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Requiem for the Puppet Master
Can video machines really be used to program a 13 year-old boy to kill? Can a rogue agent for the National Security Agency avenge his expulsion from the agency by programming the kid to eliminate his rivals still in the agency? And is the programming strong enough to make the boy kill the agent's last living rival, who just happens to be the boy's father, the father he hates.
Grady Harrison, after the tragic loss of his wife and only daughter, has simplified his life, quit his psychology practice and moved onto his old wooden Chris Craft cruiser. When the boy’s redheaded mom shows up on his boat, it’s not the far-fetched sounding tale of programming and murders that hooks Grady it’s the boy’s mom, Peg, the redhead.
He takes the bait and away we go. What starts as a simple request for help with a disturbed teenager morphs into a full-fledged battle against a ruthless and powerful NSA rogue agent. It’s a battle to rescue and reclaim the boy, Brian.
It’s a battle to save Brian’s father. It’s an opportunity for Grady and Peg to find strengths they never knew they had.
Grady Harrison, after the tragic loss of his wife and only daughter, has simplified his life, quit his psychology practice and moved onto his old wooden Chris Craft cruiser. When the boy’s redheaded mom shows up on his boat, it’s not the far-fetched sounding tale of programming and murders that hooks Grady it’s the boy’s mom, Peg, the redhead.
He takes the bait and away we go. What starts as a simple request for help with a disturbed teenager morphs into a full-fledged battle against a ruthless and powerful NSA rogue agent. It’s a battle to rescue and reclaim the boy, Brian.
It’s a battle to save Brian’s father. It’s an opportunity for Grady and Peg to find strengths they never knew they had.
Kindle Edition
First published September 24, 2012
2 people want to read
About the author
D.J. Murphy
4 books183 followersMurphy’s life and work experience fuels his imagination and seeps through into his stories. He survived twelve years of education in the hands (and under the rulers) of some very strict Catholic nuns.
His work experience includes midnight shifts in an Oscar Meyer packing plant, daytime work in a Walgreens drugstore, and social work for the Iowa Department of Social Welfare. For several years he traveled throughout the United States doing management and supervision seminars. For nine years he taught people skills in a family practice residency program, and finally, for ten years he taught in high schools on the U.S./Mexican border.
And now Murphy does as he pleases, writes, takes pictures, plays in his wood shop, builds canoes, travels and plays grandfather to a large crew of grandkids ranging from one year to 21 years old.
His work experience includes midnight shifts in an Oscar Meyer packing plant, daytime work in a Walgreens drugstore, and social work for the Iowa Department of Social Welfare. For several years he traveled throughout the United States doing management and supervision seminars. For nine years he taught people skills in a family practice residency program, and finally, for ten years he taught in high schools on the U.S./Mexican border.
And now Murphy does as he pleases, writes, takes pictures, plays in his wood shop, builds canoes, travels and plays grandfather to a large crew of grandkids ranging from one year to 21 years old.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 14, 2014
So...the story behind the story.
My mom gifted me this book months, erm, like, a year ago. Not sure exactly why she read it, but possibly because the author had an El Paso connection. Mom notes that the book was the fulfillment of the author's lifelong dream to be published, but unfortunately, he passed away a few months after it hit the virtual shelves.
Which is sad, not just because he's pushing up daisies and all, but because Mr. Murphy was a good writer. The writing, in particular, the voice, is filled with the wry, observational-type humor I love. Probably because the author put a lot of himself into his character, to the point where his inner ruminations read a little like a grumpy, but funny, old man. (It's never made clear, but Grady Harrison is probably in his late 30s to 40.)
The setting, mostly in Iowa, on the Mississippi River, where the Grady Harrison lives on his boat the Anna Christie, is brought to vivid life through the author's description. The kind of description that says that the writer knows the place intimately; well enough to see the good, bad and irritating. In tone, the novel is a mix of cozy and intrigue, a little Chandler-esque, with a soupcon of cyberpunk.
Despite all the positives, the novel couldn't hold my attention for any length of time and took me for-evah to finish. I hung in there largely because it was a gift from my mummy and I felt an obligation.
Consequently, my recollection of the various plot twists (and it's twisty, bendy) is fuzzy. Grady Harrison is a successful psychologist, the inventor of a computer therapist named Garbo. But life dealt him a horrible blow a few years ago, when his daughter and wife were killed in a car accident. He has since retreated from everything, spending his days cruising up and down the Mississippi on his boat.
