Brain Twister »

This is one of the funniest science fiction books ever written! Mark Phillips is the pen name used by Randall Garrett and Laurence M. Janifer. The description of the authors reads, "Mr. Garrett is a large, roundish fellow with a beard. He wears flowered vests and always carries a small talisman which no one has ever seen. Mr. Janifer is a somewhat shorter and thinner type, with a shorter and thinner beard. His vests are in solid colors, he wears horn-rimmed glasses because he has always done so, and he is never found without a souvenir subway token from the City of New York. The personal lives of the authors differ widely. Mr. Garrett's hobbies, for instance, include such sports as close-order drill and river pollution. Mr. Janifer, a less active type, prefers sedentary games such as humming or blinking. Mr. Garrett is engaged to an exotically beautiful creature, and the two plan to be married as soon as they run out of excuses. Mr. Janifer, on the other hand, is fascinated by women, and hopes some day to meet one." Brain Twister is the second in the mystery trilogy. FBI agent Malone is not your typical FBI agent. He investigates psychic criminals. A psionics machine has determined that scientists in Yucca Flats have had their minds scanned. The FBI needs a telepath, but the telepaths are catatonic and are all in mental institutions. There is one old lady names Miss Rose Thompson who is a telepath. However she does believe she is Queen Elizabeth and must be treated like a queen.