Nerve

Marshall Goldberg, M.D.

On the night it became clear to Dr. Adam McKinnon that not only his personal but professional life was in shambles, his decade-long quest to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease stalled, the Boston neurologist wrote in his private journal: "Perhaps Einstein was right: God does not play dice with the universe. But he does gamble with mankind and His game is stud poker! His face-up cards are Irony, Impermanence, False Hope and Tribulation. His hole card is either Immortality or Oblivion, but you have to bet your life to call Him on it."

The compound Adam had discovered, LBC, was meant to act on the brain to repair the defects in nerve transmission causing senility. But when he'd fed LBC to the monkeys in his lab, it had only produced gross incoordination-the same effect Adam was experiencing after he dared swallow some of the compound himself-until he realized that the flailing about of his limbs was because messages from his brain were reaching his muscles at a greatly accelerated speed. In short, by actual measurement, he could now move two to three times faster than any human being. And among the many sports where quickness, not size or strength, was the key to victory, he could become a
champion.

So, having called God's hand and seemingly won, Adam McKinnon was ready to collect his winnings. Though science had provided the stake, the sporting world would provide his payoff, and he chose boxing for the first installment.

Journeying to a local gym that breeds nationally-ranked boxers, Adam seeks out veteran fight trainer Al Lakeman and makes him an outrageous proposition: If Lakeman's top heavyweight contender, Todd Tanner, can hit him just once in three rounds of sparring, Adam will pay him one hundred dollars. In an incredible display of boxing skill, Adam wins the bet and is transformed by Lakeman and sports promoter Aaron Robards into doctor-turned-athlete "Magic" McKinnon. His first fight against a gargantuan heavyweight is a sell-out and when Adam wins it he becomes an overnight media sensation. At 45, he is living every middle-aged man's favorite fantasy: to turn as if by magic into a world-class athlete. Not only in the ring, but in a hockey or Ping-Pong
game, Adam appears unbeatable. Yet his true goal is not fame, but money: to make the millions he needs to continue his medical research.

But as his career builds momentum, so does the physical punishment he's taking from his
opponents; and the side-effects, from the drug Adam is now addicted to, exceed his own worst fears.

THE WORLDS OF SCIENCE AND SPORTS COLLIDE IN THRILLING, NON-STOP ACTION IN THIS INGENIOUS, ENGROSSING, AND ENTIRELY PLAUSIBLE NOVEL.

RECENTLY CHOSEN BY PARAMOUNT STUDIOS FOR POSSIBLE PRODUCTION AS EITHER A FILM OR A TELEVISION SERIES.