Data Games

by Herbert I. Weisberg

When a drug company’s blockbuster anti-cancer drug is discredited in a new clinical study, statistics professor Ken Wheeler is hired to investigate. If the study’s results are upheld by the FDA, millions of cancer patients could potentially be deprived of life-saving treatment. The new research appears to be flawless, but as he delves into the data, Ken’s suspicions grow. Soon, he confronts the chilling reality that powerful forces want to prevent a secret hidden in the data from being exposed. Ken must draw on more than math to discover the truth, and live to reveal it, before time runs out.

475 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 18, 2020

About the author

Herbert I. Weisberg is President of CAUSALYTICS, LLC. His nearly life-long fascination with statistics was ignited when he opened his first pack of bubble gum and noticed the data printed on the back of each baseball card it contained. After a long career as a statistician, he has turned to fiction, writing Data Games. His earlier books involving research in the areas of causal inference, early childhood education and insurance fraud have received wide recognition. Herb has conducted numerous influential studies on research methodology and applications of statistics. He is a co-author of Statistical Methods for Comparative Studies, and author of the award-winning Bias and Causation. He wrote Willful Ignorance to provide a much-needed historical and philosophical account of how the concept of probability originally evolved and now needs to adapt to emerging realities. He is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and winner of the association's Dixon Award in 2019.

Reviews

[Dirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.8 - good self published debut by this author-statistician. Good ideas around trends to come and its risks.

For the next novel, a bit more characterisation is needed, eg a wife that is not always 100% supportive under stress.

[thomas rutherford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Book

Enjoyed this techno thriller. It was well-crafted and fast-paced. The characters were very well developed and their interactions were believable. I was so caught up in the story that I had to read it in one sitting.