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The Puppet Show |
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 The Puppet Show byPatrick Redmond Hodder & Stoughton 470 pages, 2000 ISBN 0340748192 Reviewed by our South African Editor Merilyn Tomkins adams.west@saol.com - Adams Bookshop, Durban, SA Michael Turner is still fighting the demons of his childhood. He grew up alone, an orphan lost in a maze of institutions and foster homes, surviving on dreams of success and of finding a place where he was wanted and could belong. Now, in his early twenties, he is at last beginning to escape his past. He has a loving fiancee and is taking the first steps in a promising legal career. Unexpectedly, a powerful father figure enters his life in the form of Max Somerton, an influential and wealthy businessman. When Michael meets Max it seems as if all his childhood dreams are being realized. Dreams, however, come with a price. Michael has allowed a dangerous cuckoo to enter the nest - one who is plagued by his own demons, who can manipulate the needs and vulnerabilities of others to dreadful effect. The Puppet Show is a study in manipulation, exploitation, lying, and taking advantage of others, particularly ones who are vulnerable. Michael's fiancee Rebecca brings the happiness and security he never knew. Max represents a father figure who eventually manages to keep Michael completely under his thumb. Rebecca's childhood friend Emily is also a vulnerable person with a tragic past. Max uses her too, and is instrumental in bringing about the mental state in which she commits murder and knifes to death her best friend. An excellent read and a perceptive insight into human nature. -- Patrick Redmond was born in 1966 and educated in England and the Channell Islands. He studied law at Leicester University and at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. For eight years he worked as a solicitor at various firms. He now writes full-time. His superb first novel The Wishing Game, set in a rural England school, also paints a picture of manipulation and control, and their disastrous effects on the lives of others. |
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