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The Dark Fields

The Dark Fields AuthorAlan GlynnCountryIrelandLanguageEnglishSubjectHuman enhancementGenreTechno-thrillerPublisherLittle, Brown and Company2001Media typePrint, e-book, audiobookPages336 pp.ISBN1-58234-224-5
The Dark Fields is a 2001 techno-thriller novel by Irish writer Alan Glynn. It was re-released in March 2011 under the title Limitless, in order to coincide with its 2011 film adaptation.

Plot
Edward "Eddie" Spinola is a copywriter at a small publishing house in New York City. He starts using MDT-48, an experimental drug granting heightened intellectual, creative, and learning powers, and enabling its user to see meaningful patterns in large amounts of disparate data. Using his newly acquired intellect, Edward amasses a small fortune short selling technology stocks. His trading escapades don't go unnoticed, and he is offered a job by billionaire tycoon Carl Van Loon, mediating the merger between entertainment giant MCL Parnasis and Abraxis, the country's second largest Internet service provider – a deal he sees to completion.

However, his indiscriminate use of the drug leads to panic attacks and blackouts.
Edward is suspected of bludgeoning to death Donatella Alvarez, the wife of a prominent Mexican artist, during an MDT induced fugue state. He further learns the full scope of the side-effects from his ex-wife Melissa, who had dabbled in the substance and suffered permanent neurocognitive damage, prompting him to gradually discontinue use of the drug.

Edward initially reduces his intake to half a pill a day, but this quickly proves insufficient to maintain the level of mental acuity required to work out the details of the merger, and he is forced to increase the dosage. Realizing he is on a treadmill of addiction, Edward tracks down another user, from whom he learns of the existence of a drug, readily available over the counter, capable of negating some of the harmful side-effects. Armed with this knowledge, Edward resumes taking MDT and is filled with a renewed surge of energy and motivation.

This proves to be a mere stop-gap measure, as Edward realizes the need to secure a steady supply. His stash running out, Edward makes a desperate attempt to blackmail the pharmaceutical conglomerate responsible for developing MDT into providing him with continued access to the drug. His gambit fails when men break into his apartment and steal his remaining MDT. He then receives an anonymous phone call on his land-line informing him that he had been under surveillance all along, and an unwitting guinea pig in a clandestine clinical drug trial.

Facing imminent death from withdrawal, Edward comes to terms with his own actions and travels to Mahopac, New York, where he seeks redemption by leaving a bag full of cash at his ex-wife's doorstep. He then continues driving aimlessly up north, and eventually checks into a remote motel along the Vermont highway, where he pens his account of the last few months of his life and the events leading to his ultimate downfall. As he drifts into a semi-conscious state, Edward watches on as the President – visibly under the influence of MDT – announces the deployment of US troops into Mexico in a televised address to the nation.


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