MOCO Author Sets Thriller In Bethesda And Nearby Towns

BETHESDA, MD — Adrian Wren is a DMV area doctor when a chance encounter leads him to privileged information that makes him scores of money and prompts him to flee the United States in a Montgomery County man’s new book, “Into the Ether.”

Author and Chevy Chase resident David Sherer, a former anesthesiologist himself, takes Wren to the Mediterranean, to Faial Island, and to the English Isle of Man on his escapades to elude the authorities. Local readers, though, might recognize some more familiar destinations in the book, including the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, the Crescent Trail and Landon Day Camp, where Sherer went as a child.

“There must be literally 75 to 100 references to the local area here — to Bethesda, Glen Echo, Kensington, D.C.,” said Sherer.

He’s written non-fiction before, but this is his fiction debut. Sherer has had the idea for a novel kicking around in his head for a decade, which has been helpful for coming up with story settings.

“Since the book’s been in my head for so long I’ve been taking notes, like ‘oh yeah this would make a great setting for this scene or that scene,’” said Sherer.

Sherer spent the first few years of his life in Somerset, before moving to Bethesda. He moved away for college and medical school, but came back in the early ’90s and now lives in Chevy Chase.

“I just remembered all the places that I love here and weaved them into the story,” said Sherer.

Sherer took inspiration from the places he goes and the people he knows for his novel. His characters visit Old Anglers Inn, the Irish Inn at Glen Echo, and Pizzeria Da Marco in Bethesda. He said he’s been going to Pizzeria Da Marco since it opened and decided he wanted to set one of the novel’s most important scenes there. When it came to picking names for his characters, he kept some of that inspiration local too.

Two of the cops in the novel, Bell and Spear, are named after two of Sherer’s elementary school teachers. He named other characters after composers, he said.

Sherer said it’s the perfect beach read — a lot of it takes place on the water (once Wren flees the DMV) and people who have read it say they can't put it down. Sherer said that “Into the Ether” and one of his non-fiction books have been nominated for the National Book Award, which takes submissions from publishers and will announce finalists in the fall.

His fiction writing experience has been different from his non-fiction books about health and medicine, because he gets a creative license. He tried not to think too much about the end goal of what a finished book would look like, instead choosing to focus on writing in the moment.

“That was the great part I discovered,” said Sherer. “With the fiction I could just go wherever I felt that day.”

His novel is a thriller, but Sherer said he honed in on a few topics, including American attitudes toward health, greed, the way people who have been in the criminal justice system are stereotyped. Sherer said that people who know him said the things he’s passionate about really shine through in the novel.

“I think people would really relate to this book because there are so many themes that are so human in it,” said Sherer.

“Into the Ether” is on sale now. Find a location to buy it on the novel’s website.