Overview

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, and objects arranged in geometric patterns throughout the murder scene. The murderer had been caught in New York city several months previously. Then State Police detective Mo Ford found another victim, killed and arranged in exactly the same way... Put in charge of the investigation, Mo finds himself in thrall to the DA, who has him over a barrel because of the recent accidental death of a suspect. As he investigates further, Mo begins to construct a theory that involves the US intelligence agencies and a horrific experiment with human beings. But how many puppet masters are involved?

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Reviews

The fourth and best yet from Hecht (Land of Echoes, 2004, etc.) brings back New York State Police Homicide Detective Mo Ford (Skull Session, 1998). Tortured for hours, the psychokiller's victims eventually die of strangulation; then they're found strung up on weed-trimmer wire, like human marionettes dangling from ceilings, trees, even the plumbing of an old factory. The good news is that the Howdy Doody killer was caught in Manhattan in an FBI sting and hung himself in his jail cell not long after. The bad news is that virtually identical killings are taking place in suburbs just north of the city. Detective Ford doesn't have time to recover from injuries sustained while apprehending a serial rapist (as well as psychological fallout from a break-up with his girlfriend) when he's told he must report every move on these new Howdy Doody murders to FBI Special Agent in Charge Biedermann, a gruff, domineering Viet Nam vet who, Ford discovers, caught the first Howdy Doody culprit by using his former girlfriend, psychologist Roberta Ingalls, as bait. Ford figures that the new killer is either a copycat or the FBI got the wrong guy. Either way, to copy the crimes so completely, the new killer had to have information that only a law enforcement insider, or a close associate of the old killer's, would know. Ford knows that the perp is physically strong, meticulously detailed and psychotically controlling, and that his victims are all blonde. In addition to being blonde, sexy and very astute, Dr. Ingalls is drawn to Ford. An uneasy romance develops, made rocky-but also compelling-as Ford finds his despairing, brooding, sensitive nature does not prevent him from forcing her to reveal what she knows about the killer. Along the way, Hecht follows the psychokiller formula step by step, expanding on the bureaucratic, and emotional, tensions that spur Ford onward. No surprises here, just a very strong, suspenseful tale from a skillful author finally realizing his potential. (Kirkus Reviews)

This is Hecht's third novel, and again he sets a cracking pace while bringing unusual psychological insight to a bizarre situation. A sadistic copycat killer is abroad in New Jersey who enjoys a novel way of choosing and murdering his victims, such that when found they resemble string puppets. Mo Ford, the police officer assigned to investigate, becomes increasingly aware that he is working on the fringes of a political conspiracy and being deliberately stymied by those who are supposed to be aiding the investigation - one of whom may be the killer. It is here that Hecht lifts the narrative from the ordinary as he illustrates Ford's manipulation by the mysterious government agents he is forced to work with and his attraction to Dr Ingalls, a psychologist who is giving evidence in the original 'puppet' case. Ingalls - as Ford eventually discovers - is herself both manipulative and manipulated. As his investigation proceeds he learns of similar killings in other parts of the USA over at least two decades, but can find nothing which links them together. The search for the common denominator, no matter how unlikely, finally produces the answer he needs. The denouement is not unexpected and is in places trite and unconvincing but the insights into invoked pathological insanity go a long way to retrieve this lapse. This is a rattling good read, thoughtfully executed and which leaves the reader with a sense of unease about our masters' covert activities. (Kirkus UK)

Author Information

Before becoming a writer, Daniel Hecht spent twenty years as a guitarist, a musical career that included albums on Windham Hill Records, concerts at Carnegie Hall, and international performance tours. He now lives in Vermont.

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