Psychomech

Psychomech #1

by Brian Lumley

Richard Garrison, a Corporal in the British Military Police, loses his sight while trying to save the wife and child of millionaire industrialist Thomas Schroeder from a terrorist bomb. While Garrison is recovering from his injuries, Schroeder makes him an offer the young man cannot refuse—refuge at Schroeder’s luxurious mountain retreat and rehabilitation from the best doctors who can treat Garrison’s blindness, and, if not cure him, at least teach him a new way of life.

But Thomas Schroeder has a secret. He is dying and determined not to lose his life. The doctors tell him his body cannot be saved. But about his mind? Garrison’s healthy young body would make an excellent replacement for Schroeder’s failing corpus, if the machines to perform the operation can be perfected in time.

Garrison has secrets of his own. Since the bombing that caused a loss of his sight, Garrison has become aware of new abilities slowly developing in his mind: mental powers he is beginning to master; strengths Schroeder cannot expect.

Richard Garrison and Thomas Schroeder, two strong-willed men locked in battle for the greatest prize—life itself.

Genres: Horror, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Audiobook, Paranormal, Thriller

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 26, 1984

About the author

Brian Lumley was born near Newcastle. In 22 years as a Military Policeman he served in many of the Cold War hotspots, including Berlin, as well as Cyprus in partition days. He reached the rank of Sergeant-Major before retiring to Devon to write full-time, and his work was first published in 1970. The vampire series, 'Necroscope', has been translated into ten languages and sold over a million copies worldwide.

He was awarded the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award in 2010.

Reviews

[Sleepy Boy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm starting to get the vibe the author's work just really isn't for me.

The action isn't much of an issue but the rest of it feels disjointed and lacking. The sex scenes are male middle school bad.

In the end I didn't really care what happened to any of the characters. Moving on.

[Melanie Bouthillette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a harder time getting through this book. Although it was well written and the action was there it still dragged on for me. Not sure why maybe the content of the story but I didnt love any of the characters Also very PG-13 love scenes and alot of sexist references to women and some animal cruelty at the end. Out of 5 i gave it four cause the idea was really cool but the characters were just meh.

The story is about a machine created by a Nazi German to make humans superhuman. The lead character becomes part of the machine and sees the truth in his life.

[Jon Von · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first Lumley book and maybe not ideal but still a pretty good ride. Great, original concept; psychic warfare, nazi scientists, psychiatry machines, this book benefits from a pretty original plot. The writing is good too, the author certainly has a way with his prose. I liked the evocative displays of wealth, little macho moments, and the general badassery of the main characters. But HOO BOY is this book sexist, and not a little. It just keeps getting more and more until I was like, “wow, this is just bitter”. It creeps in too. The ending is cool, and this book would have a been a four star for sure, except that by then it’s just... too much.

[hotsake (André Troesch) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not at all what I was expecting. I thought this was going to be a splatterfest instead what I got was a sci-fi psychological suspense that took its time to get to the plot, in fact this first book of the trilogy was pretty much all setup.

[Γιώργος Μπελαούρης · Rating 5 out of 5]

το λάτρεψα
φρενήρεις ρυθμοί
απίστευτη φαντασία
σε κρατά καθηλωμένο
αντάξιο του νεκροσκόπου άνετα
ανυπομονώ να βρω και τα επόμενα

[Chris Healey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished this today. I was missing Lumley since finishing the Necroscope saga which took over a year to complete. Found the narration on this one a bit jarring to begin with (was expecting Joshua Saxon) but got used to it quickly.
•
Similar territory to stuff like the films “altered states” & “the cell” maybe. A fun adventure with a couple of neat twists & turns along the way & a satisfying conclusion
•
Plan is to alternate this trilogy with his Primal Lands Trilogy so I’ll move on to book one of that next

[Chance · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brian Lumley is one of the main authors who helped me to start reading when I was younger. I honestly just do not know what to say about this book. The only reason why I am giving it two stars is for two things. The writing and character development were good; however, the plot was average and honestly the synopsis of the book is completely different than what it is really about. It was so ridiculous at times, especially the vivid and out of place sex scenes, that I found it to be mortally agonizing to read. I do not think I will be returning to Mr. Lumley for quite some time. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME/MONEY ON THIS BOOK UNLESS YOU WANT A GOOD LAUGH! Just to think this book is the first of a trilogy makes me cringe. It was so utterly pseudo-scientific and just plain unfeasible...even if ones mind stretches to the absolutely limit of the human imagination.

