What do you think?
Rate this book
Psi-Power Trilogy #1
Brain Twister
In nineteen-fourteen, it was enemy aliens.
In nineteen-thirty, it was Wobblies.
In nineteen-fifty-seven, it was fellow-travelers.
And, in nineteen seventy-one, Kenneth J. Malone rolled wearily out of bed wondering what the hell it was going to be now.
One thing, he told himself, was absolutely certain: it was going to be terrible. It always was.
In nineteen-thirty, it was Wobblies.
In nineteen-fifty-seven, it was fellow-travelers.
And, in nineteen seventy-one, Kenneth J. Malone rolled wearily out of bed wondering what the hell it was going to be now.
One thing, he told himself, was absolutely certain: it was going to be terrible. It always was.
144 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1959
151 people are currently reading
421 people want to read
About the author
Mark Phillips
4 booksLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
(2)Science Fiction
Mark Phillips is a pseudonym for the authors Laurence M. Janifer and Randall Garrett, for the works they wrote together.
(2)Science Fiction
Mark Phillips is a pseudonym for the authors Laurence M. Janifer and Randall Garrett, for the works they wrote together.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
May 12, 2024
Mark Phillips was pseudonym used by two stalwarts of the sf field in the 1950s and '60s, Laurence M. Janifer and Randall Garrett. Brain Twister is the first of three books in their Psi series, and a somewhat shorter version of it was serialized in the September and October issues of John W. Campbell's Astounding SF magazine in 1959 under the title of That Sweet Little Old Lady, which had a nifty Kelly Freas cover on the first installment. It was nominated for a Hugo Award as the best novel of the year but lost to Heinlein's Starship Troopers. (Which was a far better book than the movie they made of it, but that's a very different kettle of tribbles.) They expanded it a bit, and in 1962 Berkley published it in paperback under the current title. It's rather dated now, but I found it quite amusing. It was acceptable at the time to find humor in people with mental challenges, and attractive young women weren't required to have any other qualifications or character traits; any other trigger warnings would be spoilery. The story concerns a CIA agent who's tasked with locating a spy, which he accomplishes with the help of a telepathic woman who's convinced she's the immortal queen of England. Their adventures and tribulations are uproarious, especially their journey into a casino, and they acquire a whole royal retinue. It's a fun flight of fancy silliness, and I enjoyed the reading via Librivox very much.
October 4, 2020
"Mark Phillips" is a pseudonym for a collaboration between Randall Garrett and Laurence M. Janifer. This is a short novel published in 1960 with dated wit and humour. A shorter version appeared in the October 1959 issues of Astounding Science Fiction under the title, "That Sweet Little Old Lady."
Worth a look, entertaining enough for its time, does not take itself at all seriously, mixing detective type story with scifi elements such as PSI abilities, but has some nuggets of insight to the cold war attitude of the late 1950's from the point of view of America. I was surprised to learn it was a Hugo nominee.
It is one of three novels they published featuring FBI agent Kenneth J. Malone.
It can be found in the public domain.
Worth a look, entertaining enough for its time, does not take itself at all seriously, mixing detective type story with scifi elements such as PSI abilities, but has some nuggets of insight to the cold war attitude of the late 1950's from the point of view of America. I was surprised to learn it was a Hugo nominee.
It is one of three novels they published featuring FBI agent Kenneth J. Malone.
It can be found in the public domain.
October 12, 2009
Funny, quirky, light hearted story. In the near future an FBI agent has to track down a psychic spy with the help of an insane old lady that thinks she is the Queen. IF you liked Dirk Gently, you will probably enjoy this. You can get the free ebook from manybooks.net
August 15, 2011
What a fun, quirky detective novel! It had so many wonderful elements and descriptions that I couldn't put it down. From patients in psych wards to perfectly sane detectives, I loved the depth of the characters and the wonderful ride this story takes the reader on.
August 23, 2022
This was a surprising hit with me. Not that I have anything against telepathy in fiction, just that a lesser-known sci-fi novella is just as likely to be a dated dud. Brain Twister, however, has a very sly and wordy sense of humour at its heart.
My favourite character is Miss Thompson, or Queen Elizabeth I as she prefers to be called: a rare case of an older woman having a prominent and active role in early science fiction. She may be delusional but remains a formidable adversary, especially if you have something to hide. The rest of the cast are interesting as well, especially Malone whose scrambled clichés brought a smile to my step and a spring to my face. Burris's befuddled boss-man bluster was great fun as well.
