The novel “The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag” by Robert A. Heinlein was published for the first time in 1942 in the magazine “Unknown Worlds” under the pseudonym John Riverside.

Jonathan Hoag has no memory of what he does during the day. He found under his fingernails remains of a substance that could be dried blood but when he asks a doctor to check it he’s asked to leave and never be seen again. His last hope is to turn to Ted and Cynthia Randall, a couple of private investigators, so they follow him to find out what happens in the hours he can’t remember.

After some initial confusion on their new client’s issue, Ted and Cynthia accept the job. The two of them follow him separately but when they meet to assess the situation they discover with dismay that they saw different and irreconcilable things because Cynthia has seen Ted talk to Hoag but he can’t remember anything of the sort. They keep on investigating and not only the weirder and weirder things happen but they also become dangerous for them.

Robert A. Heinlein was a great master in the field of science fiction but occasionally wrote stories which go beyond this genre. “The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag” starts as a detective story / thriller, which Jonathan Hoag investigators turning to Ted and Cynthia Randall to find out what he does during the day.

In its first part, this may seem like a psychological thriller. Jonathan Hoag is facing a very difficult situation because he can’t remember anything of what he does during the day and finding a substance that could be dried blood under his fingernails he has a horrible suspicion. When the doctor he goes to for the analysis fo the substance practically throws him out giving him no useful information he gets desperate.

Jonathan Hoag turns to Ted and Cynthia Randall, a husband and wife who run their investigation agency. Robert A. Heinlein uses the typical elements of his stories rather than getting inspired to detective stories. Cynthia is a woman smart and tough as it’s normal in the stories of this author, certainly not her husband’s secretary as it was common in the stories of the ’40s.

However, after this beginning, the story becomes stranger and stranger moving away from detective story and psychological thriller. Today we would call it fantasy and not accidentally at the time it was published in “Unknown Worlds”, which is considered by someone the magazine that created modern fantasy.

In the course of the novel, Ted and Cynthia Randall increasingly lose touch with reality, or at least with the one they know, and find themselves embroiled in a story much bigger than they could ever imagine. Robert A. Heinlein is very good at describing the initial sense of alienation of Jonathan Hoag and then of Ted and Cynthia, who soon begin to be in danger.

The tension grows more and more but for Ted and Cynthia it’s really hard to understand what’s the source of danger, so outside the experience of a human being. In a novel that seems to be the precursor of many of those written in the following decades by Philip K. Dick rather than the Heinlein’s, the reader is forced to redefine the concept of reality along with the protagonists.

For Ted and Cynthia the experience is very traumatic and has consequences even after they have solved the case, if you can call that a resolution. They discover much more than they cared to and they must bear the consequences. The only way to take it is to hang on to each other.

“The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag” is a short novel by modern standards but normal for those of the ’40s. Consequently, the development of the characters isn’t particularly deep but it’s not a serious flaw because Ted and Cynthia are the protagonists and Robert A. Heinlein gives us several details about their relationship. The pace of the narrative is of course fast though this isn’t exactly an action story.

Philip K. Dick was the best in making his readers feel the alteration and/or fragmentation of reality, Robert A. Heinlein is more focused on the tension of the story. I think the result is still good and “The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag” is a must-read for people who are interested in this author.