Code Name: MK-ULTRA

Book excerpt: PHYSICALLY SCARRED AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY CRIPPLED, Zeb Marlowe is the survivor of an illicit, top secret CIA mind control experiment. Marlowe has begun to remake his life when Jai Jai Leland, the beautiful widow of a man who didn't survive, asks him to help her solve the mystery of her husband's shocking murder. Marlowe, struggling to resist his attraction to Jai Jai, is pulled into her dangerous quest. Together they search for rogue psychiatrist, Dr. Victor Ressid, creator of the diabolical experiments that ravaged Marlowe’s mind and turned ordinary, decent people into terrorists. Meanwhile, stripped of his medical credentials and in thrall to perverse erotic desires, Ressid is consumed by fantasies of revenge against Marlowe, the only subject to defy him. Against an ominous background of escalating global terrorism, Marlowe and Jai Jai must risk their lives to stop a nuclear threat even as they wonder if Marlowe, too, has been turned into a suicide bomber. International in scope, Brainwashed takes place on the beautiful islands of the Caribbean, in Washington, DC, and in an underground torture chamber located on Victor Ressid's secluded private estate located near the Mexico-Belize border. “Powerful! Brilliant! Slick and sexy! Written by pros who know how to tell a story.” —Publisher's Weekly Brainwashed is based on real-life psychiatric experiments known by the code name MK-ULTRA and conducted by the CIA in the 1950's and 1960's. MKUltra involved the use of various methodologies to manipulate mental states and alter brain function, including the surreptitious administration of drugs (including LSD) and other chemicals, hypnosis, sensory deprivation, isolation, verbal and sexual abuse, as well as various forms of torture. Although the CIA insists that MKUltra-type experiments have been abandoned, some CIA observers say there is little reason to believe it does not continue today under a different set of acronyms. (This information is quoted from Wikipedia.) Prosopagnosia: As a consequence of volunteering to take part in the MK-ULTRA experiments, Zeb Marlowe suffers from a neurological disorder that causes face blindness called prosopagnosia. Prosopagnosia is a cognitive disorder in which the ability to recognize faces is impaired, while other aspects of visual processing (e.g., object discrimination) and intellectual functioning (e.g., decision making) remain intact. According to the Prosopagnosia Research Center at Harvard and University College London, "Prosopagnosics often have difficulty recognizing family members, close friends, and even themselves. They often use alternative routes to recognition, but these routes are not as effective as recognition via the face." Oliver Sacks, a professor of neurology at the N.Y.U. School of Medicine and the author of "Awakenings," writes about the current science and his own experiences and strategies in living with prosopagnosia at newyorker.com/magazine/2010/08/30/face-blind?intcid=mod-most-popular Leslie Stahl reported on prosopagnosia on 60 Minutes. cbsnews.com/news/face-blindness-when-everyone-is-a-stranger-20-03-2012/ Prosopagnosia is also referred to as "face blindness." You will find more information about this condition at faceblind.org at faceblind.org/research/index.html “Thrills, gut-churning suspense, nightmarish terror. I dare you to put it down.” —Bob Mayer, bestselling author Also by NYT bestselling authors Ruth and Michael Harris: HOOKED. A brilliant and charismatic Doctor Feelgood hooks his rich and famous clients. “Truly one of the best books I’ve ever read! I simply could not put it down! If I could give it 10-Stars, I would! It’s that good!!!” https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Ruth_Harris_Hooked_A_Thriller?id=Iu3-AgAAQBAJ keywords: thriller, political thriller, CIA thriller, psychological thriller, historical thriller, medical thriller, international thriller, psychology, suicide bomber, terrorism, terrorist, CIA thriller, brainwashing, torture, woman sleuth, mind control