MINDREADER

by ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 15, 1981

Murky parapsychological fare--half on the domestic level, half global--from the author of Death Knell and Cross Current. Mushroom specialist and secret mindreader Dr. David Morgan of Emory University is having problems: is his wife unfaithful? Mindreading says yes, but her loving actions say no. And this is only the latest torment that David has suffered from his huge mental powers--which drove his mother mad and his father to drink. (David's weird birth suggests either a UFO-implant or a cloning from ancient King David!) But while David is sorting out the effect of his mindreading on his wife's possible adultery--he catches her naked with a visiting exterminator--his powers are coming to the attention of the government: David's psychiatrist, Prof. Rudolph Schmidt, is on the secret US-parapsychology payroll. The government, of course, soon wants to use David for militaristic purposes. But David determines to use his mind-control whammy to end the nuclear arms race and the threat of apocalypse. So eventually (after failing to convince the world powers with his soppy speeches), David stages an illusory first-strike by the Soviets in the minds of the President and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, then takes off to Moscow to do the same thing there--hoping to mind-blast the two governments into not retaliating. Slow-moving, clichÉd nonsense; far inferior to the parapsychological global-suspense of writers like Campbell Black (Brainfire).

Pub Date: May 15, 1981

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1981

Categories: FICTION