Psi-Power #01: Brain Twister

Using the joint pseudonym of Mark Phillips, science fiction authors Randall Garrett (1927-1987) and Laurence Janifer (1933-2002) collaborated on a three-book series starring an FBI agent chasing psychic spies that began with 1959’s Brain Twister (Original Title: That Sweet Little Old Lady). The novel was nominated for a Hugo Award and remains available today under the authors’ real names.

Brain Twister takes place in the distant future of 1971 where we join our hero, FBI Special Agent Kenneth Malone, nursing a hangover when he is interrupted by his boss summoning him to save America from a dire threat. Malone is 26 years-old and has been an FBI agent for three years. In that time, he’s cracked some pretty big cases and is regarded as the director’s secret weapon to combat this current threat.

The U.S government has conducted research involving telepathy, and has developed a machine to detect telepathic activity and mind reading. It’s like a smoke detector for psychic energies, but it doesn’t pinpoint who the psychic is or where he’s located. The machine just identifies that a particular individual’s mind is being read.

While experimenting with the new machine on a secret installation in Nevada, the scientists discover that someone is invading the brains of other scientists working on a highly-classified project involving space travel. The base has been penetrated by a telepathic spy, and the FBI needs Malone to ferret him out of hiding and neutralize him before U.S. government secrets fall into the wrong hands.

So what we have here is a pretty cool setup for a science fiction espionage mystery. The execution will be familiar to fans of police procedural crime novels. Malone embarks on a perfectly logical investigation utilizing FBI manpower to shag leads bringing him closer to the truth. Without giving too much away, he enlists the help of an unlikely ally in completing his mission, causing the book to veer into some wacky places.

There are some genuinely funny scenes and too many overly-silly ones. At times, it reminded me more of a Donald Westlake madcap crime caper than a hardboiled novel of the future. The solution to the mystery owed more to Sherlock Holmes-style deduction than psychic intervention. Overall, this old paperback was a lot of fun to read, and I’m looking forward to the second installment. Recommended.

Addendum:

The chronology of this series is a little confusing as the three novels were originally serialized in sci-fi digest magazines and then re-titled for paperback releases with no indication they were part a series.

1. Brain Twister - Originally “That Sweet Little Old Lady” (1959/1962)
2. The Impossibles - Originally “Out Like a Light” (1960/1963/1966)
3. Supermind - Originally “Occasion for Disaster” (1960-1961/1963)

Your best bet may be dishing out $2 for all three books on your Kindle HERE

The Extortioners

Ovid Demaris (1919-1998) wrote nearly 20 novels of crime-fiction as well as 14 non-fiction books about crime. The author has been reintroduced to new generations of readers with publishers like Cutting Edge Books and Armchair Fiction reprinting his work. The author's fifth career novel, The Extortioners, was originally published by Fawcett Gold Medal in 1960. Since then, it has been reprinted as an e-book by Hauraki Publishing in 2016 and by Armchair Fiction in 2019 as a double with Henry Kane's 1954 paperback Laughter Came Screaming.

Hugh Dewitt has endured many hardships and tribulations on the road to becoming a millionaire. Dewitt, who frequented gambling joints, experienced the loss of his young son in an auto accident. The insurance payout insured Dewitt's family for life, allowing him to invest and buy into the lucrative oil industry. Dewitt's friend and business associate is Neil Gordon, a man he trusts and confides in. Together, the two have grown a small empire.

In the opening pages of the book, Dewitt organizes a party in his large mansion. Angelo Rizzola, Dewitt's former bookie, learns about the party and appears uninvited. Both Dewitt and Gordon are shocked by his appearance, but eventually discuss old times over a few drinks. Angelo insists on investing in Dewitt' business. Hesitant about discussing business with Angelo, he volunteers that his company will be selling a 2% overriding royalty that pays about $5,000 per month. He cannot guarantee that it is still for sale and he has no idea if Angelo can even buy it. All Angelo hears is the payout and states he can come up with the needed funds.

Where does a criminal get a loan? The mob. Without any guarantee that he can even purchase the royalty, Angelo calls a dangerous mob organizer named Jimmy Gracio. Angelo explains the deal and Jimmy immediately says they can share the buy-in, although neither of them know the price. Jimmy has graduated from mob enforcer to organizer and now owns stock in multiple hotels and corporations. This is his chance to finally allocate funds to the oil industry. He tells Angelo to set it up. The problem? The royalty offer has already taken place and has been approved by the company for another person to buy it. 

