Mind Kill

A murderer who kills via mind control proves a formidable adversary for a Philadelphia medical examiner in La Plante's latest suspense outing, which turns from the author's normal martial arts motif (Leopard, etc.) to the dark side of ESP. Ex-cop Bill Fogarty's Long Island retirement plans are rudely interrupted when a strange nightmare brings on a psychotic episode and lands him in a mental hospital. The dream's author is charismatic Justin Gabriel, a Manson-esque cult leader whom Fogarty busted for murder several years earlier. Intent on killing everyone who helped put him away, Gabriel has been using his psychic powers to visit his enemies in their dreams and provoke deadly panic attacks. The task of stopping him falls to Fogarty's friend, medical examiner Josef Tanaka, who uses his own ESP to connect the dots in the case. But Tanaka soon finds himself a target of the diabolical Gabriel: Tanaka is forced to kidnap Fogarty from the hospital and make him mentally revisit the bust that led to Gabriel's quest for vengeance. La Plante props up a questionable conceit with an engaging cast of characters, writes believable ""imaginary"" murder scenes and makes a home for both paranormal and normal suspense in this briskly plotted tale. Agent: Nat Sobel. (July)