The Dark Fields

by Alan Glynn

Imagine a drug that makes your brain function in a fantastically efficient way, tapping in to your fundamental resources of intelligence and drive. Imagine a drug that could make you read and remember entire books in a matter of hours, or learn a foreign language in a day. Imagine a drug that could make you process information so fast you can see the patterns on the stock market. Eddie Spinola is on such a drug. It's a pill called MDT-48. It's a Viagra for the brain, a designer drug that's redesigning his life. Eddie's not the only one doing MDT, but with his dealer shot dead and Eddie escaping with a large stash, he's the only one with a supply. And while the drug is helping Eddie make the sort of money he's only dreamed about, he's also beginning to suffer its side-effects ...

• ISBN10: 1582342733
• ISBN13: 9781582342733
• Publish Date: 8 January 2003 (first published 5 January 2002)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 23 April 2014
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 341
• Language: English

Reviews

[empressbrooke]

You will possibly know this as the Bradley Cooper movie Limitless (if you go searching for the book, look it up under the movie's title - I don't think it's published under the original title any longer).

The main character, Eddie Spinola, acquires some medication that makes him insanely smart. He absorbs information and processes it so quickly that he learns new languages in a day and is able to play the stock market like a toy xylophone. Unfortunately, the drug has its downsides as well, as one might imagine. Unexpectedly, this book reminded me of [b:American Psycho|28676|American Psycho|Bret Easton Ellis|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223432558s/28676.jpg|2270060] quite a bit, especially when Eddie relates his interactions with people who are hanging off his every word. It's not so much that Eddie shares Patrick Bateman's sociopathic tendencies, but they share a similar tone when narrating their day-to-day thoughts and concerns.

(While not a sociopath, though, it IS pretty clear that the drugs suppress Eddie's conscience and moral compass - and I'll also add that the author does a great job showing this fact rather than ever telling us about it.)

Definitely worth a read, but the movie is probably more fun due to Bradley Cooper's presence.