[Kat (Ginger Bibliophile on YouTube) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had an interesting premise that ended up not working for me. The guy I wanted to root for ended up not who he seemed to start out as and more Nazi behavior getting away without punishment isn’t what I wanna read. I made it halfway through and just couldn’t anymore. There was a doggie so I had to skip to the end and find out how things went. I just skimmed for Suzy’s parts and was not pleased. After that I didn’t even bother with the actual ending.

[Donovan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Psychomech series consists of 3 books:
Psychomech
Psychosphere
Psychamok

I found these to be a bit scattered when reading them but entertaining all the same.


Plot ***Spoilers***
Richard Garrison is a corporal in the Royal Military Police who is disturbed by repeated nightmares involving a silver car, black dog, two men, a beautiful unseen girl, a Machine and a man-God and ending in an explosion. Thomas Schroeder, a German industrialist, along with his trusted companion and employee Willy Koenig, are brought to Ireland on business. Members of the IRA try to prevent Schroeder from developing in Ireland by kidnapping his wife. While Schroeder and Koenig are able to beat the IRA at their own game of intimidation, they underestimate them and are left frantically trying to return to their hotel rooms as they learn that a bomb has been planted in the building, again threatening the lives of Schroeder's wife and son. Garrison's and Schroeder's lives cross paths as Garrison is ordered to escort Schroeder to his hotel room in search of his wife and son. Garrison manages to save the lives of Schroeder, his wife and his son just as the bomb explodes in the room, as predicted in his dream. The explosion leaves Garrison blind and cripples Schroeder, reducing his life expectancy to a mere two years.

Schroeder brings Garrison to his home in Germany in an attempt to repay his debt. While there Garrison meets Vicki Maler, the daughter of a friend of Schroeder who is also blind, and the two quickly become involved. Schroeder meanwhile tries to help Garrison in his blindness with gadgets and a highly trained guide dog. Schroeder also reveals to Garrison his belief in extra-sensory perception (ESP) and that he has had both his, Garrison's and even Vicki's fortunes read. Schroeder is to die within two years, Vicki is to die within only one year, and Garrison is to meet a "T", a "Machine" and eventually be merged with "TS" - partially agreeing with the events of his former nightmares. Schroeder explains that he believes that after his death he will return and his consciousness will merge with that of Garrisons. Garrison is skeptical at first, but after Schroeder shows how he is able to test for ESP ability, revealing Garrison's strong natural ability in the process, Garrison changes his opinion and makes a pact with Schroeder. Schroeder will give Garrison money and power now in exchange for the rebirth in Garrison that is to come.

Vicki leaves Garrison to travel the world in the year remaining to her. Garrison asks Schroeder to have her body cryogenically frozen after her death in response to another dream where he saw her frozen body. Garrison returns to England with the new wealth and connections Schroeder has given him. Schroeder eventually dies and Garrison is able to feel it through a telepathic connection. Soon after Koenig comes to Garrison, ordered by Schroeder to keep him safe, and informs him that Schroeder's home in Germany now belongs to him.

For the next few years Garrison learns from Koenig as the two become closer friends. Garrison first overcomes his limitations due to his blindness, increases his wealth and power as he learns more about business and even increases his supernatural mental powers. "T" is revealed to him one night in a dream somewhere in Italy with danger surrounding her. Garrison and Koenig travel to Italy to find Terri, rescuing her from trouble just in time. Already knowing it must happen from his dreams, Garrison soon marries Terri and for a few years they live together in relative happiness.

