of the whole dystopian landscape that is Jetter’s lA, don’t dive in, but ifrom you re, I promise. you won’t soon forget this one. He's truly an author of phenomenal skill that can create a world within a world, that literally grabs you and takes you into the underbelly of life, ghthe interfacear and transports you deep into it so that you don't realize you've been sucked in, until it has you and doesn't let go until the last page. Give this read if you scifi, you won’t regret that.
    One person found this helpful
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  • cole
    4.0 out of 5 stars Essential Cyberpunk
    Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2020
    I loved this book. Even though there is some questionable language, this book creates a dirty and grimy atmosphere that truly adds to this new reality.
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  • alaska
    3.0 out of 5 stars a wild ride, of note mostly to cyberpunk addicts and those hungry for trashy pulp fiction
    Reviewed in the United States on August 22, 2017
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Dr. Adder is trashy, stupid, and fun.

    Perhaps Dr. Adder's importance as an early cyberpunk dystopia exceeds its entertainment value. K.W. Jeter wrote it in 1972 while attending college, but it wouldn't be published until the cyberpunk explosion in '84. Because of this, the obsession with technology, the casual violence, the Interface-as-Sprawl et al., are all prescient forebears of some of the themes dominating contemporary sci-fi.*

    But is it a great novel? Not really.

    E. Allen Limmit is a naive, dumb kid with big dreams. The abandoned son of a brilliant scientist, he hopes to use his heritage as a means of conning millions from the titular doctor, an amoral J.C. for the slums of L.A. He leaves behind his shallow life taking care of a desert brothel, a perverted place dedicated to the quirkiest quirks of sexual desire: Giant, genetically-modified chickens. What he takes with him, and what he hopes will make his millions, is a broken cyber-weapon invented by his deadbeat dad, a laser-firing 'flash glove' (straight out of '70s camp) capable of turning its agent into a weapon of mass destruction.

    The self-serving, obnoxious Dr. Adder is a brilliant surgeon specializing in body modification for the prostitutes across L.A.'s slums -- a precursor to Gibson's Sprawl known as the Interface. Adder's a callously evil, uncaring, misogynistic bucket of amorality start to finish, and Limmit's con doesn't quite go as planned, pulling both characters into a battle over the souls (and money) of the Interface with John Mox, Adder's rival and CEO-slash-religious leader of the world's moral authority.

    The ultra-violence and gross sexuality still hold up as over-the-top, but it's more quirky cartoon than outright obscene. (Sam Delany also beat these extremes by a few years, writing Hogg -- possibly the most shocking novel of the 20th century -- in 1969. Hogg was similarly held up by its violence and sexuality, unpublished until 1994.) Characters are seemingly driven by a young writer's snark and sadism more-so than individual goals: Limmit is -- much like the hero of Hogg -- an unfeeling, dumb vehicle being pushed around by the plot, barely stopping to form a single thought; Mox is a shadow of evil in religion and capitalism; Adder's, frankly, boring and nearly as dumb as Limmit; all the women are walking sex organs (sometimes quite literally) and vehicles for kinky sleaze.

    So Dr. Adder isn't driven by its depth of character, it's not driven by its attacks on consumerism and religion; it's driven, to some degree, by a handful of clever technological ideas (like uploading human consciousness to early computers long before it was passe), but mostly it's driven by its extremes -- and that it shouted those extremes first. Excessive drug use, sex, violence, and misanthropy fill every page (again, much like Hogg), and under all that the snark and self-importance of a young writer. Despite the mountain of excesses, the dystopian streets and sewers of L.A.'s Interface provide a wildly entertaining ride. As the laser-glove is unleashed and a corporate war between Adder and Mox's church heat up, the Interface is hit with a deluge of corpses and gore.

    Dr. Adder isn't the great piece of fiction that Neuromancer or Green Eyes would be in 1984, but if you can look past its faults, past the sleaze and ultra-violence, you'll find a fun ride that holds up pretty dang well after 40 years.

