Review: Demolished Man

..... is Reich, ridden by the nightmare of a faceless man whom he later identifies as a business rival, D'Courtney. Helped, but also jeopardized by the Espers with their special powers of telepathy, Reich kills his man but cannot escape evidence for a conviction. But Reich is still left with his nemesis- the Man With No Face-until he is reconverted from demolition towards a new life. A new language (could it be esperanto?) and symbols for what is basically a scrimmage of man against man.

I was set to give this story five stars throughout most of the book, but the ending threw me off. Way off.
The majority of the story is a detective story; we follow a crime from the angle of the perpetrator, and the investigating police officer. The caper is made all that much more exciting by the existence of people with esp, known as peepers, of which our investigator is one, and our perpetrator is not. A thrilling game of mouse and peeper cat made the book a quick read, and fun to follow. The inclusion of the catchy lyrics the perpetrator has purposely stuck in his head to keep himself from leaking his crime to the psychics around him interspersed throughout the dialog and action was a great touch that really increased the tension through certain parts of the story.
The conclusion however, I felt turned suddenly to a different tone altogether. The plot became less understandable, and the ending somewhat preachy. I suddenly got the impression that the author wrote the whole book as a means to state the exposition. Five stars until the last thirty pages or so. 

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Fantastic. It's a pulpy detective story with sci-fi elements thrown in, and Bester finds the perfect balance between both genres. His writing style is refreshingly mature while never feeling dry or ... Read full review

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To be perfectly honest, I am not sure I understood all of this. The idea behind the story is good - in the future, there are a high number of people who can read thoughts and emotions - the Esper's ... Read full review

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As sometimes happens when you visit the classics of SF, I came away from this one admiring the idea, but disappointed by the execution. The *idea* is great: a future earth where the presence of people ... Read full review

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I took longer with this book then I intended but ... I got distracted a lot in February. Anyway, I have to say that The Demolished Man pushes high concept ideas at you in more then just a technology ... Read full review