As for the plot (the pursuit of a renegade telepath stealing government secrets), I feel it could have used a little more depth. In this case I feel Brain Twister would have benefited from having at least another sixty pages added on, long enough to show Malone settling into the shrewd madness of Miss Thompson. That being said, the solution of just who was the spy proved both logical and cleverly handled.
I look forward to reading the rest of the Brain Twister trilogy once I get my hands on it. 'Mark Phillips' or rather Randall Garrett and Laurence Janifer are a great writing team though God only knows why they elected to use such a comparatively everyday name.
I recommend Brain Twister to those interested in telepathy science fiction and thrillers with a twist.
My favourite character is Miss Thompson, or Queen Elizabeth I as she prefers to be called: a rare case of an older woman having a prominent and active role in early science fiction. She may be delusional but remains a formidable adversary, especially if you have something to hide. The rest of the cast are interesting as well, especially Malone whose scrambled clichés brought a smile to my step and a spring to my face. Burris's befuddled boss-man bluster was great fun as well.
As for the plot (the pursuit of a renegade telepath stealing government secrets), I feel it could have used a little more depth. In this case I feel Brain Twister would have benefited from having at least another sixty pages added on, long enough to show Malone settling into the shrewd madness of Miss Thompson. That being said, the solution of just who was the spy proved both logical and cleverly handled.
I look forward to reading the rest of the Brain Twister trilogy once I get my hands on it. 'Mark Phillips' or rather Randall Garrett and Laurence Janifer are a great writing team though God only knows why they elected to use such a comparatively everyday name.
I recommend Brain Twister to those interested in telepathy science fiction and thrillers with a twist.
May 29, 2013
This short read is a fun piece of science fiction that features claims of immortality, mind-reading, spies and insanity. It is light and clever. Many of the characters suffer from the stereotypical exaggerations common of the early science fiction pieces - hyper masculine male leads, overly feminized female foils and excessive oversimplification of intelligence and capacity. It is good escapism though.
August 9, 2010
This wasn't a bad book. In fact, there were times when I enjoyed reading it. Most of the time I was reading it, though, I was thinking about how much I wanted to finish it so I could move on to something else. Things that seemed novel for the first ten pages or so got old pretty quickly. Sort of an alright story told fairly well. I don't feel the need to read the sequels.
April 2, 2025
This was kind of silly but fun. It's definitely dated but not so badly as to make it an unpleasant read. I don't know if I'd exactly recommend it but I did enjoy reading it.
April 11, 2024
Känner mig likgiltig inför denna bok. Inte särskilt intressant eller underhållande
March 29, 2015
"There's a spy at work in the Nevada plant, Kenneth. And the spy is a telepath."
Mostly humorous, somewhat silly sci-fi mystery from 1962, set in what would have been the cold war of the near future. The Americans have accidentally discovered plans for their new rocket are being snooped telepathically by the Russians -- a major problem, as the only telepath of whom the Americans are aware has died.
I'd have given it three stars, but somewhere around the middle of the book a five-star character appears (semi -spoiler):
There are two sequels ("The Impossibles" and "Supermind"), both somewhat weaker, and the general setting is used in a few other short stories by the co-authors. Laurence Janifer managed a decent writing career, but Randall Garrett seems to have achieved longer-lasting fame via Lord Darcy, a sorcerous Sherlock Holmes in an alternate-history England. (Don't hold it against this book; I've read a few of the Lord Darcy stories and thought "Brain Twister" was significantly better.)
Available on Gutenberg.
Mostly humorous, somewhat silly sci-fi mystery from 1962, set in what would have been the cold war of the near future. The Americans have accidentally discovered plans for their new rocket are being snooped telepathically by the Russians -- a major problem, as the only telepath of whom the Americans are aware has died.
I'd have given it three stars, but somewhere around the middle of the book a five-star character appears (semi -spoiler):
There are two sequels ("The Impossibles" and "Supermind"), both somewhat weaker, and the general setting is used in a few other short stories by the co-authors. Laurence Janifer managed a decent writing career, but Randall Garrett seems to have achieved longer-lasting fame via Lord Darcy, a sorcerous Sherlock Holmes in an alternate-history England. (Don't hold it against this book; I've read a few of the Lord Darcy stories and thought "Brain Twister" was significantly better.)
Available on Gutenberg.
Want to read
February 26, 2009I read this summary and decided I needed to read this.
“Mark Phillips” is, or are, two writers: Randall Garrett and Laurence M. Janifer. Their joint pen-name, derived from their middle names (Philip and Mark), was coined soon after their original meeting, at a science-fiction convention. Both men were drunk at the time, which explains a good deal, and only one has ever sobered up. A matter for constant contention between the collaborators is which one.
