The Shapes of Sleep; a Topical Tale

Ben Sterndale, a 42-year old journalist out of a job, is the unusual hero of this action packed story. His good friend, an executive with a London advertising agency, has retained him to track down an enigmatic sheet of green paper which had been stolen from the desk of the agency's chief.With little more to go on than a list of the visitors who had access to the desk, Ben sets out on the search. His first stop is at a hospital in which an elderly philatelist lies dying; and from there on Ben encounters a host of peculiar birds, seductive women, cloak-and-dagger types, and enough fast action to satisfy the most demanding of search-and-adventure novel devotees.

This novel is Priesltey at his best. We meet Ben Sterndale, a cynical fact-gathering reporter, who accepts a job from a powerful business tycoon in order to find out information about "The Shapes of Sleep", which turn out to have been discovered by a communist professor of experimental psychology. The "shapes of sleep" are geometrical shapes which have a hypnotic effect on the populace and could form a deadly weapon of mass mind-control if used by politicians or marketers. There are enough twists and turns here to satisy any devotee of detective or spy novels, and the book contains a considerable amount of satire of the foibles of the modern age (with a dash of romance added for good measure). A very enjoyable read!