Improbable: A Novel [Mass Market Paperback]

Adam Fawer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 31, 2006

From a brilliant new talent comes a riveting novel of chance, fate, and numbers, and one man's strange journey past the boundaries of the possible.

David Caine inhabits a world of obsession, rich rewards, and rapid, destructive downfalls. A compulsive gambler and brilliant mathematician prone to crippling epileptic seizures, he possesses the uncanny ability to calculate odds of any hand in the blink of an eye. But one night at an underground poker club, Caine makes a costly mi scalculation, sending his life spinning out of control. Desperate, he agrees to test an experimental drug with unnerving side effects: inexplicable visions of the past, present, and future. Unsure whether he's perceiving an alternate reality or suffering a psychotic breakdown, Caine embarks on a journey that stretches beyond the possible into the world of the improbable. Gradually, he discovers the extent of his astonishing new ability -- but powerful, shadowy forces know Caine's secret. Now Caine must fight for his survival -- and his sanity . . .

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

As Sherlock Holmes once said, "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." Or as fourth-year Columbia statistics Ph.D. student David Caine tells his class in this science-driven, action-packed thriller, "[W]hen the chances of being wrong are minuscule, you have probably discovered the truth." Caine, a compulsive gambler, has just seen his sure-thing poker hand go bad, leaving him deep in debt to a Russian gangster. He can't skip town because he's started an experimental treatment for his temporal lobe epilepsy—a treatment that allows him to tap into the collective unconscious, a parallel universe known as the everywhen, where innumerable futures exist for him to choose from. Needless to say, this makes Caine a valuable commodity, and he's soon on the run from a number of government agencies, none having his best interests at heart. His schizophrenic twin brother, Jasper, aids him in his flight, as does tough female rogue CIA agent Nava Vaner. It's difficult to keep the competing bad guys straight, and discussions of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, Einstein's theory of relativity, Schrödinger's cat, Laplace's demon and probability theory tend to slow things down. But the success of The Rule of Four and The Da Vinci Code have shown that plenty of readers enjoy their science, as long as there's a compelling plot encircling it, which there is here.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

David Caine is not only a compulsive (and unlucky) gambler who owes a Russian mobster big bucks but he also suffers from violent epileptic seizures. In a desperate attempt to salvage what's left of his life, he agrees to be a guinea pig for an experimental drug. The medicine acts quickly to control his seizures, but it does have one frightening side effect: the ability to see the future. Thinking he has gone mad and being stalked by avaricious government scientists eager to use his power for their own gain, Caine goes on the lam. Teaming up with his schizophrenic twin brother and a rogue female CIA agent with secrets of her own, he must learn to use his new ability to survive against the powerful forces aligned against him. Although this brisk read is full of seat-of-the-pants and keep-you-guessing action, it occasionally gets bogged down in dry scientific explanations of probability theory and quantum mechanics (which can always be skipped over).This freshman offering from Fawer is highly recommended for both adventure and sf readers. Michael Gannon
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: HarperTorch (January 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006073678X
• ISBN-13: 978-0060736781
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #674,155 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #68 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Disorders & Diseases > Epilepsy

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Improbable Success, November 23, 2004

By 

Brian Sawyer (Westford, MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Improbable: A Novel (Hardcover)

I just finished reading an advance proof of this debut novel by Adam Fawer, which his publishers are describing as "brilliantly accessible prose [that] weaves an action-packed, fast-paced plot with dynamic characters and straightforward explanations of historical and modern theories of mathematics, probability, quantum physics and psychology."

Based on this description, my interest and hopes were piqued, but I actually believed that the likelihood that the book would fulfill that ambitious promise was best described by the book's title. I was pleasantly surprised to find that, like the book's protagonist, this book beat the odds and lived up to its billing.

It's difficult to provide adequate exposition on such complex topics as quantum physics, probability theory, and Jungian collective unconscious, while still keeping the narrative flowing, interesting, and convincing. Like The Da Vinci Code, the sensation of a bestseller to which Improbable's publishers are appropriately likening this book, the book relies on the presentation of these ideas as much more than mere dressing. (Disclaimer, in case one is needed: I'm one of the millions of readers who enjoyed The Da Vinci Code.) Always a challenge for such "thinking thrillers," it's easy for an author to get sucked into scenes that read more like lectures than fiction. To this book's credit, much of the theory is actually presented as lecture, in the form of a college classroom, but not all of it can fit into that neat framework, and even the classroom bits can seem a little forced at times.

That said, the book is a lot of fun, and the smart use of probability theory to support the plot is one of the most satisfying aspects of the book, adding a great deal of thought to what would otherwise be a more standard action novel, which, though indeed fast-paced and exciting, was not what attracted me to the book in the first place. I found the sexy rogue CIA agent, explosions, and bullet-dodging less attractive than the brains of the book. Fawer clearly did his homework when he studied statistics in college, and the only thing that keeps me from thinking it's a shame that he's not teaching somewhere is the fact that he is instead using his talents and knowledge to write a book like this.

The end of the book was a little too tidy for my tastes. If wrapping up the various elements of the book into a single system is necessary or desirable for this book (I don't necessarily think it is), I'd expect it to be a little messier around the edges. Still, the fact that Fawer does pull it all together, and in a way that does work, is a testament to the ambition and talents of this author. I put the few criticisms I have for the book (and they're largely quibbles) down to the work of a debut novelist. I look forward to reading Fawer's next book and recommend this one highly.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A BEAUTIFUL MIND MEETS KILL BILL!!!, November 28, 2004

By 

G. S. Foster "gsf9182" (Marvelous Marin) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Improbable: A Novel (Hardcover)

When I started reading IMPROBABLE, I had no idea where it was going or whether or not I would even continue reading as it definitely was not my type of book.....or so I thought. Adam Fawer has created such amazing characters that suddenly became very real to me, maybe because of their faults....maybe because they 'spoke' out to me....maybe because of the talented writing....whatever the reason I found that I became so involved in their lives that could not stop reading. Page after page, like an onion with its layers, the plot started to reveal itself to me......or did it? David Caine's life wasn't the only one spinning out of control....mine was too since all else fell by the wayside as I kept reading ...and finally I forced myself to slow down, savor each and every word until the very end....and WOW!!!! what an ending!!! This phenomenal writer actuallly knew how to end this exceedingly complex book....!!!! So many times you'll be reading a really terrific book, you get to the end and it just folds flat....right????? Welll this one didn't at allll.....!!!! I wanted to go back to the beginning and read it all over again and that rarely ever happens with me!!!! What a completely totally original novel....what a fantabulous debut!!! I am so glad to hear that the publishers are going all out on the marketing thereby giving Adam Fawer the respect that he so richly deserves. Thanks for many hours of pure reading pleasure!!! Now hurry up with the next brilliant novel!!!

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thinking Person's Thriller, February 2, 2005

By 

owen west (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Improbable: A Novel (Hardcover)

This is a superior debut. A wild ride, part-introspective, part-action, and never dumbed down. Pace is agressive without being cheesy or lazy. Nice dialogue. A great read...it's a thriller, and a smart one. Fresh perspective from someone who has some real talent.