Achilles Project

Paralyzed in all four limbs after a hit-and-run driver struck him, Michael Wolfe is approached by Gunther Krieger, who wants him to build a brain-computer link based on nanotechnology. The device would communicate directly with the core neurons that govern movement in the body. Krieger assembles a team of specialists in growing nanotubes, including Dr. Ilsa Franken, a young Danish scientist skilled in both nanotechnology and biomedical techniques.

As Michael and Ilsa develop a method for regrowing severed spinal nerves, their relationship becomes romantic. Michael volunteers to be the first patient to undergo the procedure, which uses nanotubes as a scaffold to regenerate his own severed nerves. While he recovers in a BSL-4 security laboratory, the two uncover Krieger's secret scheme to sell body parts taken from victims of a classified Army program known as the "Achilles Project." After they testify at a pretrial hearing, Krieger tries to silence them, first by sending his henchmen to beat them and then by kidnapping Ilsa. Michael heads straight into Krieger's trap, but he must find a way to save her.

Dr. Thomas Wolfram holds a Ph.D. in physics and has worked in both industry and academia. He served as director of the physics and chemistry division at Rockwell's Science Center and later chaired the physics and astronomy department at the University of Missouri. He then returned to industry as director of physical technology at Amoco, after which he spun off a company that makes laser-optical communication products. Wolfram has written three scientific books, published by Cambridge University Press and Springer-Verlag, and has also written two earlier novels, The Venture and The Dragon Tamers.