The Nexus Trilogy

The Nexus Trilogy is a series of postcyberpunk thriller novels by American writer Ramez Naam, released from 2012 to 2015. The story is set in 2040 and centers on Kaden Lane, a scientist working on an illegal nano-drug called Nexus. This drug can program and network the brain, linking human minds together. As Kaden pursues his research, he gets caught up in a web of government and corporate scheming.

The first book, *Nexus* (2012), was a co-winner of the 2014 Prometheus Award for Best Novel and was shortlisted for the 2014 Arthur C. Clarke Award. Its sequel, *Crux*, came out in 2013. The final volume, *Apex* (2014), won the 2015 Philip K. Dick Award. In 2013, Paramount purchased the film rights to *Nexus*.

In *Nexus*, Samantha Cataranes, an agent for the U.S. government’s Emerging Risks Directorate, goes undercover to find Kaden at a party where he is testing Nexus 5. She talks with him and agrees to join a study, where she meets his friends Rangan Shankari, Ilya Alexander, and Watson Cole. After taking the drug and linking minds, the group discovers Sam’s identity, and Kaden uses Nexus to knock her out. She later threatens them with prison but offers a pardon if Kaden helps on a mission to spy on Chinese neuroscientist Su-Yong Shu, who is tied to murder and brain control. Kaden agrees, hands over Nexus 5, and the group installs a backdoor in its operating system. Sam is forced into permanent Nexus integration despite her objections.

Kaden and Sam, using the alias Robyn Rodriguez, travel to a Bangkok conference where Shu has invited Kaden. There, Kaden hears a talk from Somdet Phra Ananda on a Nexus-like topic and meets a student named Narong. Wats follows, hoping to free Kaden and spread Nexus 5. Kaden finds a note from Wats about escape but decides to stay. Sam learns Narong is linked to a Thai drug ring. Kaden meets Shu for dinner, where she probes his mind, discovers his ERD ties, and reveals she is the first mind uploaded to a computer—a trans-human. She tries to recruit him, but he asks for time. She creates false memories to hide their talk.

At a student mixer, Narong takes Kaden and Sam to an underground trans-human market, then to a Synchronicity party where they try Nexus and another drug, Empathek. After an attack, Sam confronts Kaden about Ananda, but he covers it up. Shu later denies involvement and again urges Kaden to join her.