A bit of a disappointment, truth be told. Firstly, the editorial introduction, outlining Wall’s publication history, academic status as a Professor of Writing and Literature, and his being a poet, led to me anticipate something at the higher end of literary SF. In fact, it’s a fairly routine thriller, more of a Dan Brown than you would expect to see in Asimovs. And the speculative element is that the character brought in is a deaf-mute, who has enhanced abilities that enable him to virtually mind-read. Perhaps there was some mixup and the story should have appeared in the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine?
