EXCERPT: Dissolution by Nicholas Binge
Dissolution is the latest novel by bestselling Ascension author Nicholas Binge and it is also one of the 2025 releases that the GdM team are most excited about. Dissolution is out today from Penguin Random House and we are absolutely stoked to bring you an excerpt from this sci-fi techno thriller to celebrate its release.
Binge will have you travelling through time and memory with Maggie as she battles to save her husband from whoever has been stealing Stanley’s memories. If she does what she is told they can go back to their normal life, but Maggie might be risking more than just the memory of their lives together. The very course of human history hangs in the balance.
Read our excerpt from Nicholas Binge’s Dissolution below:
TRANSCRIPT NO. 273 : Margaret Webb
DATE STAMP: 11 AUG. 2021
11 Hours, 0 Minutes, and 0 Seconds Until Dissolution
You’ve got eleven hours until reset. You need to tell me exactly what happened.
Where am I?
We’ve been over this, Maggie. It’s not important. The only thing that’s important is that you focus on me.
What do you mean “it’s not important”? I don’t know where I am. I don’t know who you are. How can that possibly not be important?
I’m Hassan. Do you remember me?
No . . . I mean, yes. I think. The name rings a bell.
Take a second. Breathe. You’re in a daze.
Have we . . . ? We’ve met before, haven’t we?
We have.
Where is Stanley? Is he okay?
That is precisely what we are trying to find out.
What do you mean? Oh God, has something happened to him? Is he safe?
Calm down. We don’t have time. I need you to focus—to remember what’s going on. Let’s start by focusing on the present. Tell me about your surroundings. Talking it through will help. Tell me where we are.
We’re in a . . . Is this an empty swimming pool?
Of sorts. Describe it to me.
What the hell is going on?
You’re disoriented. Your brain is recovering from the shift. Describe to me what’s going on around you—the small details. What do you see? What does it sound like? What time of day is it?
I’m . . . we’re inside. Is that right? The light is artificial, and there are no windows, like we’re underground. The pool is empty—totally drained— and I’m starting to question if it’s even a pool. It’s too blank, too clinical. More like a giant bath basin.
Where are we, the two of us?
Surely you can see it as well as I can. Oh God, the sunglasses. Are you blind?
I’m not blind. We’re just establishing a cognitive baseline. Think of this like a sobriety test; I need to check you’re properly focused, like counting how many fingers are on my hand.
Okay. Well, we’re set up at this desk right in the middle of the basin. You and me, and no one else, facing each other. It’s deserted. My arm is hooked up to an IV. Why? Am I sick?
What can you hear?
Right now? The only sound is our voices echoing through the room.
Good. That’s very good, Maggie. More. What’s on the table?
There’s . . . a small cylindrical container, like a pill bottle, as well as a glass of water. There’s a pen and paper and a recording device, as if I’m in some kind of interrogation room. But I’m not. I’m in a pool. Why am I in a pool? Why am I hooked up to whatever is in that IV bag?
The why is not important. You don’t need to worry about that right now.
Oh really? Well, young man, what do I need to worry about?
We need to know exactly what happened that led you here. It’s absolutely crucial, for all of us, that we know this. You need to tell me, in as much detail as you can, about the first time you saw me.
I can’t . . . remember. I can’t remember anything. What are you doing with that container?
This pill will help jog your memory.
I’ve not taken pills from strangers in a good few decades.
If you don’t start remembering soon, we will run out of time, and this will all be for nothing. The pill is not dangerous, I promise. It will just help clear the fog in your brain. Please. It’s very important that we understand what took place. We don’t have much time. We have to find Stanley.
Okay, okay. Fine. Keep your socks on. Jesus. If I weren’t eighty‑three, I’d think you were up to something.
Urgh, that’s awful. I can feel that right in my throat. It stings. What the hell was that? And, at the risk of repeating myself, what the hell is going on?
Stanley isn’t safe. None of us are safe. Something happened, and I need your help to find out exactly what. Think back: When was the first time you saw me?
What?
We have to go from the beginning. We have to see every moment. It’s the only way we can know for sure. Close your eyes. Let your memories come back. Go to the first time you see me.
Okay, I’ll try, but I don’t know what you expect is going to . . . Wait. What on earth?
What is it?
I can see it. It’s as though . . . This is strange—this isn’t like a normal memory at all. I can see the whole room in front of me. It’s like I’m there.
That’s the pill starting to work. It’s a memory enhancer.
This is more than just an enhancer. I can hear the kettle boiling. I can taste the dryness on my tongue from the glass of wine I had last night. I’m not remembering, Hassan. I’m there.
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