The author's extremely violent narrative begins with Angelo endlessly calling Dewitt's secretary asking for a callback. Next, both Angelo and Jimmy begin working on Gordon in person and by phone. After numerous threats, Gordon advises Angelo that he knows nothing about the proposed deal and that Dewitt was just saying anything at the party to get Angelo to leave. There's no royalty for sale and Angelo will need to chase another business venture. Angelo relays this to Jimmy and all Hell breaks loose.

Jimmy feels like a victim of discrimination and starts threatening Gordon and Dewitt. Once he targets Dewitt's family, the business associates make the unfortunate mistake of going to the police. The story breaks out into a crescendo of bloodshed and suspense when Jimmy starts using years of experience to extort the family. Is it possible for Dewitt to escape this fiasco alive?

Like Ride the Gold Mare, The Long Night and The Enforcer, The Extortioners is laced with brutality. Demaris was an expert on organized crime and pulls no punches in describing their threatening methods. In some ways this story reminded me of John D. MacDonald's The Executioners (twice filmed as Cape Fear). The endless physical and psychological abuse of attorney Sam Bowden and his loved ones by Max Cady is similar to this story, though MacDonald's novel was published three years before The Extortioners. 

Aside from a mediocre novel here and there, Ovid Demaris was a rock solid crime-noir author. In my personal experience, The Extortioners is his best work. With two reprint options available, there's no reason you shouldn't be reading this.

Buy the e-book HERE and the paperback HERE

The House of Numbers

Walter Braden, Jack Finney (born John Finney, 1911-1995) was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and attended Knox College in Illinois. Aside from being an advertising writer in New York, Finney wrote a number of novels using the name Jack Finney. Many of his literary works have been adapted for film and television, including The Body Snatchers, Good Neighbor Sam, Assault on a Queen and the subject at hand, The House of Numbers. This was the author's third career novel and was initially published in 1956.

Arnie and his girlfriend Ruth become engaged and Arnie is looking for the perfect ring. Despite having very little money, Arnie buys an expensive ring with a check that won't clear the bank. After making rounds, Arnie cashes a bunch of checks at various retailers for cash and deposits the money. Needles to say, Arnie ends up in California's San Quentin prison for check fraud. According to this novel, most prisoners had sentences that were listed as the number of years to life. In Arnie's case, he's serving five years and his criminal record is five years to life. That's important to know.

In the first chapters, the prison warden summons Arnie to his office and explains that another prisoner saw him assault a guard. Arnie did it, but thought no one was around to witness the assault. The warden threatens Arnie to explain his actions, otherwise he will accept the other prisoner's testimony as fact. Arnie refuses and he's sent back to his cell to await whatever fate he's destined for. Now, referring to this Californian law, Arnie knows that anyone with a "life sentence" that attacks a prison guard is guaranteed a death by lethal injection. Either Arnie leaves the prison as a corpse or an escaped convict. That's when his brother Ben becomes involved.

Arnie reaches out to Ben and begs that he break him out of San Quentin, one of the most fortified prisons in the country. Along with Arnie's fiance Ruth, Ben begins scouting the prison and designing a plan to liberate his brother. Ben and Ruth move into a neighborhood near the prison and learn that their neighbor is actually one of the prison guards. This becomes a real problem when the guard casually mentions to Ben that he's seen him at the prison visiting an inmate. Arnie's escape would surely be linked to Ben. 

Finney's narrative unfolds as a unique first-person presentation from both Ben and Arnie. Although the author does not necessarily specify who is speaking, the reader can instantly decipher it depending on where and with whom the character speaks. Another unique aspect of this prison break story is the means by which the escape occurs. Ben formulates a plan to break into the prison and assume the role of Arnie. This frees up Arnie's time to work on the getaway through an elaborate combination of underground excavation and warehouse work. While Ben becomes the prisoner, Arnie is essentially a free man. This adds an alluring enhancement to the narrative; will one brother betrays another? The plot thickens when Ben and Ruth develop a romantic chemistry.

The House of Numbers was a good crime novel that used some new tricks to spice up the average prison break formula. I liked the concept and the various questions it presented - will the guard rat out Ben, can the warden be trusted, is Ruth serious about her passion for Ben, will Arnie become greedy? These questions are all asked and answered over the course of the book. Getting there was really fun. If you enjoy prison break novels, The House of Numbers is a dependable selection.

