The Dark Fields
US hardcover edition (2002) under original title, The Dark Fields.
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| Author | Alan Glynn |
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| Country | Ireland |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Human enhancement |
| Genre | Techno-thriller |
| Publisher | Little, Brown and Company |
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Publication date
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2001 |
| Media type | Print, e-book, audiobook |
| Pages | 336 pp. |
| ISBN | |
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.
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 information. 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 Donatella Alvarez, the wife of a prominent Mexican artist, to death 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 acumen 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 into a clandestine clinical trial for the drug.
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