The Brill Pill: A Novel

by Akemi C. Brodsky

Overview

In the not-so-distant future, organs can be re-grown from a handful of stem cells.

For patients who can afford the treatment and hang on to life support for long enough, the prognosis is good. Even the most complex organ of all can be reproduced in the lab with nearly perfect accuracy. Nearly.

Patients of brain regeneration face a wide range of problems, from loss of motor functions or intelligence to sociopathy. Spurred by personal tragedy, research scientist William Dalal works feverishly to improve the lives of those he has had a hand in saving. For every success, however, there is a consequence, and eventually a question arises in his mind: Are they worth it? His desire to help fades as he comes to realize a shocking truth: the monsters he has created are taking over.

As Will walks a fine line between altruism and ambition, acquaintances and events change the way in which he perceives the world and the extent to which he is willing to compromise in order to make his mark on it. As the situation escalates, he finds himself dealing brain-enhancing drugs and developing life-altering treatments. In their deliverance, he sees his own—but is he deluding himself?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781647425234
Publisher:	She Writes Press
Publication date:	08/15/2023
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Growing up in the Bay Area, Akemi C. Brodsky always loved unassigned reading and making creative and unnecessarily complicated school projects. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Brown Universitywith a bachelor of science, then moved to the UK to do a master’s in engineering at Imperial College London. She currently lives in the Bay Area and spends most of her spare time traveling, cooking, seeing family and friends, and watching TV.

Editorial Reviews

A novel of sparkling intelligence and wit, in the end it brings home searching ethical questions, about what it means to be human, and what it means to be real.”
—Louis B. Jones

“The Brill Pill is a lively and thought-provoking novel from a highly promising young writer. In scientist anti-hero Will, Akemi Brodsky has created a Victor Frankenstein for our time—an ambitious academic who lets personal rivalries deflect his moral compass, making him push the boundaries of genetics too far.”
—Andrew Crumey, author of Beethoven's Assassins and Pfitz

“Brodsky transports us into a strange new world of regenerative science that is uncomfortably close to our own. Dark, intense, and compelling, this fully immersive lab-based tale—told through the eyes of a flawed but all-too-human scientist—probes at deep questions of medical ethics, society, love, friendship, consciousness, and the all-consuming landscape of modern scientific research.”
—Jennifer L. Rohn, author of Cat Zero, The Honest Look, and Experimental Heart and editor of LabLit.com

“Smart and engaging, The Brill Pill caught my attention from its very beginning and never let up. Complex scientific and ethical concepts are conveyed with wit and confidence, and this near-future morality play is made all too believable. I’m looking forward to reading more from Akemi Brodsky!”
—Pippa Goldschmidt, author of The Falling Sky

“Provocative and unnerving, The Brill Pill is a whip-smart, propulsive, too-close-for-comfort exploration of what happens when scientific curiosity, moral limits, and personal ambition collide. An intoxicating thrill of a read from a dazzling new voice.”
—Catherine Chung, author of The Tenth Muse and Forgotten Country

From the Publisher

2023-06-20
In Brodsky’s debut SF novel, a medical researcher grapples with the implications of a miracle drug.

As Will Dalal worked his way through school, the world was rocked by radical developments in medical technology—specifically, the ability to clone entire organs from small tissue samples: “Immortality had never looked so achievable, so tangible, so close. But as always, there was a catch. Though almost all human organs could be replicated with enough precision to replace the God-given ones, the brain often turned out just slightly awry.” Now Will is a postdoctoral fellow in the Genner Lab, where he’s researching medication to help “victims of brain regeneration” whose new brains didn’t come out quite right. The work gives Will purpose in a life otherwise hampered by feelings of romantic frustration and loneliness. Can the medicine that Will is developing—the eponymous Brill pill—really make a positive difference in the lives of the “zombies,” as he likes to think of them? As figures from his past reappear, Will begins to suspect that his efforts could be making the crisis even worse. The author’s prose is cutting and psychological; she briskly captures the evolving relationship between Will and Margot, a librarian who volunteers with the zombies: “They spent a lot of time together without noticing it. That is, Will did not notice it. Margot did. Her life had changed significantly over the past three years, just a little bit at a time, but she was aware of it, and she had let it happen.” Though the book’s premise might suggest a thriller plot, the story unfolds slowly. Brodsky is most interested in the moral implications of Will’s work and its effects on him and those around him. It’s a deliberative exploration of the murky relationship between medical and technological ethics, one that feels especially timely.

A thoughtful, compelling rumination on the human cost of medical advancement.

Kirkus Reviews