Unbeknown to Garrison, Terri was once intimately acquainted with a psychiatrist Gareth Wyatt who is harbouring Hans Mass ne Otto Krippner, a Nazi who once tried to build a machine to create supermen for Hitler. Wyatt is using Mass to again try to build this machine, Psychomech, for which he will then take the credit and the profit. While Wyatt believes this machine only to be a tool to use to overcome one's fears, Mass' true purpose for this machine is to amply a person's ESP abilities and thus create a race of supermen. Mass succeeds but Wyatt murders him to prevent being caught for his role in harbouring a Nazi war criminal.

Wyatt runs into Terri at a party in England and both having learned that she is now married to a rich and powerful man and being in need of money, tries to again seduce her in the hopes of extorting money. Terri arranges for Wyatt to meet Garrison, who quickly agrees to lend financial and technical support to Wyatt when he realizes that Wyatt's Psychomech is the Machine in his dreams.

Terri and Wyatt fall in love and plot to rid themselves of Garrison. After rebuilding and improving Psychomech, Garrison decides to be its trial subject, as he knows he must. Wyatt tries to sabotage Psychomech to kill Garrison but Garrison uses his supernatural abilities to conquer his fears one by one. Schroeder's essence reveals itself to Garrison while he under Psychomech's influence. Garrison tries to deny Schroeder but allows Schroeder to merge with himself as he realizes he can't overcome the final fear, the last obstacle along, Garrison/Schroeder enter the black room which holds Garrison's final fear and finds Terri and Wyatt locked in an embrace. They change revealing all those who have betrayed Garrison. Garrison/Schroeder's supernatural abilities reach their peak. They return sight to Garrison's body then resurrect Vicki, returning her to her original state while curing her eyesight and removing her terminal disease. They punish Terri and Wyatt first with pain and then death. Koenig is rewarded for his loyalty by granting him immortality by merging his consciousness with their own to form Garrison/Schroeder/Koenig. They erase the existence of Psychomech, Wyatt and his house and then together the Garrison/Schroeder/Koenig entity along with Vicki are left to a world of untold possibilities.



Psychosphere
After Richard Garrison lost his sight in a terrorist explosion, he developed vast mental powers that more than compensated for his blindness. He mastered the Psychomech machine, then used it to conquer his enemies and restore his dead love to full and vibrant life. Psychomech also revealed to Garrison the Psychosphere, a startling reality where mental powers reigned supreme and could influence people and events on Earth. Once he was nearly godlike-or demonic, if one dared become his enemy-but now Garrison's mental abilities grow weaker with each use. He tries desperately to conserve his energies, but he has begun to have strange visions of a mind so different from his own as to be other than human, and knows he must stay alert and strong. Charon Gubwa has invaded the Psychosphere. Twisted and evil, sexually and mentally warped, physically corrupt, Gubwa's desires are simple: More. More drugs. More sex. More power. More of the Earth under his dominion. Richard Garrison must battle Gubwa in the Psychosphere and on Earth. And he must win, no matter the cost to himself or those he loves, or all mankind will be lost.


Psychamok
Richard Garrison was once a corporal in the British Military Police, until a terrorist's bomb destroyed his eyesight and his career. Repaying Garrison for saving his wife and child from the blast, millionaire industrialist Thomas Schroeder introduced him to the Psychomech, an amazing machine that could either gift its users with astonishing mental powers-or destroy them utterly.

Having successfully harnessed the Psychomech, Garrison discovered the Psychosphere, a strange plane of existence where mental abilities were all. Thought became intent, word became deed, and Garrison became like unto a god.

Two decades later, Garrison is utilizing his unique powers to explore the universe. On Earth, his son, Richard Stone, is happily in love, until his beloved falls victim to "The Gibbering," a plague of madness that destroys men and women by destroying their minds. There is no obvious cause. There is no cure. There are no survivors.

When Richard Stone himself is infected by the Gibbering, the mental powers he inherited from his father enable him to defeat the madness, at least for a while. Then, to his horror, Stone discovers that the Psychomech has run amok and that the Gibbering is the result! Even though the insanity it creates batters his struggling mind, Stone realizes he is the only man with the knowledge and power capable of destroying the berserker mind-machine.

