The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon

(2003 Nebula Award winner, Arthur C. Clarke Award finalist)
Corporate life in early 21st-century America is even more ruthless than it was at the turn of the millennium. Lou Arrendale, well compensated for his remarkable pattern-recognition skills, enjoys his job and expects never to lose it. But he has a new boss, a man who thinks Lou and the others in his building are a liability. Lou and his coworkers are autistic. And the new boss is going to fire Lou and all his coworkers–unless they agree to undergo an experimental new procedure to "cure" them.
In The Speed of Dark, Elizabeth Moon has created a powerful, complex, and believable portrayal of a man who varies radically from what is defined as "normal." The author insightfully explores the nature of "normality," identity, choice, responsibility, free will, illness and health, and good and evil. The Speed of Dark is a powerful, moving, illuminating novel in the tradition of Flowers for Algernon, Forrest Gump, and Rain Man . –Cynthia Ward

"Every once in a while, you come across a book that is both an important literary achievement and a completely and utterly absorbing reading experience–a book with provocative ideas and an equally compelling story. Such a book is The Speed of Dark, by Elizabeth Moon…. In Lou Arrendale, Moon has created an unforgettable character…" – Review from South Florida Sun-Sentinel, December 29, 2002, by Pat MacEnulty, a freelance writer in Charlotte, N.C.