Until "the redhead" strolls onto his boat. Peg is the mom of an out-of-control adolescent, Brian. Brian, according to Peg, is responsible for several high-profile deaths, deaths that appear to have been due to natural causes. Grady, lured out of his pathos by a pretty woman, agrees to help her find Brian and stop him before he kills again.
The trail leads to a facility for troubled youths where Brian lived for a time, and eventually connects to a larger plot involving a rogue CIA agent, advanced weaponry (a deadly toxin that can be applied with a squirt gun), and tech that literally programs humans to be assassins.
The novel's primary weakness is that it's overwritten, sliding too far into "cozy," and lavishing too much screen time on Grady's day-to-day activities and pointless side jaunts.
On the other hand, the women in Grady's life aren't shrinking violets, and Peg pretty much evolves into a bad-ass, the hero who saves the day. To some extent, Grady is more of a passive observer in the latter part of the story. So, yay! Girl power!
No, Requiem for the Puppet Master wasn't exactly my cuppa. I like my mystery either light and silly, or pitch-black gritty. Recommended, however, to readers of authors like Robert B. Parker. (In his afterward, the author cites Robert Parker as an influence.)
R.I.P. D.J. Murphy
My mom gifted me this book months, erm, like, a year ago. Not sure exactly why she read it, but possibly because the author had an El Paso connection. Mom notes that the book was the fulfillment of the author's lifelong dream to be published, but unfortunately, he passed away a few months after it hit the virtual shelves.
Which is sad, not just because he's pushing up daisies and all, but because Mr. Murphy was a good writer. The writing, in particular, the voice, is filled with the wry, observational-type humor I love. Probably because the author put a lot of himself into his character, to the point where his inner ruminations read a little like a grumpy, but funny, old man. (It's never made clear, but Grady Harrison is probably in his late 30s to 40.)
I used to be Catholic. You gotta be a little nuts to be Catholic too. You gotta kid yourself and not take things too seriously. You gotta hang on to what you like and not be put off when you see people screwing things up. I like incense and Gregorian chant and Latin masses. But they had to go and screw that up. The preachers drove me out. The vernacular drove me out. Religion is a mysterious business. In English the mystery is gone. The preacher are idiots, pedophiles, alcoholics.
The setting, mostly in Iowa, on the Mississippi River, where the Grady Harrison lives on his boat the Anna Christie, is brought to vivid life through the author's description. The kind of description that says that the writer knows the place intimately; well enough to see the good, bad and irritating. In tone, the novel is a mix of cozy and intrigue, a little Chandler-esque, with a soupcon of cyberpunk.
Despite all the positives, the novel couldn't hold my attention for any length of time and took me for-evah to finish. I hung in there largely because it was a gift from my mummy and I felt an obligation.
Consequently, my recollection of the various plot twists (and it's twisty, bendy) is fuzzy. Grady Harrison is a successful psychologist, the inventor of a computer therapist named Garbo. But life dealt him a horrible blow a few years ago, when his daughter and wife were killed in a car accident. He has since retreated from everything, spending his days cruising up and down the Mississippi on his boat.
Until "the redhead" strolls onto his boat. Peg is the mom of an out-of-control adolescent, Brian. Brian, according to Peg, is responsible for several high-profile deaths, deaths that appear to have been due to natural causes. Grady, lured out of his pathos by a pretty woman, agrees to help her find Brian and stop him before he kills again.
The trail leads to a facility for troubled youths where Brian lived for a time, and eventually connects to a larger plot involving a rogue CIA agent, advanced weaponry (a deadly toxin that can be applied with a squirt gun), and tech that literally programs humans to be assassins.
The novel's primary weakness is that it's overwritten, sliding too far into "cozy," and lavishing too much screen time on Grady's day-to-day activities and pointless side jaunts.
On the other hand, the women in Grady's life aren't shrinking violets, and Peg pretty much evolves into a bad-ass, the hero who saves the day. To some extent, Grady is more of a passive observer in the latter part of the story. So, yay! Girl power!
No, Requiem for the Puppet Master wasn't exactly my cuppa. I like my mystery either light and silly, or pitch-black gritty. Recommended, however, to readers of authors like Robert B. Parker. (In his afterward, the author cites Robert Parker as an influence.)
R.I.P. D.J. Murphy
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