The son of Garrison is at war with Psychomech. Who will survive the final
battle, man or machine?
Brian Lumley is an international horror phenomenon, with books published in thirteen countries, including China, the Czech Republic, Germany, Japan, Russia, and Spain. More than two million books have been sold in his Necroscope series alone, but that barely taps the potential of this wildly imaginative author. Lumley's horror often crosses the dividing lines between fantasy and horror or between science fiction and horror. The Psychomech trilogy, of which Psychamok is the conclusion, is a perfect blend of science fiction, adventure, and horror, combining in a fast-paced whirlwind of a story that leaves the reader doubting the evidence of his or her own senses.

Richard Garrison was once a corporal in the British Military Police, until a terrorist's bomb destroyed his eyesight and his career. Repaying Garrison for saving his wife and child from the blast, millionaire industrialist Thomas Schroeder introduced him to the Psychomech, an amazing machine that could either gift its users with astonishing mental powers-or destroy them utterly.

Having successfully harnessed the Psychomech, Garrison discovered the Psychosphere, a strange plane of existence where mental abilities were all. Thought became intent, word became deed, and Garrison became like unto a god.

Two decades later, Garrison is utilizing his unique powers to explore the universe. On Earth, his son, Richard Stone, is happily in love, until his beloved falls victim to "The Gibbering," a plague of madness that destroys men and women by destroying their minds. There is no obvious cause. There is no cure. There are no survivors.

When Richard Stone himself is infected by the Gibbering, the mental powers he inherited from his father enable him to defeat the madness, at least for a while. Then, to his horror, Stone discovers that the Psychomech has run amok and that the Gibbering is the result! Even though the insanity it creates batters his struggling mind, Stone realizes he is the only man with the knowledge and power capable of destroying the berserker mind-machine.

The son of Garrison is at war with Psychomech. Who will survive the final
battle, man or machine?

[SullyIsReading · Rating 3 out of 5]

(THIS REVIEW IS ORIGINALLY FROM STORYGRAPH, FROM 10TH SEPTEMBER 2025.)

I've read a number of Lumley's stories before, namely the Necroscope series. I love those books. I think they capture the horror-action genre very well.

This particular story is the beginning of a trilogy although I don't imagine reading the rest any time soon... the book was only okay. I had held hopes for it because when I had first planned on reading it, the image of what the story was about in my mind struck me as much more interesting than what the story amounted to. Call me old-fashioned, but merging my consciousness with a "good Nazi" just doesn't sound right.

The story itself was readable, the prose was enjoyable, but the actual story was pants. I did think the main character, Richard Garrison, was an interesting one -- I wouldn't say you were meant to like him though.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

★★★★★ — 4.5/5

When Brian Lumley released Psychomech in 1981, he wasn’t simply writing a horror novel—he was constructing an engine of existential dread. It’s the opening salvo of what would become the Psychomech trilogy, a strange and powerful blend of science fiction, metaphysics, and cosmic terror that dares to ask: what happens when a man’s dreams collide with the raw, unknowable power of his own mind?

This first installment is where it all begins—where Lumley wires together the first strands of a mythology that will later detonate into full-blown metaphysical apocalypse in Psychosphere and Psychamok. But it’s in Psychomech where the fuse is lit. It’s a story that hums with anticipation, like a rocket trembling on the launch pad, knowing that the ascent will be glorious, terrifying, and irreversible.

The novel follows Richard Garrison, a tough British soldier haunted—literally—by dreams that bleed into waking life. He’s blind, a veteran scarred by war and trauma, when he encounters a dying German industrialist named Franz Koenig, a man who claims to know the secret of his visions. Koenig believes in something beyond human perception: a bridge between the physical and the psychic, a machine capable of amplifying the human mind to divine proportions. This creation—the Psychomech—is his life’s work.

When Koenig dies, he leaves his fortune—and his terrible invention—to Garrison. And thus begins Garrison’s transformation from broken man to something far more—and far less—than human. What follows is a slow, unnerving unraveling of consciousness, a collision between technology and transcendence that Lumley handles with the precision of a scientist and the lunacy of a dreamer.

