Puppets

by Daniel Hecht

The thrilling prequel to the bestselling Skull Session , published for the first time in the United States.

The New Jersey State Police had started calling him Howdy Doody, after the famous TV puppet of the 1950s. Three people killed in northern New Jersey, then three in Manhattan and another in the Bronx, in a thirteen-month period. And all of them hung up with strings attached to their limbs, like puppets. Finally the murderer was caught in New York City. Or so it seems―until State Police detective Mo Ford finds another victim, killed and arranged in exactly the same way. Is it a copycat crime, or did the police catch the wrong man? Mo's theory about what happened soon expands to involve U.S. intelligence agencies and a horrific experiment with human beings. With so many forces behind the scenes, who is the real puppet master?
A Times of London bestseller * A WH Smith Read of the Week

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Audiobook, Horror

448 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2001

About the author

I was born into an artist's community founded in 1946 by my parents and their friends in the wilds of Westchester County, N.Y. Surrounded by these individualistic yet communalistic bohemians, I saw artists in every discipline working their magic, and could not help but follow in their footsteps.

I've lived all over the U.S. and have worked at every kind of job to make ends meet, and I enjoy the labor of body and hands as much as the effort of the mind. Mailman, logger, carpenter, musician, musical instrument builder, graphic designer, apple picker, farmhand, nonprofit organizational director, college administrator, educator -- the great thing about a checkered past is that you see the world from a lot of perspectives. This is the best education for a writer!

I have lived in Vermont for many years, have three kids and several cats, am active on behalf of environmental causes, and am highly reclusive.

Reviews

[Allyslittlewonderland · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable book. The main character was likable and realistic. The murders were perplexing and disturbing without over the top gore. I did however find there was too much irrelevant details or unnecessary interaction.

[LJ · Rating 1 out of 5]

PUPPETS (Thriller-New York-Cont) – Poor
Hecht, Daniel – Standalone
Bloomsbury, 2005-Paperback
Det. Mo Ford is called to a murder scene where the victim has been strung up like a puppet. The scene is identical to past murders. The only problem is the killer is in prison. Is this a copycat or someone on the inside with access to detailed information?
*** Warning: animals and humans are tortured in this book. But that's not why I rated it "poor." It's because I figured out, almost from the beginning, who was behind it all and after that, I really didn't care. There were red herrings trying to divert suspicion, chapters that took you into the killer's mind, a massive government conspiracy, a romance for the protagonist, and I still didn't care. In fact, I ended up skimming through most of the book. I've enjoyed other books by Hecht, but just can't recommend this one.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as compelling read as skull session, but this story has more tension to it. A more straightforward thriller, but very intelligent and interesting.

Mo Ford's character from Skull Session is resurrected here, and while the character is obviously the same, the stories are totally not connected. But I do like Mo Ford, and I am finding myself in a similar situation in my life, so that was also nice.

[Velvetink · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of those "couldn't put it down toil the end" books.
Puppets is a fast, intriguing story bolstered by real substance in its study of the dodgy things governments do...Combined with the mind games of a classic manhunt and a splash of romance, it's got pretty much all you could ask for.

[Lisa Greer · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't get into it, knowing the fate of Mo already!

[Brian O'Leary · Rating 2 out of 5]

good start, good main characters, but way too drawn out.

[Kees van Duyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

In de staat New Jersey werden in ruim een jaar diverse moorden gepleegd. De slachtoffers werden met draden aan handen en benen opgehangen. Als marionetten. De moordenaar, die later opgepakt werd en uiteindelijk zelfmoord pleegde, kreeg de bijnaam Howdy Doody, een bekende tv-marionet.

Als op een dag een nieuw slachtoffer wordt gevonden, krijgt rechercheur Morgan (Mo) Ford de leiding over het onderzoek. Al snel is het duidelijk dat deze moord, later volgen er meer, overeenkomsten vertoont met de eerdere moorden. Samen met de vrouwlijke psychiater Rebecca Ingalls ontdekt Mo de ware toedracht van de moorden en wie er voor verantwoordelijk is.

Poppenspel is een boek dat vanaf het eerste hoofdstuk al boeiend is. En dat neemt, naarmate het verhaal vordert, alleen maar toe. Ook de spanning wordt langzaam maar zeker opgevoerd. Waarbij plotwendingen niet achterwege gelaten worden. En pas in de laatste hoofdstukken wordt duidelijk waarom de moorden gepleegd zijn.

