CESSARY DOUBT

by Colin llson ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 24, 1964

One may be predisposed to apply necessary doubt , a phrase borrowed from the existentialist theologian Paul Tillich, to Colin Wilson, who has been dabbling in the dark for some time. And there still may be some justified misgivings when one views some of the amazing esoterica he is still collecting. After all, his novels are always a kind of showcase for cabalistic bric a brac, now on view in the form of telepathy, hypnotism, Celtic divination, etc. Then too, there is all the metaphysical wiretapping, here pursued in a contest between free will and another man's doctrine of limitation. But you can overlook it--for this is certainly, the best book he has written in many years and it is also best read as a thriller. It concerns the search conducted by Karl Zweig, an existentialist theologian, and his good friend Grey of the Yard, for the son of an old friend, Gostav Neumann, who, when last seen years ago in Nazi Germany, had declared his intention to become a master criminal. Now Zweig has every reason to suspect that all the accidental deaths of old, wealthy men with whom Neumann had been associated were perhaps deliberate. Together with Gray he tries to save the life of the latest, likeliest victim. But in the end-- there's the necessary doubt... All in all, it's an entertaining confidence game, which seduces, startles, and (even where it does not quite persuade) assuredly succeeds in engaging one's interest.

Pub Date: July 24, 1964

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: rident

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1964

Categories: FICTION