In this chilling, seamlessly-plotted thriller, British detective Jack Caffery must find a dangerous mental patient on the loose--before he can kill again . . .
The Beechway High Secure Unit in Bristol, England, has a storied past--first as a nineteenth-century workhouse, then a poorhouse for the homeless, and now as a psychiatric hospital. With that troubled history come superstitions like the Maude, believed to be the ghost of a sadistic workhouse matron.
But while some of the patients and staff think the Maude is behind a series of unexplained episodes of self-harm amongst the ward's patients, nursing coordinator AJ LeGrande thinks they might be the work of an all too human horror--a homicidal patient who was released back into the public in error.
Calling on Det. Jack Caffery, LeGrande hopes his investigation will reveal what's truly been going on inside and outside the hospital's walls. But what Caffery discovers about former patient Isaac Handel is beyond anyone's imagining.
"Enough evil to keep readers awake long after the cases are solved . . . Rich psychological portraits [and] a compelling mystery." --Los Angeles Times
"Dipping into Poppet when the house was silent and the rain was spattering against the windows probably wasn't a good idea: The book oozes sinisterness from the first page . . . [Its] high-wire tension . . . never wavers." --Entertainment Weekly
About the Author :
Mo Hayder has worked as a filmmaker, Tokyo nightclub hostess, and English language teacher. She has won the Edgar Award for Best Novel for Gone and the Crime Writers' Association Dagger in the Library award for outstanding body of work. She is also the author of Birdman, The Treatment, The Devil of Nanking, Pig Island, Ritual, Skin, Hanging Hill, and Wolf. She lives in England.
Review :
Praise for Poppet
"Mo Hayder has written some of the grisliest crime fiction in recent memory. . . . Nowhere is Hayder's portrayal more nuanced and compelling than in Poppet. . . . A compelling mystery that will cause fans and new readers alike to ponder not just who did it, but why." --Paula L. Woods, Los Angeles Times
"Dipping into Poppet when the house was silent and the rain was spattering against the windows probably wasn't a good idea: The book oozes sinisterness from the first page. . . . [Its] high-wire tension . . . never wavers." --Tina Jordan, Entertainment Weekly
"Poppet is a seriously dark piece of work, but that's what Mo Hayder does best. . . . A truly frightening, and at times grotesque, read." --Sherryl Connelly, New York Daily News
"Enthralling . . . plays out in tantalizing fashion. . . . Hayder's sharply drawn characters, major and minor, and her psychological acumen combine for a frightening and convincing read." --Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"If there's anything better than being poleaxed by a book, it's turning to the "also by this author" page and seeing EIGHT previous books to dive into, including one Edgar winner. Mo Hayder knows what's scary. Insanity is scary. Malevolent dwarfs in nightgowns are scary. Motionless, faceless beings standing in your yard watching your bedroom window at night--scary. . . . Story and character get equal weight as LeGrande and Cafferty work through the clues surrounded by a cast of very real personalities, at a pace that lets us absorb a plot point and then move on to the next." --Salem Macknee, Charlotte Observer
"Hayder's latest installment in the Jack Caffrey series (after Hanging Hill and the Edgar award-winning Gone) is a creepy, twisty thrill ride that doesn't stop and will give you the shivers if you dare to read it at night. This is another winner." --Library Journal (starred review)
"The internationally best-selling, Edgar-winning Hayder continues her stunning run of form, blending horror and procedural as few others can, undergirding the seemingly supernatural with carefully engineered plots. . . . The atmosphere of mounting dread will keep readers engrossed. . . . Nightmarishly good." --Keir Graff, Booklist (starred review)
"Mo Hayder has a talent for weaving the macabre through the mysterious in equal parts, resulting in a tapestry that presents a tantalizing and puzzling mystery that mesmerizes even as it shocks. So it is with Poppet, which gives readers an opportunity to warmly welcome the return of Detective Inspector Jack Caffery. . . . Be warned: Poppet is a shocker, though delightfully so. . . . Hayder twists and turns the primary plot into 90- and 180-degree angles yet never lets the reader get lost, confused, or misdirected. And while you might guess some of what will happen, there is almost no way that you will figure out all of it before its time, particularly the subtle little anti-climax you will never see coming yet makes perfect sense. Poppet will have you placing Mo Hayder on your must-read list, if she wasn't there already." --Joe Hartlaub, Bookreporter.com
"Is there any creepier setting than a mental institution? Combine that tried-and-true horror milieu with the talent of an author who can make the brightly lit streets of Tokyo feel sinister, and it's almost an unfair advantage. But that's what we get with Mo Hayder's sixth Jack Caffrey thriller, Poppet." --Bookpage (Book Case blog)
