Due to his research into the lives of geniuses, Dr Julius Conrad of the
Wellington Institute for the Study of the Humanities has developed a
radical hypothesis: Namely, that the work of most geniuses, past and
present, has been directed by minds from a ruthless future which take
possession of either the unstable geniuses themselves or else of
unstable people who are in a position to change the course of the
geniuses' work. When Conrad is murdered on the eve of announcing his
theory, journalist Henry Sanford and the Institute's brainy Liza Drew
investigate. Soon the pair discover their own lives are in jeopardy,
for the people of the future are determined that no one of our era will
ever reveal their existence or the role they play in human history.
As
critic Groff Conklin wrote in Galaxy, Killer to Come has "a sharpness
and authority in the writing, plotting and characterization that makes
it soar high. Entertains in an expert and colorful fashion. A
fast-moving tale with a wry and uncomfortable payoff."