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| Vol. 25, No. 8 |
| May 1, 2003 |
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From Scientist to Super Spy By DENNY ANGELLE The Methodist Hospital Dick Swept, M.D., is James Bond in scrubs, a spy with a medical degree instead of a license to kill. Dick Swept, M.D., is also the creation of David Rosenfield, M.D., a neurologist at The Methodist Hospital and a professor of neurology at Baylor College of Medicine. His novel of espionage and medical mystery, titled “Dick Swept, M.D.: Tomorrow, the World” has just been published. “Years ago, I enjoyed reading the James Bond novels written by Ian Fleming and always wondered if I could write a spy-thriller,” says Rosenfield. A story idea involving a neurologist at a large medical center who becomes involved with international intrigue slowly germinated, and Rosenfield contacted book publishers with the concept. “While we were in the talking stage, the Soviet Union fell apart and made some of the plot outdated,” he says. “Mikhail Gorbachev nearly ruined David Rosenfield’s literary career.” But the budding author found a way to keep his story up to date (KGB operatives became ex-agents of the dismantled Soviet spy agency) and his first novel was published in March. Dr. Swept is a neurologist at the Texas College of Medicine, located in the sprawling Houston Medical Complex. Working on a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, Swept investigates a drug that alters how the brain processes memory. Unknown to Swept, the aforementioned cabal of ex-KGB agents, along with assorted Russian scientists and a Chechen spy, have obtained a similar chemical. Their plan is to use it to obtain world domination. “As a result, Swept becomes involved with a series of events that take place around the world,” Rosenfield says. “He goes from being a clinician/scientist to a super spy.” How close is Dick Swept, M.D., to David Rosenfield, M.D.? “Swept is a neurologist working on Alzheimer’s disease at a major teaching institution in a large medical center. He has troubles with his chairman and is trying to sort out his love life,” Rosenfield says. Rosenfield is also a neurologist and researcher, as well as director of the Speech and Language Center at Methodist and Baylor, and has published many scientific articles. He is a former major in the U.S. Army and was assigned to Special Forces. “It’s not as though real people are in this book masquerading as characters,” he explains. “It’s all make-believe – I was talking to a nurse who asked what the book is about,” he says. “I told her, ‘It’s about a neurologist who saves the world.’ And she replied, ‘So it’s fiction.’” “Dick Swept, M.D.: Tomorrow the World” is published by Xlibris and is available at retail book stores, as well as at Randall’s, HEB and Kroger supermarkets, Walgreens drugstores and many airport gift shops. The book can also be ordered online at http://www.amazon.com or http://www.xlibris.com/bookstore. A limited number of copies are also available at The Methodist Hospital Gift Shop in Dunn Tower.
©2006 Texas Medical Center E-Mail: tmcinfo@texmedctr.tmc.edu URL: http://www.tmc.edu/tmcnews/05_01_03/page_07.html |