"From a ... new voice in suspense fiction, The ascendant is an action-packed thriller following a unlikely hero--a number savant named Garrett Reilly--as he races around the globe to avert total war"--

Shaun Murphy, a young surgeon with autism and savant syndrome, relocates from a quiet country life to join a prestigious hospital surgical unit. Alone in the world and unable to personally connect with those around him, Shaun uses his extraordinary medical gifts to save lives and challenge the skepticism of his colleagues.

The show is about a young surgeon with autism who is recruited to work at a pediatric unit of a hospital. The hospital is known for treating many of the toughest cases a surgeon could ever see, but with autism comes clarity that most surgeons will never have. The television series focuses on the relationship between the doctor and patient, and how a man who cannot relate to the people who he tries to help.

Circumstances propel a feeble-minded gardener, whose entire knowledge of life comes from watching television, into becoming adviser to the president of the United States and a powerful but dying tycoon.