The story is set in the 24th century in a universe of telepaths (Espers, called peepers in the book), although telepathic effectiveness depends on how great of a telepathic the person is. For example there are level 1 telepaths (the best), level 2 (pretty good), and level 3 (not of much use but still employed).
Here's a basic synopsis of the book.
A man named Ben Reich (owner of Monarch Utilities and Resources) is a rich megacorporation owner and he finds that his megacorporation is in jeopardy (danger of bankruptcy) because of his rival the D'Courtney Cartel, headed by the older Craye D'Courtney. He has nightmares about a "Man With No Face", which always leaves him scared for his life, and throughout the book even screaming and running.
Reich contacts D'Courtney about a merger between the companies and Reich misreads D'Courney's response as a refusal. So Reich creates a plan to murder him so his company will be alright, and so he will be able to take over the D'Courtney Cartel. Because of the peepers its hard to commit murder and murder hasn't been committed for seventy-nine years. If caught Reich will have to serve "Demolition" for his crime, which is later described as a sort of violent mental and neurological re-education.
In order to carry out the murder Reich builds a mental block using a song he hears.
Eight, sir; seven, sir;
Six, sir; five, sir;
Four, sir; three, sir;
Two, sir; one!
Tenser, said the Tensor.
Tenser, said the Tensor.
Tension, apprehension,
And dissension have begun.
Believe it or not this jingle actually prevents most of the Espers from hearing and seeing his murderous intent. I could get more detailed with the plot but I think I will go with my edited short-hand version for the sake of being easier on the eyes (lol).
So basically Reich ends up killing D'Courtney, and he hires two strong Espers to work for him while he is being investigated by the police and their own league of peepers. D'Courtney's daughter catches Reich at the scene of the crime (where he shot D'Courtney through the mouth, blowing through his skull) and she runs away. She gets found later by the police who have her undergo some sort of mental rebirth, not Demolition but still mentally jarring.
At the same time Powell, the main cop doing the murder investigation is finding out tons of information but he needs everything to be right if he's to prosecute, as this could make or break his career. Not only that, but the murder could be a break in the universe, for he couldn't take information from peepers about the crime because that would be against the Esper Guild Oath, which he had to respeckt at all costs. Even though he had or could get information about the murder from peepers it was against Esper regulations to use it in court. So there's that. Ethics in the future just like today.
So we have Reich and Powell fighting and going through the ropes, the criminal and the cop after him. Eventually Reich comes face to face with the Man With No Face, which turns out to be part himself and part D'Courtney, who is revealed to be his father. Surprise! The bad guy is your father! Star Wars anyone?
Anyways, Powell "asks the help of every Esper in attempting to arrest Reich, channeling their collective mental energy through Powell in the dangerous telepathic procedure called the "Mass Cathexis Measure". He justifies this by claiming that Reich is an embryonic megalomaniac who will remake society in his own twisted image if not stopped." (wiki)
Reich is revealed to be the son of D'Courtney, the result of an affair between his mother and D'Courtney, making Barbara (D'Courtney's daughter) his half-sister. Barabara is revealed to be a peeper so its possible that Reich's hatred for D'Courtney was inspired by a telepathic connection, which is also a sort of Freudian complex.
"Once arrested and convicted, Reich is sentenced to the dreaded Demolition— the stripping away of his memories and the upper layers of his personality, emptying his mind for re-education. This 24th-century society uses psychological demolition because it recognizes the social value of strong personalities able to successfully defy the law, seeking the salvaging of positive traits while ridding the person of the evil consciousness of the criminal." (wiki)
The idea of re-education for criminals is a good one. I like that idea very much, in fact if America re-educated all the criminals we would live in a better society. It doesn't have to be as drastic as this book, it could simply be re-education through labor like how the Chinese do it.
The book shows us that although the world may change in the future with its technological advances, human nature will always remain the same. People will still be evil, murder will still take place in the future. Here we have a story that isn't utopia, nor is it post-apocalyptic, its almost like how real life actually was in Alfred Bester's time-the 50's.
The idea of the peepers is totally science fiction. In addition the idea that the bad guy is your father is also a popular trope in science fiction (Star Wars). The idea of Demolition (re-education of criminal minds) is also another popular idea from many contexts. I remember when I played the video game Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic I, in the end you find out that you were an evil murderer ruler of the Galaxies, and that the Jedi re-programmed your mind and swayed you to do right to all the wrongs you had committed. The book reminded me of that game.
This is a pretty important book in science fiction I would say. I was inspired by Bester's other novel, The Stars My Destination (which you can read about here), and I have to say I was not disappointed by this book either. The literary style has finesse and gravitas. In fact, the prose has such momentum that once I started reading it I could hardly put it down until I finished it. I felt exactly the same way as when I was reading Tiger! Tiger! (The Stars My Destination). Here is great writing and he finished the book in less than three-hundred pages. It's terrific. I've learned a lot about the old school style science fiction of the 1950's and I'm ready to read more.
Definitely check out this novel if you like science fiction.
“If a man's got talent and guts to buck society, he's obviously above average. You want to hold on to him. You straighten him out and turn him into a plus value. Why throw him away? Do that enough and all you've got left are the sheep.”
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