Repeat Performance

"Repeat Performance" by Rog Phillips is a science fiction novel written in the early 1950s. The story revolves around the themes of fate, time travel, and the concept of altering events to change one’s destiny. It explores the idea of a character having a premonitory experience that ultimately leads to a second chance at life through intervention from a time traveler. The plot follows Ben Smith, a small-time pickpocket who learns from Dr. Sam Golfin that he is destined to be murdered at a party. Golfin possesses the ability to travel through time and informs Ben that he has a chance to prevent his own death by identifying his killer. As Ben navigates this disturbing revelation, he discovers a tangled web of deceit involving a group of blackmailers, ultimately leading to an unexpected twist where he must confront the unnerving reality of his future. The novel deftly blends elements of suspense and speculative fiction, as Ben grapples with the consequences of multiple timelines and the burden of knowledge about his own fate. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Roger Phillip Graham was an American science fiction writer who was published most often using the name Rog Phillips, but also used other names. Of his other pseudonyms, only Craig Browning is notable in the genre. He is associated most with Amazing Stories and is known best for short fiction. He was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novelette in 1959.