Over the weekend, I received news that a good friend of mine named Guy Leekley passed away. He had battled cancer for 20 years, with multiple relapses, and had spent the better part of the last year resigned to his bed. 

Multiple people have been recommending this book to me ever since it came out a couple of years ago. I remembered the book generating something of a buzz after author Reza Aslan, a regular on political news programs, had a run-in with a host on Fox News in 2013.

Perhaps no mythological figure has aroused more controversy, both in ancient and modern times, than the Thessalian warrior Achilles. In this article, I try to make sense of the somewhat contradictory interpretations of Achilles' motivation for returning to battle during the Trojan War. 

71,852 words later, a first draft of the Achilles Gene is hot off the press.