with Allen Wyler
We are delighted to welcome author Allen Wyler to Omnimystery News.
Allen's new suspense thriller with a techno edge is Deadly Odds (Astor + Blue Editions; September 2014 trade paperback and ebook formats), and in his guest post for us today he discusses the inspiration behind it.
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Photo provided courtesy of
Allen Wyler
I've been asked where the idea for Deadly Odds came from. Interesting question. Years ago when toying with the idea of writing my first a novel, I floundered around for a topic. I really wanted to break away from issues of medicine because I was dealing with that subject intently every day. Also, I wanted the book to be a thriller. Hence, the protagonist had to be in grave danger. About that time, the first "neural networks" — a form of computer artificial intelligence — became available for the PC. Making just about anyone who could afford the software, able to play with it. This looked fruitful. What if a geek was able to develop a neural network that could pick stock market winners? Cool, huh? And if he were good enough, people would begin to ask how he does it. The story had good possibilities but the writing sucked and I was never able to successfully shop it around. But the kernel of the story festered in the back of my mind.
Years later Michael Lewis published the book, Moneyball, (subsequently made into the Brad Pitt movie of the same name), the story of the Oakland A's manager who put together a winning team by selecting players solely on rigorous statistical analysis. My interest in the topic again perked up. But at the time, my writing niche was medical thrillers.
Then Nat Silver appeared on the scene when he accurately predicted the November 2008 presidential election — he correctly predicted the winner of 49 of the 50 states. The only state he missed was Indiana, which went for Barack Obama by one percentage point. He correctly predicted the winner of all 35 U.S. Senate races that year.
This phenomenon was now too much to ignore. I just had to use it in a plot. What if a geek were able to develop a similar, but better, system that could be used to predict just about any outcome for which there were data. How cool would that be? And how dangerous for person who had control of it?
So there you have it. Deadly Odds was a fun, enjoyable write. I hope you'll find it equally fun to read.
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Wyler's love of thrillers began in 1974 on his way to Cincinnati to take the oral boards in neurosurgery. At SeaTac airport he picked up a copy of William Goldman's Marathon Man to read on the flight. He became so engrossed he stayed up all night to finish it before stoking up on coffee and meeting with the examiners. In 2002 he left active practice to become Medical Director for a start-up medical technology company. At the end of 2007 he retired to devote full time to writing.
For more information about the author, please visit his website at AllenWyler.com and his author page on Goodreads, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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Deadly Odds
Allen Wyler
A Suspense Thriller
Twenty-three-year-old Arnold Gold is a Seattle-based odds-maker and local computer genius. Described as a "part-time hacker and full-time virgin" by his friends, the awkward young shut-in flies to Vegas to try and get lucky—in more ways than one.
But his high-stakes activity on the Net inadvertently thrusts him into a vortex of international terrorism. His dark net hacking has resulted in murder, and now it will take every last bit of Arnold's genius intellect and legendary hacking skill to stay one step ahead of the murderous terrorists, the FBI, the local cops, and his lawyer. Gold's only chance to save himself is to find the location of a bomb hidden somewhere in Vegas, and somehow prevent the explosion that will turn Sin City into the scene of the deadliest terror attacks since 9/11.
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