Buy a copy of this book HERE

The Secret of Haverly House

From the book notes, Carolyn Bauman was born in Oakland, California. After attending UCLA, she won many poetry awards and published short stories in a variety of magazines. Her only known novel was a gothic mystery titled The Secret of Haverly House. It was first published by Bantam in 1966 and then reprinted with different artwork by the same publisher in 1975.

Young, Heather Lane responds to a classified ad in a San Francisco newspaper. The ad asks for an assistant for a senior woman named Mulvina Haverly. After an interview with Mulvina's grandchild, Winston, Heather correctly pronounces the name of the house as Waverly House despite its printed name of Haverly House. Winston is impressed by this, along with Heather's background, credentials, and hires her. The opening pages of the book have Winston driving Heather along the winding roads to the seaside mansion known as Haverly House.

The vast mansion has 50 rooms, most of them unused. As a matter of fact, the whole left wing of the house is largely abandoned. A seemingly endless maze of corridors exists just for collecting dusty furniture. This is the wing that Winston's Aunt Julia resides in when she comes to visit her husband Calvin. Over the course of the introductory tour, Heather feels that Winston and Julia have been in a long-standing conflict and generally hate each other. Unfortunately, Winston places Heather's bedroom in this desolate left wing of the mansion.

As a 1960s gothic paperback, Haverly House has to be haunted. Heather often gets the impression that she's being watched. She feels a macabre presence in the hallways and often hears or sees signs that someone is lurking outside of her room. Of course, Winston disagrees along with a rather prudish family servant named Mrs. Anderson. This critique forces Heather in a state of doubt and uncertainty. Is she turning into a crazy psycho?

The Secret of Haverly House is another average gothic paperback surrounded by stacks and stacks of average gothic paperbacks. The market was saturated with these novels and the genre's enticing cover art never paused sales. There is nothing innovative or original about Bauman's story, but like a traditional spooky tale, it succeeds. There's a central mystery, a slight love interest and enough atmosphere draping everything in a misty haze. My only complaint is the amount of questions Heather asks herself throughout the narrative. The flood of rhetorical questions became a burden over the course of the book. Otherwise, it was enjoyable enough to stay in my collection.

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The Collector Comes After Payday

The August 1953 issue of Manhunt featured a novella from Kansas native and World War 2 U.S. Army veteran Fletcher Flora (1914-1968) that has been reprinted on its own and as part of The Second Fletcher Flora Mystery Megapack from Wildside Press.

Frankie is a down-and-out loser living in a crappy apartment on Skid Row. He grew up and still lives with an abusive, drunken and bullying father, and the paternal indignities have continued into Frankie’s young adulthood. One evening after the old man humiliates Frankie in a crowded bar, he makes up his mind that dad needs to die.

In the dark and twisted world of Manhunt magazine, killing is the easy part. Getting away with murder is frequently the real challenge. Frankie’s plan to dodge justice is quickly derailed by unforeseen events that he initially regards as a lucky gift from above. When you read enough crime fiction stories, you know that there’s no such thing as a free murder, and the luck of a loser never lasts. There’s always a cost.

“The Collector Comes After Payday” is a nasty cautionary tale that reminded me of the work of David Goodis. The ending wasn’t particularly twisty, but I was never bored as the pages flew by through the novella’s seven short chapters. The story only costs a buck on your Kindle device, and it’s well worth the investment. Recommended.

Buy a copy HERE

The Woman is Mine

Harry Whittington preferred to sell his novels to Fawcett Gold Medal because the paperback imprint paid more and sold more units than rival publishers. As a result, his best works were published with the telltale yellow spines, including his 1954 thriller, The Woman is Mine.

Minnesotan Jeff Patterson is on vacation alone on a Florida beach unwinding after an Army stint in Korea. The single woman in the next cabana has been catching his eye. His first attempt to chat her up lands with a thud. The woman actually seemed terrified and guarded. Later that night, she attempts suicide only to be saved by Jeff. What gives with this girl?