Hoewel je als lezer halverwege het verhaal denkt te weten wie de dader is, weet Hecht je toch aan het twijfelen te brengen. Heeft het boek dan geen enkel minpunt? Jawel, maar een niet zo heel erg grote. Want als Mo ergens een bepaalde gedachte over heeft, wordt het woordje 'huuh' nogal vaak gebruikt. Dat had wat minder gekund. Desondanks is het een Poppenspel een prima thriller.

[Sadie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started strong with this book. The cop that pushes the envelope, failing at his marriage, and the dynamic of working with the FBI on these (copycat?) Howdy Doody murders had me excited to forge ahead. And I did; I read about 150 pages in a couple days while juggling life-always a good indication-but then I stalled out. I felt forced to get through it just to finish. I wanted to skip ahead. I had some good guesses who the killer was-but to be honest, by the time I got there, I really didn’t care. I also got nothing out of the cop/psychologist relationship. I didn’t feel any chemistry, whatever was supposed to be there wasn’t a working for me.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a prequel of sorts to Skull Session, which I recently read for the 2nd (or 3rd) time. The main character of Puppets is a secondary character in Skull Session, so it's not really a prequel.

Hecht likes to include a bit of horror/fantasy in his books, which are otherwise very straightforward. I think I'd like the books better without the supernatural, but I like his writing so much that I put up with that. His crimes are more gruesome than I really like, but not really dwelt upon.

I liked Skull Session a bit better than this one, but both are strong on character development and psychology in general.

[Eruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a prequel of sorts to Skull Session, which I recently read for the 2nd (or 3rd) time. The main character of Puppets is a secondary character in Skull Session, so it's not really a prequel.

Hecht likes to include a bit of horror/fantasy in his books, which are otherwise very straightforward. I think I'd like the books better without the supernatural, but I like his writing so much that I put up with that. His crimes are more gruesome than I really like, but not really dwelt upon.

I liked Skull Session a bit better than this one, but both are strong on character development and psychology in general.

[looneybooks79 · Rating 3 out of 5]

What is it with Daniel Hecht’s novels that makes me doubt if I thought it good or bad? I was glad to read more Mo Ford (especially because of his unfortunate death in Skull Session) but I was let down with how he was portrayed here... I didn’t like him as much as I did before! His relationship with Rebecca and the way he acts made me cringe (at times thinking he was the killer - maybe Hecht wanted me to think that?)
So yeah 2,5/5*

[Caitlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sorry but how has anyone even gotta past the first page of this book? The first page alone is riddled with grammatical problems and starts with a story line that doesn't make any sense. It's like a 14-year-old wrote this.

[Samiam037 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok book. Interesting. I suppose I should have guessed who the killer was, but found it disappointing when he was revealed. The ending didn’t feel totally complete.

[Claudia Manchón · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a conspiracy theory underlying this thriller that questions the rise of random violence and serial killers in the US.

[Dkolacinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommended. Interesting twist on serial killers. I particularly like the use of second person narration (extremely difficult to do well). No spoilers here. Just read the book!

[Sharon · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. Animal torture

[Cecily Black · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting novel but one that is a little drawn out for me. The imagry, especially with the animals, is a bit disturbing so the book is definitely not fr the faint at heart. I liked the story but there was just too much filler and it took way too long to get to the final climax when we basically know who did it half way through the novel. Meh!

[Rogue Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scary scary serial killer. Re-reading and then will move the book along

[Annelien · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Puppets" looks and reads like a typical detective novel at first, with atypical characters: a detective named Mo has to find who has been imitating an already imprisoned murderer in his district, aided by a psychologist who is very smart and cunning and already in on the entire case. Together they form a very good team but seem up against a series of very difficult situations.

However, the novel isn't typical: the characters are very well written, each with their own voice and thinking patterns. The murderer's identity remains a mystery until the page on which his name is revealed, though you slowly understand his motives and seem to understand 'why' before 'who' and all the suspects seem so likely. You want to warn the detective not to trust this or that person, but even you aren't sure who is reliable and who is not. Daniel Hecht writes very well, al though sometimes a bit too elaborate, about feelings and surroundings.

Sometimes the characters do seem a bit contrived and set-up perfect-ish, but it's okay and you keep reading. a page-turner!

