Striker

by Gerald Suster

Striker was barely a teenager when he first used the Power to kill. The white heat of fury concentrated and focused in his mind. He shuddered as the psychic step-up transformer within him suddenly discharged a laser-like pulse of sheer energy. His enemy stopped, stumbled, blood spurting from his nose, brain membrane ruptured, reason destroyed.

He was still a teenager when he met Kaye, street-smart and sexual, and felt the same power turned on him. Mind locked with mind. A partnership was born, an understanding that together they could use their Power to stun, manipulate and burn out any opposition as a world of influence, money and status opened up before them.

But a world where every Intelligence, security and law-enforcement agency would soon be looking for them, hunting them down.

Because their Power was too dangerous to let them live.

Genres: Horror

Unknown Binding

About the author

Gerald Suster was a British revisionist historian, occult writer, and novelist. He was best known for his biographies of Aleister Crowley (The Legacy of the Beast) and Israel Regardie (Crowley's Apprentice), and many novels of horror and the occult.

While working in California, Gerald Suster met Israel Regardie and Gerald Yorke, two of the few remaining occultists who had studied directly under Aleister Crowley... and became a well-known figure in the London occult and pagan scenes.

In 1989 he became a tutor at Boarzell Tutorial College in Sussex; however his teaching career came to an abrupt end when he was featured in an exposé of his occult activities in the News of the World newspaper on 16 April 1989.[3] Suster sued the paper for libel... and got £80,000 of costs from them.

After the case, Gerald Suster & his new wife went on honeymoon to Madrid. On their return, he focused on being a full-time author, producing books of horror fiction, biography, occultism, and erotica. He called his new occupation "my most productive period of creative writing".

(Adapted from Wikipedia.)

Reviews

[Jack Tripper · Rating 4 out of 5]

This 1984 novel from horror novelist and real life occultist Gerald Suster reads almost like a superhero origin story, only it details what would really happen if someone was blessed with the ability to destroy people at a distance with their mind, or mesmerize/control them. It does an excellent job showing how power corrupts, even if one starts out with good intentions.

It’s also a damn entertaining story to boot, about young British orphan Ed Striker, who discovers he has telekinetic powers, and tries to hide them for fear of being considered a freak by the other boys at preparatory school. But after he heads off to America as a teen, his talents soon spark the interest of a psychologist studying psi abilities. They also spark the interest of the CIA, who aim to weaponize him. But Ed’s too busy using his gifts to get ahead in life, even if he’s taking advantage of others.

Part coming of age tale (albeit a racy, semi-pornographic one), part sci fi-ish thriller, I found this to be a fast, absorbing read, and the first person narration from Ed helped me to empathize with his moral quandaries. What would I do if I had the ability to exert my influence on others without them noticing? I’d like to think I’d hold back, but no one really knows what they’d do until they’re in that situation.

And this situation involves millions of dollars and Hollywood starlets, not to mention government agencies who want you either dead or working for them. And a girl from your past who has the same capabilities, but is even less moral when using them. Ruthless in fact, and there’s seemingly no stopping her.

This certainly will not be my last Suster novel, and fans of books like Firestarter or John Farris’ The Fury would do well to check it out.