Floyd Merrell Releases 'Untangling Future Memories'

After his retirement as a professor of Latin American Studies, Floyd Merrell wanted to write fictional stories. His readings of diverse mental problems and multi-ethnicity conflicts influenced him to write "Untangling Future Memories" (published by Xlibris), a sci-fi story set in 2032.

The book tells the story of Jack, a young adult who lost his short-term memory because of an accident at age 13. Cody Jaeckel, director of the Ultragenetic Institute, devises a grand design for uploading Jack's mind and downloading it to a host of citizens for work in factories, corporations, services, hospitals, schools and homes. Jaeckel believes the recipients of Jack's mind will prove supremely qualified for relatively simple, repetitive labor, thus providing an income for citizens who lost their jobs because of downsizing, cheap labor abroad and robots.

Jack, however, undergoes a self-healing process that puts a strain on Dr. Jaeckel's project. Complexities arise, ambiguities and paradoxical issues abound, leaving Dr. Jaeckel, Jack, and the institute's investors in a bind, which leads to a bizarre turn of events.

"This book bears on possibly devastating research in Artificial Intelligence and genetics occurring over 10 years into the future," Merrell says. "I want to take the awareness regarding mental challenges and their possible ramifications in the near future."

An excerpt from the book reads:

"My dad called himself Anglo. My mom is of complex mestizo inheritance . . . I'm mongrel, like her. Mestizo in a slightly more variegated form. You see? . . . Well, maybe you don't . . . In fact I'm sure you don't."

"Untangling Future Memories"
By Floyd Merrell
Hardcover | 6 x 9in | 362 pages | ISBN 9781543446081
Softcover | 6 x 9in | 362 pages | ISBN 9781543446074
E-Book | 362 pages | ISBN 9781543446067
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author
Floyd Merrell is a retired professor of Latin American Studies from Purdue University. He was fortunate enough to write 32 professional books and over 200 articles. His fictional works include "Finding Himself" (coming of age), "Looking Glass Killer" (a psychopathic mind), "The Dilemma" (perplexing ethnic interrelations) and "Enigmas" (searching for gold in the Sierra Madre of Mexico, space-time warps and strange aliens). Each novel bears a new theme, from personal self-consciousness becoming, to puzzling psycho-socio-cultural conundrums, to ethnic identity puzzles and paradoxes, to scientific facts and fictions. He now resides with his wife, Araceli, in Las Cruces.

Xlibris Publishing, an Author Solutions, LLC imprint, is a self-publishing services provider created in 1997 by authors, for authors. By focusing on the needs of creative writers and artists and adopting the latest print-on-demand publishing technology and strategies, we provide expert publishing services with direct and personal access to quality publication in hardcover, trade paperback, custom leather-bound and full-color formats. To date, Xlibris has helped to publish more than 60,000 titles. For more information, visit xlibris.com or call 1-888-795-4274 to receive a free publishing guide. Follow us @XlibrisPub on Twitter for the latest news.

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