What is Douglas E. Richards reading?

The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Douglas E. Richards, author of The Cure.

His entry begins:

Alas, lately I’ve been so busy I don’t have much time to read fiction—but I do make time to read non-fiction. I write present-day thrillers with science fictional elements, in the tradition of Michael Crichton, so that along with being fast-paced, action-packed, and having the twists and turns associated with the thriller genre, my novels include accurate science at their cores. In addition, I like to include plenty of food for thought: philosophy, ethical and moral dilemmas, the essence of human nature and human behavior, and the like. So to prepare for future novels, I try to cram as much interesting stuff into my brain as I possibly can, never knowing which bit will prove to be a fascinating addition to what I’m writing.

Right now I’m reading The Curse of The Self by Mark Leary, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. Why? Well, I just completed his course (from The Great Courses), Understanding the Mysteries of Human Behavior. The course is on video and audio, but I preferred to just read the lectures in book form. Wow! One of the most...[read on]

About The Cure, from the publisher:

Psychopaths cause untold misery. If you found the cure for this condition, just how far would you go to use it?

Erin Palmer had a devastating encounter with a psychopath as a child. Now a grad student and scientist, she’s devoting her life to studying these monsters. When her research catches the attention of Hugh Raborn, a brilliant neuroscientist who claims to have isolated the genes responsible for psychopathic behavior, Erin realizes it may be possible to reverse the condition, restoring souls to psychopaths. But to do so, she’ll not only have to operate outside the law, but violate her most cherished ethical principles.

As Erin becomes further involved with Raborn, she begins to suspect that he harbors dark secrets. Is he working for the good of society? Or is he intent on bringing humanity to its knees?

Hunted by powerful, shadowy forces, Erin teams up with another mysterious man, Kyle Hansen, to uncover the truth. The pair find themselves pawns in a global conspiracy—one capable of destroying everything Erin holds dear and forever altering the course of human history...

American society in the early twenty-first century seems to be experiencing a growing epidemic of psychopathic monsters. Douglas E Richards’s The Cure explores this condition, and the surprisingly thorny ethical and moral dilemmas surrounding it, within an explosive, thought-provoking, roller-coaster-ride of a thriller that will have readers turning pages deep into the night.

Learn more about the book and author at Douglas E. Richards’s website.

My Book, The Movie: The Cure.

Writers Read: Douglas E. Richards.

--Marshal Zeringue