The Demolished Man

Ben Reich is the wealthy and powerful owner of the Sacrament Companies. His greatest rival is Craye D’Courtney, owner of the D’Courtney Cartel. However, the Sacrament Companies are in trouble and Reich hopes to merge with the D’Courtney Cartel. After sending a message to Craye D’Courtney requesting a merger of their two conglomerates, and being rejected, Reich decides to murder the other man. But how do you murder someone when the police are all telepaths?

And in a world where ESP is commonplace enough that psychic accountants and secretaries and psychiatrists are all members of a professional guild and are often tasked to be a step ahead of their normal bosses and patients, how can Reich – a normal – possibly carry out his evil intentions while simultaneously being cripplingly haunted by nightmares of The Man With No Face!

The Demolished Man (1952)

Rich and powerful, Ben Reich was a criminal who couldn’t possibly fail, in a society where telepaths made it unlikely for criminals to succeed!

Installment 2

As with all premeditated murder, one thing was unpremeditated. Could Reich, with his riches — and a crooked Esper— correct it quickly enough?

Conclusion

At each step, Reich defeated the Esper sleuth, but there was a peeper trick left — the biggest and the most daring — and the deadliest of all!

The Demolished Man was a serial novel published in Galaxy Science Fiction in three parts in 1952.

The Demolished Man has 13 illustrations.