“Ben Jolson, former member of the glalactic Chameleon Corps and reluctant private detective, returns in his toughest case yet. Someone has stolen the brainchip containing the mind of notorious space pirate Jackland Boggs, and Jolson must find the culprit and recover the chip. But there's a lot of valuable -- and dangerous -- secrets in that missing chip. And Boggs has a lot of enemies, including beautiful rival pirate Flame Flenniken; the strong-arm apeman called the Whispering Gorilla; Lt. Hillman of the Territorial Police Murder Squad; and the evil cyborg Professor Tincan. Jolson and his new partner Sniffer, a state-of-the-art mechanical dog with a nasty disposition, have their hands full. Then when another, renegade exchameleon enters the picture, Jolson must use all his wits to see through his enemy's clever disguises -- and stay alive.”
It's a another madcap romp from the twisted mind of Ron Goulart, with extra doses of over-the-top silliness as Ben encounters the pirate queen Flame Flenniken, the Whispering Gorilla, and the evil cyborg Professor Tincan, all in pursuit of the brain (or, really a chip) of notorious space pirate Jackland Boggs (who has hid money, political secrets, and other unsavory stuff across the Barnum system). I really liked the premise of this book –a real great sci-fi idea that is played for laughs here, but in different hands, could’ve worked as a serious noir detective story like Phillip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream Electric Sheep (or, Blade Runner).
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