"Hechtdelivers a first-rate thriller with a killer combination of
wit, grit, and gore."Booklist

"Part medical investigation, part Gothic chiller, with a singularly explosive
ending."Mail on Sunday

"Four stars! 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. Excellent stuff!"Daily Mirror

The New Jersey State Police had started calling him Howdy Doody, after the famous
TV puppet of the 1950s. Three people had been killed in northern New Jersey, then
three in Manhattan, and another in the Bronx, in a thirteen-month period. All of them
were found hung up with strings attached to their limbs, like puppets. Finally the
murderer was caught in New York City. But several months later, 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?

Daniel Hecht was a professional guitarist for twenty years. He took up writing in 1989 and received his M.F.A. degree from the Iowa Writers' Workshop in 1992. His first novel, Skull Session, was a best-seller. He lives in Montpelier, Vermont.

Christopher Lane is an award-winning actor, director, and narrator. Earning rave reviews on every book he has narrated for Blackstone, he received the coveted Audie Award in 2004. He lives in Washington, D.C.