Originally published as That Sweet Little Old Lady, Brain Twister follows the adventures of FBI agent Kenneth J. Malone as he attempts to unravel the machinations of a telepathic spy. His first problem: how do you find a telepath to catch the first telepath?
The novella was nominated for the Hugo Award in 1960.
“Mark Phillips” is, or are, two writers: Randall Garrett and Laurence M. Janifer. Their joint pen-name, derived from their middle names (Philip and Mark), was coined soon after their original meeting, at a science-fiction convention. Both men were drunk at the time, which explains a good deal, and only one has ever sobered up. A matter for constant contention between the collaborators is which one.
Originally published as That Sweet Little Old Lady, Brain Twister follows the adventures of FBI agent Kenneth J. Malone as he attempts to unravel the machinations of a telepathic spy. His first problem: how do you find a telepath to catch the first telepath?
The novella was nominated for the Hugo Award in 1960.
September 12, 2012
Quite funny collaboration between Randall Garrett and L. Janifer, about an FBI agent to has to essentially babysit a senile old lady who thinks she's Queen Elizabeth I and has parapsychological powers.
April 29, 2015
a little gem of a book, that often very humourous if I a little un politically correct at times in it's terminology, offers quite a good philosophical Question, Would Not by Its Very Nature, The Ability to Read Minds Only Lead to Insanity!
January 31, 2015
Brain Twister was a bit short but enjoyable. It reminded me a lot of Charles Stross' The Atrocity Archives minus the Lovecraftian influence.
July 5, 2011
Hilarious!
September 3, 2012
How can you catch a telepathic spy? This novelette shows one, somewhat quirky possibility.
April 9, 2013
I enjoyed this one just for the silliness. The action was fun and I was left guessing until the end. Just what the doctor ordered.
September 27, 2013
This is an amusing light sci-fi story and highly recommended.
You can find it on Gutenberg.
You can find it on Gutenberg.
June 8, 2014
What a hoot!
July 1, 2016
A wonderful fun book. I recommend this to all.
December 16, 2017
Book 1 in The Queen's Own FBI series.
June 19, 2018
It is a rather odd but fun and zany book about a telepathic spy in a top secret, experimental space program. Unfortunately, the ending is extremely wanting and anti-climactic.
April 30, 2023
(Note: Shifting my review from an edition with a different version of the author's name.)
A fun, relatively short book from 1962. You can tell it was written around then from internal evidence; it quotes Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you" speech, from his 1961 inauguration, and then refers to him as "the youngest living ex-president," which anyone writing something that wasn't alternate history wouldn't say after his assassination in 1963. The action is set in 1971, perhaps to make the technological spec-fic element which creates the inciting incident slightly more plausible, and also to allow the existence of videophones, which are somewhat significant to the plot. As was usually the case with SF of the period, non-technological social changes are not featured.
It does exhibit the casual sexism of the times - young women exist mainly as amusements on a level with alcohol and cigarettes, both of which are also highly visible - but there is a significant, albeit older, female character who plays a major role in the plot. She's referred to as a "that sweet little old lady," and indeed this was the title of the slightly shorter story this book was based on, but if she's been in a mental institution since her late teens and that's 40 years, as the institution's head doctor says, she's actually only in her late 50s; this is probably an error, or he's rounding down, since in the third book, set two years later, we're explicitly told she's 65. She's a telepath who believes she's the immortal Queen Elizabeth I. At that, she's saner than the other half-dozen telepaths the main character, a hapless FBI agent who puts his impressive achievements down to luck, manages to locate.
Why is he locating telepaths? Because a machine has been invented which can detect when people's minds are being read, and it's detected that the minds of researchers on a vital defence project are being read by an unidentified telepath, presumably for the benefit of the Russians. On the "set a thief to catch a thief" principle, the protagonist goes looking for more telepaths, and ends up dressed in Elizabethan clothes and being addressed as "Sir Kenneth" in order to humour the self-proclaimed queen. He's surprised to discover that he likes it.
The mystery side of the story wraps up, I felt, a little too quickly and neatly at the end, but the main reason to read it is for the comedy. That's why my wife, who listened to it on Librevox, recommended it to me, and it's just the kind of combination of absurd situations and sparkling language that we both enjoy.
A fun, relatively short book from 1962. You can tell it was written around then from internal evidence; it quotes Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you" speech, from his 1961 inauguration, and then refers to him as "the youngest living ex-president," which anyone writing something that wasn't alternate history wouldn't say after his assassination in 1963. The action is set in 1971, perhaps to make the technological spec-fic element which creates the inciting incident slightly more plausible, and also to allow the existence of videophones, which are somewhat significant to the plot. As was usually the case with SF of the period, non-technological social changes are not featured.