    Edit: On current (c. 2017) Kindle editions of his books, Jeter has a semi-cool offer on the last few pages: If you review his books, you can e-mail him for an additional free ebook of your choice! I call this offer semi-cool, because when I reached out to him, all I got back was a angry-sounding letter thanking me for reading his books, with a list of condescending rebuttals to my reasons for why his book's only above average. I don't know if the offer was rescinded because he didn't like my review, or if he simply forgot, but he never replied to my followup e-mail...so, uh, yeah. Spoiler: Do not ever call this book cyberpunk, or even 'proto-cyberpunk,' and especially don't comment on how bad the cover-art is for his self-published books.
    9 people found this helpful
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  • Eric R. Demski
    5.0 out of 5 stars Cyber dystopia
    Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2016
    Format: Mass Market PaperbackVerified Purchase
    This book is the beginnings of cyber punk, the combination of science fiction dystopia and nihilistic adventure. What makes it a bit more impressive for me are two things: the commentary on the human unconscious mind, and the bizarre but brilliant weapon called the "flash glove". This is also one of the most politically incorrect books I have read in a while. The edition is difficult to get a hold of and is out of print.
    One person found this helpful
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  • W. McMillin
    4.0 out of 5 stars Good Intro to Jeter
    Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2011
    Format: Mass Market Paperback
    I looked for this book for a couple of years (before the net's book search engines) because it was considered a banned scifi book in the vein of Dick. Jeter's book does have the singular universe appeal of Dick but not a variant of Dick. Jeter is his own righter. The book is dark and never lets up. I will admit that it is an early work and shows some of the failures of a new author, but I will take this over his schck work (i.e. Star Wars and Star Trek)any day. I don't begrudge Jeter for making a living only I am not a fan of that work. I am surprised by how accurate much of Dr. Adder is. It is a scary version of speculative fiction that becomes less speculative with every passing year.
    3 people found this helpful
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  • Philo
    3.0 out of 5 stars A Twisted Kaleidoscope
    Reviewed in the United States on September 25, 2019
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    I had this on my Cyberpunk reading list. Some may call it Proto-Cyberpunk but it definitely hits all the marks; cyborgs, dystopia; body mod and Wow, this is a twisted kaleidoscope of sex, violence and drugs. Jeter's first book, although not published first, most likely due to its graphic content at the time of writing ( I think society needed to be christened with the grittiness of the late 70s and early 80s before it could accept Dr Adder). This is a bizarre journey from a farm in dusty Phoenix to the depravity of future LA full of surgical body modifications. And a place where the term interface has a much deeper meaning.

    I have been a long time Philip K Dick reader and would recommend Dr Adder to any fan of the bizarre or psychedelic of PKD. I enjoyed Jeter's continuation of Blade Runner series and while I didn't like Dr Adder as much them I look forward to reading "The Glass Hammer", "Death Arms" and "Noir"

    Dr Adder definitely had some memorable moments. I particularly enjoyed the journey underground to see "The Visiter". Which was an unexpected development.
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Top reviews from other countries

  • FishToys
    4.0 out of 5 stars Reissued Classic
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 28, 2014
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    I'd heard of this novel and was keen to read it but could never get my hands on a copy, so it's always a risk that the book when you eventually get it will be a let down. Particularly when it was written decades ago, but no such worry here. The story hasn't aged and is as weird and strange as good cyberpunk should be. Some of the ideas such as the Chicken Ranch or The visitor could easily have been expanded but by keeping them short only added to the bizzare nature of the world created. The violence and sex may have lost some of it's power to shock in this internet age but it still provides some though provoking stuff. A good read to add to your cyberpunk canon
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  • PurpleGary
    5.0 out of 5 stars Weird, but rewarding.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 18, 2024
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    I eventually came to read this after reading Farewell Horizontal many years ago, still love it. This however has a much darker and deeper feeling to it. The characters are well written. I read somewhere that Philip K. Dick was a fan. Says it all really.
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  • Scott Carpenter
    4.0 out of 5 stars Fast paced & way out!!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 7, 2014
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Well its different thats for sure, and I can se straight away that it influenced a generation of writers. Fast paced, way out, and never bogs down its nothing like SF of the 50s or 60s....its a New Thing.
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  • E Jones
    5.0 out of 5 stars Classic
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 2, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Wanted to re-read this classic and it is still good
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  • Swampy69
    5.0 out of 5 stars ... in the mid 80's when I was 14 and loved it! Still very good
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 10, 2014
    Format: KindleVerified Purchase
    Read this in the mid 80's when I was 14 and loved it ! Still very good, though the cover is now rubbish.
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