Lumley’s prose in Psychomech is not the sleek, commercial terror of Stephen King or the workmanlike Americana of Dean Koontz. Hell, Koontz gives you thrills like a SciFi Channel funded show —fast, fun, and insanely deep hearted and loyal to its characters. King, when he’s at his best, can carve out moments of deep human small town horror, but his terror is the kind you can put down and walk away from; most especially some of them endings... Lumley, on the other hand, grows his horror like a chili plant in his own backyard—organic, deliberate, and dangerously potent. You can feel his care in the details, his fascination with the architecture of fear. Where Koontz entertains, Lumley disturbs. Where King sprinkles spice, Lumley feeds you fire.

And perhaps that’s because, when Psychomech was written, Lumley was not chasing bestseller lists or mass appeal. He was a man steeped in the Lovecraftian tradition, a veteran of the British army, writing from a place that blended discipline and obsession. You can feel his isolation, his fascination with power and transformation. There’s an almost biographical madness in how he writes about Garrison’s yearning to see, to know, to become more. Lumley himself was reaching for that same power as an author—testing the limits of what horror could do, and in doing so, touching something dangerously close to revelation.

The Psychomech itself—a machine designed to unlock the infinite potential of the mind—is the perfect metaphor for Lumley’s own creative process. Both promise transcendence and deliver torment. As Garrison fuses with the machine, ascending into something godlike, Lumley fuses with his own imagination, showing us how creation and insanity are often the same act viewed from different sides. The horror here is not about monsters or gore—it’s about becoming too aware, too awake. It’s about seeing the machinery behind existence and realizing it’s been waiting all along for someone foolish enough to flip the switch.

What makes Psychomech so brilliant, in hindsight, is how it promises more than it resolves. The novel closes with revelation and triumph, but under the surface, there’s unease—a sense that Garrison’s victory has opened doors that can’t be closed. The real madness, we realize, hasn’t begun yet. That comes later, in Psychamok, where Lumley takes the ideas born here and lets them metastasize into something truly apocalyptic. Book two (Psychosphere) may drift a bit, a necessary descent before the climb, but by the time we reach the third volume, the engine built in Psychomech is roaring at full power. The anticipation born here—this electric tension between transcendence and terror—is half the fun. It’s that rare story where the beginning feels so immense that the ending, no matter how grand, can only echo it.

Lumley’s genius lies in this balance: he gives us both the machinery and the madness, the science and the soul. Reading Psychomech is like watching the first crack appear in a mirror that reflects not your face, but your consciousness. The fracture spreads across the trilogy, widening until, by Psychamok, the world itself is consumed by the same shattering insight that began with a single dream in a soldier’s mind.

For anyone who loves horror that thinks, horror that dares, horror that burns—Psychomech is essential reading. It’s not as sleek as Koontz, not as homespun as King, but far more dangerous than either. This is the kind of horror that lingers in your blood. Lumley writes like a man who has seen the other side of sanity and decided to take notes before coming back.

My rating: ★★★★★ — 4.5 out of 5—a foundational masterpiece of dark imagination. Psychomech doesn’t just begin a trilogy; it begins an infection of the mind that will only deepen as the series progresses. If you want to understand why Psychamok hits like divine madness, you have to start here—at the moment the machine first hums to life and the human mind dares to touch godhood.

Lumley didn’t just write horror. He engineered it.

[Emo.przemo · Rating 2 out of 5]

The fact that everything in this story ends well for main characters and they always win is irritating. Garrison is like a god and can do whatever he wants. And why is everyone a nazi? Characters are not likeable at this point. I won't even bother talking about how badly written women are. The whole story is just main character showing off his abilities and talking about that he's blind but his condition is not affecting him at all.

