Psych: A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read-William Rabkin

Psych: A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read
William Rabkin
Obsidian, Jan 2009, $6.99
ISBN: 0451226356

Shawn Spencer was best friends with Gus since they were youngsters and that has not changed since they became adults. They are partners in a private detective agency in which Shawn pretends to be psychic. They are unable to find evidence to exonerate their client Veronica Mason who is on trial for murder. Shawn, using his “gift” badgers a juror into confessing to the crime. When they get out of the courthouse, Gus’ car has been towed.

They go to the impound lot only to learn they owe $6000 in fines for overdue tickets due to their failure to pay other tickets they received.. Shawn reads the person and learns he is an escapee from an Arizona chain gang. The convict starts to shoot at the sleuths who flee but Gus is hit by a car. Gus awakens in the hospital where he learns Shawn has acquired Tara, an unbalanced woman who believes she is psychic and can hear Shawn’s thoughts. She becomes his shadow and does what she thinks he wants her to do. Meanwhile a high school classmate adversary of Shawn, billionaire Dallas Steele offers a large sum of money to Shawn to prove to Dallas he is psychic. Between Dallas and Tara, Shawn is in deep trouble that turns worse when his high school enemy is killed with the police holding his psychic slave in custody as she claims Shawn made her do it.

PSYCH is a serio-comedic mystery that will have readers laughing at some of the situations Shawn and Gus land in yet also has a sort of Son of Sam tragic element. On a par with renowned for TV show adaptations Lee Goldberg, William Rabkin provides an entertaining whimsical novelization of the show as the imagination and jocularity come across solidly. Fans will enjoy PSYCH summed up by its subtitle: “A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read.”

Harriet Klausner