Bratton's Idea

Old Bratton, a discarded Hollywood janitor with a mind fixed on forbidden invention, spends his life trying to make artificial life with electricity. In the glittering world of radio, show business, and backlot machinery, he finds the perfect subject in Tom-Tom, the uncanny dummy of ventriloquist Ben Gascon. What begins as a grotesque experiment in synthetic organs, hidden mechanisms, and reanimation soon erupts into a nightmare of impossible murders, mob violence, and a tiny voice that seems to command men from the shadows. When Gascon, now a medical student, traces a string of deaths and coded clues back to the dummy, he is drawn into a hidden lair where Tom-Tom has become a grotesque, intelligent tyrant. There he discovers Shannon Cole alive but captive, and faces a twisted philosophy of power, killing, and manufactured beings. Forced to help create a towering metal servant named Friday, Gascon watches the machine turn on its maker and must fight through fire and destruction to escape. Blending pulp noir, horror, and science fiction, this eerie tale asks what it means to be alive—and what happens when creation learns to rule. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.