The Dark Fields

by Alan Glynn

[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.