Limitless
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Average rating3
15
Ratings2
Average rating3
A burnout at thirty-five, months behind on his book, low on cash, and something of a loser, Eddie Spinola could use a shot in the arm. One day he randomly runs into Vernon, his ex-wife’s brother, and his ex-dealer. Now employed by a shadowy pharmaceutical company, Vernon has something that might help: a new designer drug that stimulates brain function. One pill and Eddie is hooked. His book is finished within days; he learns and synthesizes information at a frightening rate; and he can go a long time without sleep or food. Naturally, he begins to play the stock market. But when Vernon turns up dead, Eddie makes off with the only stash of the drug in existence. Then come the side effects: black-outs, blinding headaches, and violent outbursts he can’t seem to remember.
Alan Glynn’s Limitless is a high-concept thriller for this Adderall age, and a haunting meditation on the allure and the curse of human potential.
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I'm usually one of those people who like the book better than the movie. In this case, I have to admit to liking the movie more. This book was good, but the movie had more creative symmetry... and ended on more of an up note. I don't think that hint about the end gives too much away. In fact, I think folks should be a little warned. You kind of know where things are headed, but you hope for something different.
All of that said, the concept on which Limitless is based, or Dark Fields as the book was originally titled, is creative, fascinating, and had the potential to spawn an entire franchise. I know there's a second book in the series but it's certain to be based on a different character. It's something of a prequel from what little I have read about it. And of course the movie and subsequent TV series speak to the imagination Gynn inspired in other writers.
Read the book if you don't expect it to be a clone of the movie and if you're looking for a conclusion different from everything you know if Limitless in its visual forms. If you go into the book with these expectations, you're likely to enjoy the book for what it is: creative, visceral, and often thought-provoking.
