review
Marionet is the second part in a triptych, in which detectives Wolf, Baxter and Edmunds are central. In the first book, the trio had to deal with a serial murderer, who sewed the body parts of different victims together into a ‘rag doll’. In Marionet there is a copycat active, imitating the murderer from Ragdoll.
Details of the book
- Release date: February 15, 2018
- Genre: Thrillers & Suspense
- Number of pages: 400
- Publisher: Luitingh – Sijthoff
- SBN: 9789024576005, 9789024576012, 9789024580415
About the writer
The British Daniel Cole (1983) previously worked as an ambulance driver. He could hang on to this career when he broke through worldwide with his debut Ragdoll. He initially wrote this book for himself, but was soon discovered by (inter) national publishers. In 2018, the rights have been sold to more than thirty countries. His second book was published in February 2018: Puppet. This is the sequel to Ragdoll. Daniel lives in the English coastal town of Bournemouth, where he spends a lot of time on the beach in addition to writing his book.
The story
In Ragdoll Detective William Fawkes (Wolf) plays the lead role. In this book, that honor is reserved for his colleague Emily Baxter. A year and a half have passed since the ‘Rag Doll Murders’. After resolving this case, Emily Baxter was promoted to Chief Superintendent in the Homicide and Serious Crime Department. Her good friend and ex-colleague Alex Edmunds has moved to the Fraud department. One day, Emily receives a federal visit from two American agents Damien Rouche (CIA) and Elliot Curtis (FBI). The reason for this visit is a murder that took place in New York and is very similar to the murder series of the Ragpop murderer. A body has been found that is suspended by cables from the Brooklyn Bridge. The victim’s left arm was hanging loose and the word “Bait” was carved deep into his chest. At first, Emily is not convinced this is a copycat until several lurid murders take place. Almost all victims have the word ‘Pop’ or ‘Bait’ carved in the chest. Together with the two American agents, she tries to track down the perpetrator of these horrific murders, with help from her boyfriend Alex.
The cover
Ragdoll was already very popular with its beautiful cover, which shows a needle and red thread with which the book is sewn together. The red thread is sewn into the glued band. A cover that does justice to the content of the book. The cover of Puppet fits well with that of its predecessor. This time they chose a yellow cover with a blue thread.
Marionet is a blood-curdling thriller that reads like a movie
It comes as no surprise that both Ragdoll as well as this book will be filmed for television. The events change rapidly, which is good for the tension.
Humorous writing style
Although this is a blood-curdling thriller, Daniel Cole at times uses a humorous, sarcastic writing style. The writer does not hesitate to use dark humor during the harsh scenes that take place. Some passages from the book:
“Is he whistling that Shakira song?” Plant asked, now seriously doubting the state of mind of the man whose instructions he was following.
Keeping the gun safely aimed at the outer wall, the man very slowly lost consciousness until the gun fell from his limp hand.
Lennox slipped it into her holster and smiled with relief at her colleague. “Apart from the last twenty seconds, I thought it went quite well!”
A cold wind crept through the spacious apartment and stirred the discarded papers and photos. She followed him into the rain.
“Booty,” said Rouche.
What are you saying ?! ”Baxter’s voice had a dangerous ring to it.
“Give me an ass,” said Rouche, “up the roof.”
The book is not intended as a caricature, so the humor does not scream the main tone. Central are the fast actions and plot twists,
Well-developed characters
What is so strong about this book are the well-developed characters. The book is told from multiple perspectives, with an emphasis on Emily Baxter. Her social, clumsy nature and her sharp one-liners are very beneficial to the story. You also get to know agent Rouche well. His character remains mysterious for a long time. The fragments in which various colleagues try to pronounce his name are also very witty.
Marionet lives up to its predecessor
The book is just as exciting and surprising as the first part. The original writing style and good characters ensure that you can no longer put the book away. All in all screams Puppet, like its predecessor, for a sequel. The third book has now also been published (De Wolven).