It does exhibit the casual sexism of the times - young women exist mainly as amusements on a level with alcohol and cigarettes, both of which are also highly visible - but there is a significant, albeit older, female character who plays a major role in the plot. She's referred to as a "that sweet little old lady," and indeed this was the title of the slightly shorter story this book was based on, but if she's been in a mental institution since her late teens and that's 40 years, as the institution's head doctor says, she's actually only in her late 50s; this is probably an error, or he's rounding down, since in the third book, set two years later, we're explicitly told she's 65. She's a telepath who believes she's the immortal Queen Elizabeth I. At that, she's saner than the other half-dozen telepaths the main character, a hapless FBI agent who puts his impressive achievements down to luck, manages to locate.
Why is he locating telepaths? Because a machine has been invented which can detect when people's minds are being read, and it's detected that the minds of researchers on a vital defence project are being read by an unidentified telepath, presumably for the benefit of the Russians. On the "set a thief to catch a thief" principle, the protagonist goes looking for more telepaths, and ends up dressed in Elizabethan clothes and being addressed as "Sir Kenneth" in order to humour the self-proclaimed queen. He's surprised to discover that he likes it.
The mystery side of the story wraps up, I felt, a little too quickly and neatly at the end, but the main reason to read it is for the comedy. That's why my wife, who listened to it on Librevox, recommended it to me, and it's just the kind of combination of absurd situations and sparkling language that we both enjoy.
May 10, 2021
La Edad de Oro había llegado a su fin en 1955 y hasta Analog, la revista de John W. Campbell antes conocida como Astounding, debía adaptarse a los nuevos tiempos. Tal vez por eso sea apropiado que publicara "That sweet little old lady", la creación conjunta de Laurence Mark Janifer y Randall Philip Garrett, que básicamente constituye una parodia de las heroicas historias de mutantes que habían poblado esas mismas páginas tan solo unos años antes.
Ken Malone es un agente del FBI bastante... limitado, que recibe la orden de investigar un supuesto caso de espionaje telepático en unas instalaciones de investigación ultrasecretas. Enfrentado a esta inusual misión, acaba descubriendo que todos los telépatas son locos institucionalizados, con una única paciente mínimamente funcional, la viejecita encantadora del título original (mucho mejor que el utilizado en la edición en paperback), con un simple (pero a veces engorroso) falta de contacto con la realidad.
El planteamiento es interesante, por desgracia los autores no saben muy bien lo que hacer con todo este material, y lo limitan todo al chiste fácil, con algún juego de palabras aquí y allá y un personaje principal que solo puede describirse como un idiota con suerte. A medida que avanza la trama, va cobrando poco a poco la seriedad justa para hacerla un poco más interesante, pero cualquier tímido intento de contar algo un poco más profundo (como la relatividad de los términos "locura" y "cordura") es abortado rápidamente, no vaya a lastrar el fluir de la historia.
A la postre, aunque no construye nada realmente único, el conjunto resulta lo suficientemente ágil como para poder recomendarlo sin problemas como entretenimiento ligero. Basta con mantener las expectativas bajas.
En breve, reseña completa en Rescepto Indablog (http://rescepto.wordpress.com).
Ken Malone es un agente del FBI bastante... limitado, que recibe la orden de investigar un supuesto caso de espionaje telepático en unas instalaciones de investigación ultrasecretas. Enfrentado a esta inusual misión, acaba descubriendo que todos los telépatas son locos institucionalizados, con una única paciente mínimamente funcional, la viejecita encantadora del título original (mucho mejor que el utilizado en la edición en paperback), con un simple (pero a veces engorroso) falta de contacto con la realidad.
El planteamiento es interesante, por desgracia los autores no saben muy bien lo que hacer con todo este material, y lo limitan todo al chiste fácil, con algún juego de palabras aquí y allá y un personaje principal que solo puede describirse como un idiota con suerte. A medida que avanza la trama, va cobrando poco a poco la seriedad justa para hacerla un poco más interesante, pero cualquier tímido intento de contar algo un poco más profundo (como la relatividad de los términos "locura" y "cordura") es abortado rápidamente, no vaya a lastrar el fluir de la historia.
A la postre, aunque no construye nada realmente único, el conjunto resulta lo suficientemente ágil como para poder recomendarlo sin problemas como entretenimiento ligero. Basta con mantener las expectativas bajas.
