By Allison Mudge

Gary Goshgarian calls his last four books “cautionary tales;” novels in which the efforts of seemingly well-intentioned characters usually backfire. But through these “Frankenstein-like” tales, the English professor has carved a niche for himself under the pen name Gary Braver.

He must remain genre-consistent in his writings, and his publisher wanted him to write biomedical thrillers, he said. It is in this category that Braver has found his voice. Following on the heels of two previously well-received novels, Elixir, about a drug which can prolong life, and Gray Matter, about surgery to make learning-impaired children smarter, is his latest endeavor, Flashback. The work tells the story of a cure for Alzheimer’s disease.

The most emotional aspect of life for older generations is nostalgia, Braver said. What if there were a drug that helped Alzheimer’s patients’ memories return? What if the drug worked too well?

“Alzheimer’s in an ever-aging America and world is a scourge,” said Braver, whose favorite aunt suffered from the disease. “I imagined how wonderful/horrible it would be if these patients were stuck in a closed loop of childhood trauma.”

The idea for using the toxins of jellyfish in the Memorine drug came from a paper stating the neurotoxins in the saliva of Gila monsters were found to be somewhat effective in the treatment of dementia. Since Gila monsters are hard to come by in Greater Boston, where the book takes place, Braver elected to use jellyfish.

Flashback took 18 months to complete, thanks to extensive research on the pharmaceutical industry, Braver said.

“There is so much competition in the pharmaceutical industry,” he said. Recent controversy surrounding drugs like Phen-Fen and Vioxx has only added to the problem of “rushing alleged miracle drugs to market.”

Braver addresses this problem in Flashback, where a greedy pharmaceutical CEO pushes for the quick release of Memorine in spite of some alarming side effects.

Braver said he has spent a lot of time in nursing homes over the years. Alzheimer’s patients “die a double death,” he said, referring to a death of the mind and then the body. He also spent time with members of the medical community, familiarizing himself with their language.

Flashback centers around two characters, Jack Koryan and Ren