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A brilliant new talent bursts on to the thriller scene with a dazzling work of spellbinding fiction, a riveting story of chance, fate, and numbers, and one man's strange journey past the boundaries of the possible into the chilling realm of the ...Improbable After nightfall, David Caine inhabits a world of risk, obsession, rich rewards, and sudden, destructive downfalls. A compulsive gambler possessing a brilliant mathematical mind -- and an uncanny ability to calculate odds in the blink of an eye -- he prowls the underground poker clubs of Manhattan, winning more than he loses. But Caine is a man prone to crippling epileptic incidents -- and one night he makes a costly miscalculation, suffering the most intense seizure he has ever experienced. And his life spins madly out of control. Desperate to regain his equilibrium, he agrees to test an experimental drug with unnerving side effects. Suddenly he is having visions of the past, present, and future; either peering through a window into an alternate reality or teetering on the precipice of a psychotic breakdown. Chemistry and destiny have colluded to grant David Caine the astonishing ability to foresee the consequences of his actions and the probability of various outcomes, both good andterrible. But with his "gift" comes grave danger, for he is not the only one who knows his secret. Frightening powers operating from the shadows now want him for their own, forcing Caine to seek help from a most improbable ally -- a beautiful rogue CIA agent skilled in the death arts -- on a desperate race for survival with his sanity hanging by the slenderest of threads. A riveting amalgam of explosive action, ingenious twists and turns, dynamic characters, breathtaking writing, and brilliant extrapolation, Adam Fawer's extraordinary debut, Improbable, is the novel of the year.… (mais)
David Caine es epiléptico, posee una espectacular capacidad para las matemáticas y el cálculo mental y pasa todas las noches jugando al póquer. A causa de sus frecuentes y terribles ataques de epilepsia ha perdido su trabajo de profesor de estadística en la universidad, ha recaído en su adicción al juego y su vida se ha convertido en un infierno. Confía en su don para calcular probabilidades y así ganar mucho dinero lo que le permitiría empezar de nuevo, pero lo improbable no es imposible y acaba debiéndole una fortuna a un peligroso capo de la mafia rusa. A fin de librarse de su enfermedad y recuperar el control de su vida, Caine decide arriesgarse con un medicamento en pruebas, administrada por un misterioso doctor de oscuras intenciones que le utiliza para un experimento sobre la predicción del futuro, basado en la teoría matemática conocida como el demonio de Laplace. Desde que inicia el tratamiento, Caine tiene visiones alucinatorias, que podrían ser tanto un signo de su recién adquirida habilidad predictiva como síntomas de episodios psicóticos, efecto secundario de la medicación. Para escapar del enloquecido científico, Caine contará con la ayuda de su hermano gemelo, Jasper, y de la arisca agente de la CIA Nava Vaner. Los tres se verán envueltos en una trama de múltiples ramificaciones, y será la capacidad de Caine para ver el futuro lo que les permitirá resolver la compleja situación.
A brilliant insight into the world of gambling, spying, philosophy, probability and physics (especially Quantum Mechanics)...and then comes Laplace's demon...
I cannot finish this crap. This book does have an interesting premise. But it is a just collection of scientific trivia with a side serving of crappy writing. Zero stars. ( )
Identical twins. Buff blonde Russian double agent. Nerdly geeks. North Koreans, KGB, NSA, CIA. Corruptible civil servants. Mob run card games. Scientists mad with ambition. Bodies vaulting from sixth floor labs. Remotely exploded cars. Surveillance vans with FedEx logos. Suitcases full of cash. Kidnappings and chase scenes. Migraines, brain spasms, preternatural prediction. Its all there. Its all pretty well written, so you could suspend your disbelief and ride the story. I did for a while, then it got corny, with not enough snappy humor to keep me in the game. So, I folded. Not a slam on the author who constructed a pretty good book. I was just in the mood for either more subtlety, or sex, or silliness. ( )
Ein Roman ist kein Sachbuch, er ist immer Lüge. Nun gibt es gute (gelungene) und schlechte Lügen, und (viel wichtiger) es gibt sehr viele großartige Geschichten, denen schlechte Lügen überhaupt nicht schaden, doch leider gehört Fawers Roman Null nicht dazu. Der Autor hat sich entschieden, seine Geschichte pseudowissenschaftlich zu unterfüttern, was ihm aber nicht überzeugend gelingt. "Heisenberg kannst du komplett vergessen ..." schreibt er und tut es dann auch sofort selbst. Die Statistik-Einschübe sind allerdings gelungen, sie gehören zu den interessantesten Stellen des Buches. Davon hätte es mehr geben dürfen. Der Geschichte liegt keine schlechte Idee zu Grunde und es sind interessante Ansätze vorhanden, die dann aber schnell verflachen. Bald wimmelt es von allzu klischeehaften Charakteren. Unangenehm ist die unnötige Brutalität, besonders zum Ende des Romans. Schade, es wäre mehr möglich gewesen. ( )
A brilliant new talent bursts on to the thriller scene with a dazzling work of spellbinding fiction, a riveting story of chance, fate, and numbers, and one man's strange journey past the boundaries of the possible into the chilling realm of the ...Improbable After nightfall, David Caine inhabits a world of risk, obsession, rich rewards, and sudden, destructive downfalls. A compulsive gambler possessing a brilliant mathematical mind -- and an uncanny ability to calculate odds in the blink of an eye -- he prowls the underground poker clubs of Manhattan, winning more than he loses. But Caine is a man prone to crippling epileptic incidents -- and one night he makes a costly miscalculation, suffering the most intense seizure he has ever experienced. And his life spins madly out of control. Desperate to regain his equilibrium, he agrees to test an experimental drug with unnerving side effects. Suddenly he is having visions of the past, present, and future; either peering through a window into an alternate reality or teetering on the precipice of a psychotic breakdown. Chemistry and destiny have colluded to grant David Caine the astonishing ability to foresee the consequences of his actions and the probability of various outcomes, both good andterrible. But with his "gift" comes grave danger, for he is not the only one who knows his secret. Frightening powers operating from the shadows now want him for their own, forcing Caine to seek help from a most improbable ally -- a beautiful rogue CIA agent skilled in the death arts -- on a desperate race for survival with his sanity hanging by the slenderest of threads. A riveting amalgam of explosive action, ingenious twists and turns, dynamic characters, breathtaking writing, and brilliant extrapolation, Adam Fawer's extraordinary debut, Improbable, is the novel of the year.
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A fin de librarse de su enfermedad y recuperar el control de su vida, Caine decide arriesgarse con un medicamento en pruebas, administrada por un misterioso doctor de oscuras intenciones que le utiliza para un experimento sobre la predicción del futuro, basado en la teoría matemática conocida como el demonio de Laplace. Desde que inicia el tratamiento, Caine tiene visiones alucinatorias, que podrían ser tanto un signo de su recién adquirida habilidad predictiva como síntomas de episodios psicóticos, efecto secundario de la medicación.
Para escapar del enloquecido científico, Caine contará con la ayuda de su hermano gemelo, Jasper, y de la arisca agente de la CIA Nava Vaner. Los tres se verán envueltos en una trama de múltiples ramificaciones, y será la capacidad de Caine para ver el futuro lo que les permitirá resolver la compleja situación.