En breve, reseña completa en Rescepto Indablog (http://rescepto.wordpress.com).
September 9, 2020
Together with Murray Leinster's Pirates of Zan this was the definite lightweight in the 1960 Hugo nominee lineup, going against Heinlein's Starship Troopers and Vonnegut's Sirens of Titan as well as Gordon R. Dickson's DORSAI!. While all those novels are weighty and influential volumes, this is a type of story that was really popular in the 50s but has completely fallen out of style in the following decade, never to return.
This is one of those humorous tales about psychic powers that are really of its time, pretty short and sweet, it's still an easy and amusing read. The plot tells of an FBI agent who is looking for a leak passing secrets to the Russians who is really a telepath and to catch a telepath another telepath is needed. Telepathic powers make the users crazy, however, so the agent finds this woman who is convinced she is Elizabeth I, Queen of England. Shenanigans ensue.
Depending very much on the humor of respecting the Queen's delusional state and dressing up as Elizabethan courtiers in near-future USA, the whole thing is a farce that doesn't amount to much more than the sum of its parts, but is entertaining as pure pulp.
This is one of those humorous tales about psychic powers that are really of its time, pretty short and sweet, it's still an easy and amusing read. The plot tells of an FBI agent who is looking for a leak passing secrets to the Russians who is really a telepath and to catch a telepath another telepath is needed. Telepathic powers make the users crazy, however, so the agent finds this woman who is convinced she is Elizabeth I, Queen of England. Shenanigans ensue.
Depending very much on the humor of respecting the Queen's delusional state and dressing up as Elizabethan courtiers in near-future USA, the whole thing is a farce that doesn't amount to much more than the sum of its parts, but is entertaining as pure pulp.
July 25, 2019
Eh, more like a 2.5 from me but Queen Elizabeth Thompson is such a delight that I rounded the score up.
The opening chapters are a little weak like the authors hadn't quite learned how to write together. There is some pretty awful dialogue and awkward analogies. The further you get into it, the better the writing gets. And the jewel of the book is definitely the scene at the poker table. After that, things wrap up a little too neatly thanks to the Queen's telepathy but I guess that was to be expected given she is like a super-telepath or something.
An entertaining little romp.
The opening chapters are a little weak like the authors hadn't quite learned how to write together. There is some pretty awful dialogue and awkward analogies. The further you get into it, the better the writing gets. And the jewel of the book is definitely the scene at the poker table. After that, things wrap up a little too neatly thanks to the Queen's telepathy but I guess that was to be expected given she is like a super-telepath or something.
An entertaining little romp.
April 18, 2019
Brain Twister was a short, fun and quirky story about the FBI and telepathy. I honestly don't have a ton of anecdotal thoughts on the book, as it was another science fiction book very much of the times, and did not have a ton of depth. For me, the conclusion of the whodunnit mystery was not very satisfying. As with most Hugo Award nominees of this era, I can certainly appreciate that this might have been a standout story compared to other works of the time and genre.
September 15, 2020
I was looking for Herman Melville. With the library closed for Covid, I turned to Libravox for relief. Two steps landed this book.
I didn't love it. It did have me laughing aloud the first few chapters. Five stars for initial impact.
It sorted out something like DODO or Dirk Gently, only less so. Great fun, decent writing, but it differs from junk fiction only in that it avoids facetious drama and thinks about the future, a bit.
Great sense of humor. That was fun.
I didn't love it. It did have me laughing aloud the first few chapters. Five stars for initial impact.
It sorted out something like DODO or Dirk Gently, only less so. Great fun, decent writing, but it differs from junk fiction only in that it avoids facetious drama and thinks about the future, a bit.
Great sense of humor. That was fun.
May 2, 2022
Entertaining mystery listening 🎶🔰
Another will written FBI mystery adventure thriller short story by Randall Garrett about a spy that is working for the Russians in a sanatorium in Nevada. Malone solves the case again. I would highly recommend this novella to readers of mysteries thrillers. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎶 to Alexa as I do. 🏡😤😉👔💼 2022
Another will written FBI mystery adventure thriller short story by Randall Garrett about a spy that is working for the Russians in a sanatorium in Nevada. Malone solves the case again. I would highly recommend this novella to readers of mysteries thrillers. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎶 to Alexa as I do. 🏡😤😉👔💼 2022
August 16, 2018
FBI agent uses a telepath to capture a telepathic spy. An amuser: reads like a long, continuous shtick. Sexist as heck, but one of the female characters, at least, is pretty clever. Read ebook editon.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews