(1976: third book in The Big Brain trilogy. Publisher: Zebra Books.)
From the back cover
“THE BIG BRAIN IS POWERLESS. . .
“And so is the rest of the country. Call it energy crisis, black-out, magnetic warp. . . call it what you will, but there is just no electricity, plain and simple. Lights won’t light, motors won’t start, auxiliary generators are dead. And without any AC, DC is on its knees, ready to surrender.
“Even Colin Garrett, whose super bain can untangle the most incomprehensible technical problem, finds this truly a current conundrum. But even if he has to short every circuit in his brain, Garrett must learn who pulled the switch on Washington!”
Review
The Chinese are again the (probable) villains in Energy Zero, this time operating an “oil exploration” station in the frozen hell called the North Pole—it seems they, while seemingly working on a legit program, might be using a mysterious machine whose broadcasting power nullifies its targets’ electrical power, rendering them completely helpless energy-wise.
Of course, Energy has familiar setups and characters (again, Garrett gets a case partner: this time Ko Chun, who seems on the up-and-up, but is he really?). But Brandner ups his game here, plays with men’s adventure genre/Big Brain expectations with new-to-the-series twists and character motivations which, along with Garrett’s second-to-third-act survivalist situation (truly harrowing and inventive, with luck thrown in), make Energy (at least for this reader) the best entry in the already-fun, smartly written Brain trilogy. Garrett’s proclivity for casual sex (usually with affection—he is truly a lover of women) is in evidence as well, keeping with the first two books, so readers who enjoy that aspect can smile at it anew. Excellent, humorous and fun-in-a-men’s-adventure-way read, this crisply written and edited adventure is a great, playful ending for the Big Brain series.
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