Back at Jeff’s cabana, he doesn’t get much information from her other than her name is Paula and someone is out to get her. Just as she lets her guard down and decides to share her story with Jeff, men with a warrant arrive to take her away. The man at the door explains that he’s a psychiatrist, and the girl’s name is really Mrs. Joyce Glisdale. He explains that she’s a delusional paranoiac requiring sedation and a forcible return to the psychiatric facility from which she escaped. Before Jeff can discern the truth, the men are gone with Paula/Joyce in custody.

This is one of the best setups, I can recall for a 1950s suspense thriller. Someone isn’t telling the truth here. Is she really a lunatic named Joyce or a scared victim named Paula being kidnapped by weird dudes? For his part, Jeff is smitten and sets out to find out the truth about Paula/Joyce and the mysterious sanitarium where they are holding her. The more he snoops around, the fishier the shrink’s story seems.

Jeff’s amateur sleuthing is a total pleasure to follow. Every step closer to the truth opens a new door that begs several other questions. The novel recalled the popular movies by Alfred Hitchcock, and the suspicious and guarded sanitarium reminded me of Dennis Lehane’s Shutter Island. All of this leads to a revelatory conclusion that ties up the mysteries in a creative and satisfying manner.

The Woman is Mine is one of the finest Harry Whittington novels I’ve read and I’m baffled why the literary arms race to reprint Whittington’s greatest hits has left this paperback behind. With a bit of searching and know-how, used copies from 1954 are available from online sellers of vintage paperbacks. This one is worth the effort and expense. Recommended. 

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Do Evil in Return

Margaret Ellis Millar (born Margaret Ellis Sturm, 1915-1994) was a mystery writer originally from Ontario, Canada. In 1938, Margaret married Kenneth Millar, the author who used the pseudonym Ross Macdonald to create and write the bestselling Lew Archer character. Margaret Millar authored over 25 novels, including series titles like Paul Pry, Inspector Sands and Tom Aragon. My first experience with Millar is her 1950 Dell paperback Do Evil in Return. In 2006, Stark House Press reprinted the book as a double along with the author's 1957 novel An Air That Kills.

Charlotte Keating is a private-practicing physician who lives and works in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. One evening before close she receives a young woman named Violet. Desperate for help, Violet tells Charlotte that she is a married woman from Oregon who had an affair with a married man and is now four months pregnant. The purpose of her visit is to request Charlotte to perform an abortion. Charlotte rejects and explains that the term of pregnancy is too advanced while reminding Violet that abortions are illegal. Charlotte learns that Violet rents a one-bedroom apartment in town. While offering to bring her there, Violet runs away. 

Afterwards, readers learn about Charlotte's emotional problems. She has an extended relationship with a married man named Lewis. Her mental barriers are thick with a sense of insecurity, self-doubt and vulnerability. She wants Lewis to divorce his spouse or just have the internal fortitude to end their own long affair. With all of these underlining conditions, Charlotte somehow feels as if she has failed Violet.

On the other side of the city, Charlotte speaks with one of Violet's neighbors and has the impression that they are not pleasant people. After her visit, Charlotte shockingly learns that Violet’s body has washed ashore and all signs point to a suicidal drowning as the cause of death. 

Charlotte's brief participation in the young lady's life has now become rather dangerous and complex. Violet’s violent uncle and conniving husband break into Charlotte’s house and attempt to extort her for money. She refuses and things quickly become grim when a skeptical police detective starts asking questions about Charlotte's role in Violet's suicide. When Violet's husband and uncle are discovered with bullet holes in the head, Charlotte finds herself in a whirling nightmare.

Millar's plot was structured as a suspenseful mystery with a handful of characters who might have turned out to be a killer. I liked the author's inclusion of extramarital affairs and the way these characters viewed themselves and their marriages. Except for Charlotte, nearly all the characters were married and had difficult relationships. Millar’s unmarried characters "survive" the ordeal. It seems to me that Millar's suggestion is that two people can find independent happiness. 

While Millar is considered a mystery writer, I also like to think of Do Evil in Return as a stylish crime-noir. It has some detective procedural elements, the concept of an average citizen thrust into extreme circumstances and the alarming idea that an innocent person could find themselves guilty of a crime they didn't commit. These are all genre tropes that adapt uniformly to most of these crime novels of the mid-20th century. As a short read, I found it to be an entertaining experience. 

Note: There is an informative biography HERE that discusses Millar’s fascinating life, influences and her superb writing style. 

Buy a copy of this book HERE