[Tim Titolo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Puppets, by Daniel Hecht, is a prequel to his popular Skull Sessions. Focusing on detective Mo Ford, the plot is about an investigation into human experiments from the Vietnam war where humans were neurologically programmed to be killers. The mystery of who is the bad guy is revealed in the final pages.

Leading up to the mystery revealed, Hecht engages us in issues from government secrets, the life of a lonely detective, and light romance.

I have just finished reading the third Hecht novel. The last two were sequels in Hecht's series with Cretia Black, paranornal investigator. I find Hecht to be a good writer with good character development and style. He dabbles in things that are close to unbelievable and so the plots suffer - in my opinion.

Overall I would probably not recommend Hecht but if I did the Skull Session/Puppets series was better than the Cretia Black series. One thing Hecht does well is take the stories to interesting destinations: New York's Westchester County. San Francisco, New Orleans, and Mexico.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say, I like this guy's writing even though I never would have heard of him if it weren't for picking up one of his books at a dollar sale on Barnesandnoble.com

Truly messed up, sickening book. In the first thirty pages or so there is a scene that hit me pretty hard and frightens me to think either this author thought it up, or something like this has happened n real life for him to take and use literary license on.

I was also truly surprised at the end. You know how they say when reading a good book that is fiction, you have to suspend disbelief? Well I think, with even average writing skills, I tend to suspend intelligence and maybe just let myself be surprised instead of really working on trying to figure out the ending ahead of time.

Great book! Will continue reading his stuff for a long time, if he keeps writing!

[Grada (BoekenTrol) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got a signed copy :-)

A very nice thriller :-) Kept me reading, guessing who the puppeteer might be. I think that was the objective of the author, but sometimes I know who did it long before the story ends. Not in this case, however, and that is what I liked mose.
The subject however is quite gruesome: changing people into murderers, experimenting on dogs. I don't want to imagine that practices like that really do exist, but to be honest, I wouldn't be very surprised if they did under the authority of government agencies.

I like the unconventional 'hero' Mo Ford, and the way he handles things. Okay, I do get annoyed sometimes (like when Bec cmes to his house and they end up fighting because he isn't real honest), but all in all to me he is quite a sympathetic character.

[Hazel Bright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outside of the completely gratuitous Mr. Smith segments that slobbered with ridiculous and lascivious evil villain POV, including animal torture (experimenting on dogs - I skimmed this part), I enjoyed this novel. Hecht has an interesting mind and makes fascinating observations about the world. The story was secondary to the overall excellent quality of the author's thoughts on these pages.

On my second read, I skipped the Smith segments entirely and that made the book a lot more enjoyable.

[Deb W · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first non-Cree Black of Hecht's titles, and I admit that parts of it left me squeamish -- large parts, but I think that was the point. Hecht twists and contorts his readers' minds as he does his characters. I'm not an expert on the psychological thrillers, but his Skull Session came highly recommended and I wanted to read this prequel first. I'm glad I did, but the content was disturbing. :(

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Daniel Hecht is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. The characters are well developed and the scenes so clearly painted that you feel you are right there in the story. Since this tale is about a detective Mo Ford trying to unravel a string of killings, that's not always a comfortable place to be. The fact that the evidence points to someone within the law enforcement system, so neither you or the detective know just exactly who to trust, makes for a real page turner.

[Jovdb · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rather a confusing book. A bit too convoluted with the involvement of many agencies and lots of different vendettas and agendas going on around the murder investigation.

A frustrating ending. There seems to be a growing number of books that are ending like this. I don't like it, not in this genre.

[Betsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although sometimes dark and dealing with the unsettling subject of a serial killer, this book still managed to build likable characters with believable dialog. Hecht combines a study of the dark human psyche with an added bonus of government conspiracy.

[Beth (bibliobeth)]

First one of Daniel Hecht's I have read, apparently it is a prequel to Skull Session and will definitely be adding that to my list! Enjoyed the story and the intense focus on all the characters rather than just the crimes.

[Gary Scott Gebert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Puppets

A crime drama with all the twists and turns to keep you turning the pages. Detective Ford teams up with a beautiful psychologist to uncover a string of grizzly murders that become close to home as they unravel the maker of puppets.

[Monica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. I've read his other books and liked them much better. This one was pretty formulaic. Also, if you're a dog lover, you definitely won't like it. Actually, I think it's okay if you just skip this one and read his other ones. Also, the Kindle version suffered from poor editing.