Puppets [Paperback]

 

 

Create your own review

If "Puppets" is anything to go by, Hecht has successfully made the transition from the world of pop music to crime writing without missing a beat. The many nuances of guitar playing are nicely transposed in the plot and character development of this rather macabre tale of a complex hunt for a serial killer who is trying to mind-control his victims before killing them. For starters, there is the Long Island town of Westchester, New York, that is confronting for the first time that there is a monster loose in its neighborhood. Somebody is killing in a most bizarre fashion and leaving the bodies gruesomely dangling like puppets in public places where they can be easily found. Investigators believe that while they may have caught their man, there may be other psychos out there copying the MO. While this scenario forms the backbone of the story, Hecht throws in a lot of interesting asides that end up making the story really come alive. There is the young cop named Mo Ford who is thrust into the search with a host of his own personal problems to contend with. His survival instincts and clever knack to get out of tight spots makes him a very believable character. While rarely dazzling in his moves, he is at least inspiring in his efforts to make sense of the slew of conflicting facts coming at him from all angles. There is mounting pressure from the DA's office, from internal affairs, his ex-wife, his colleagues, and even the murderers themselves to comply with their commands. As to what they are becomes very plain as one gets into this very riveting page-turner. Hecht, like a literary puppeteer himself, does a masterful job at maintaining several plots in conjunction. While the highly energized but often flustered Mo and his team are uncovering clues as to who this second or third killer might be, we get to see the murderer - the person of the mysterious Mr. Smith - operating under our very noses. Lots of graphic and hair-raising detail available here in terms of how murders are committed. This is no random, garden-variety crime spree that Mo is facing. To solve it will require a number of breaks along the way and some cracker-jack analysis of clues before it is solved. We are looking at the main culprit as being a government psychological testing program from the Vietnam War era. It has come back to haunt society in dark and sinister ways, involving people who are naturally expected to be its best defenders actually being its worst enemies. This novel gets full marks for having a nice flow to it, lots of suspense, and a highly intelligent plot.

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See the customer review...

 

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Search Listmania!