[Matthew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't give up on books too often, but this one got the best of me. Fun concept overall but found the characters at best annoying and at worst cardboard. Story itself just didn't click. I've read Lumley before, although not in many years, and remember his writing better. Maybe it's just this series

[Ryan Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

picked up book two and thre in this series today not too happy as bloke in store told me they wasn't part of a series like necroscope suppose should of payd more notice do I really need to read the this first book or could I skip it and still enjoy the series please let me know thanks

[Daniel Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this a while ago, but then hit a long run of work so forgot to jot down my thoughts.

Loved it though, I remember that! I have the sequel on my tbr pile ready to go. A superb mix of action, technology, psychology, and the supernatural.

[Courtney Chambers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. The nightmares were interesting, the ending mind blowing. Not the best written, but definitely entertaining.

[Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

You cannot go wrong with ANY book from Brian Lumley...he is the Master of his trade.

[Tonya Breck · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a wild ride, especially the end of it. There was some areas that seemed a bit thin when it came to storytelling and character development, but it was definitely worth the read.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the heck out of it. Not Necroscope, but still distinctly Lumley

[Arthur B · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lumley in full-blown Garth Marenghi mode. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/201...

[Andy Venn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favourite Lumley book but it was ok. Seemed a bit childish in places.

[Debbi Amick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent series

[Colin Redmon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It started a bit slow for me but really moved once it got cooking. Looking forward to the next in the series

[Shawn Turpin · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's just boring.

[Ryan Lieb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brian Lumley is both a fascinating and a frustrating writer. There's a lot to like here, he has a really unique imagination, his books are usually slow-burn but with a bonkers payoff that is really fun. That is true here, but also, his sexism is on full display. His female characters are usually very one-dimensional, and are often quickly sidelined, or made to be antagonists (and usually subservient to a stronger male antagonist). Also, there is a segment of this book that discusses sexual assault in a very excessive, potentially triggering way, so reader beware. If you're willing to take the good with the bad, it's a cool story with a unique take on ESP, and it's super weird. But i'm finding it harder and harder with each book to ignore his faults as a writer.

[Allan Smulling · Rating 3 out of 5]

First... I love reading Brian Lumley. I'm disappointed that he hasn't gathered the kind of audience that he deserves in the United States. In many ways he's picked up from where H.P. Lovecraft left off, and complements the horror of Clive Barker. I've read a few books from Lumley's Necroscope series and find them very compelling, well written and very entertaining.

Psychomech so far, hasn't disappointed me. I'm enjoying the characters and the story. The only quibble that I have is some of Mr. Lumley's descriptions of 1970's fashion. I find that when he details a characters clothes as sophisticated I get the vision Austin Powers and it takes me out of the story. This is minor thing that I'm learning to ignore. (I have the same problems with some Robert Ludlum novels).

I'm hoping to finish this by the end of the weekend. I'm sure that I'll continue on to the second book in the series.

[Bryan D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Psychomech is an ambitious novel with a great premise and interesting visuals, my edition was published in 1984 (different to the picture) and it was far ahead of it's time. Why three stars? Simply it dragged something awful, the first 130 or so pages were character driven, I usually enjoy this but felt it could have been condensed, the middle section was rather interesting but then it dragged again until the grand finale that was excellent.

Anyone curious about Brian Lumley's work should either read Necroscope, a great vampire series or the Titus Crow novellas which are love letters to Lovecraft, they are short, snappy and very fun.

[Michael Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Different and out there, but not very well done. Lumley is an ex SAS officer, and his violent scenes are very nicely done. It is quite easy to ruin a scene with a poorly written confrontation or fight. Entertaining, but his later books (Necroscope) are far better.

[Natt Cham · Rating 4 out of 5]

อ่านคำโปรยปกหลังนึกว่าเป็นเรื่องแนว Ghost in the machine. แต่อ่านเรื่องแล้วกลับเป็นแนวมนุษย์พลังจิต Supernatural + Super-machine เครือ่งจักรขยายพลังพิเศษ คงต้องเปลี่ยนคำอธิบายเรื่องหน่อยล่ะ

อ่านแล้ววางแทบไม่ลง ต้องอ่านรวดเดียวจบไปเลย

[GD · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some psychic horror/sci-fi stuff.