The Puppet Show

Who fancies another book from the psychological mastermind Patrick Redmond? Me!!!

Meet Michael, the quiet budding lawyer who’s madly in love with Rebecca until Max comes along…

Although Michael now seems to have it all: the job, the girl and the lifestyle to suit… he carries a huge lot of resent for his childhood – he spent most of his childhood in a home, but after moving into a new flat and meeting his landlord, Max, he sees a new light.

Max; a lot older than Michael, has also come from the same background and becomes the role model and father figure that Michael has always wanted.

If you thought Michael was doing alright financially, then Max has done INCREDIBLY well  and is keen to share his fortune and his contacts with all.

Max is able to make Michael’s life even better than it already is and Michael is extremely happy to go along with this… but Rebecca is suspicious. She believes that if Michael let’s Max give him all these luxuries, he’s giving himself up to be controlled like a ‘puppet’ – hence the title.

Redmond is an incredible storyteller, the way he builds up this book is applaudable. There’s this perfect balance of seeing Max through Michael’s eyes and Rebecca’s, and so when Rebecca gave Michael the ultimatum: it’s me or him, I couldn’t help but start listing the pros and cons of what would happen if Michael ended contact with Max.

There’s the usual few background stories knocking about and I’ll give you a little nudge… Emily (a friend of Rebecca and Michael) is not only a background character but she becomes an important main one too!

There was a massive plot twist that I hadn’t expected towards the end of the book, it led me to drop my jaw down on the tube and consequently a woman to nudge me and say ‘good book then?’, I’m sure if anyone else has read the book…they’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.

If you’ll remember I wasn’t too keen on ‘The Wishing Game’ because of the supernatural references and if you’re similar to me… You’ll be pleased to know there’s none of that in this book and although there wasn’t a happy ending, it was believable and well thought out.

All in all, another fantastic psychological thriller. If I think back to the last review I published ‘The Girl On The Train’, I can’t help but be frustrated that books like that gain international recognition, whilst Redmond has produced multiple books that (in my opinion) are far better….then again ‘The Puppet Show’ was originally printed in 2000, so perhaps I’m too young to remember how successful it was… And I’ll tell you how you know it’s reasonably old… in the book, you still had to pay for the Evening Standard!!

N.B. For anyone who’s not familiar, the Evening Standard is a free newspaper (now!) that you can pick up each evening in London

Until next time, Chloé x