Puppet

By: Joy Fielding

Narrated by: Laura Hicks

Amanda Travis is a high-powered, 28-year-old lawyer whose greatest likes are spinning classes at her Palm Beach gym and a compliant jury. As for the things she hates, they include nicknames, the color pink, clients who don't follow her advice, and memories. Unfortunately, running from her past becomes a lot harder when one of her ex-husbands calls from her hometown of Toronto with the alarming news that her mother has shot and killed a complete stranger. Now she must return to face her demons--a love that once consumed her and a mother who seems to hold a strange, dark power over everyone she encounters. But Amanda is no longer willing to acquiesce to her mother's fatal whims--no matter what the cost.©2005 Joy Fielding, Inc. (P)2008 BBC Audiobooks America

Cut the string

Whenever I read a book this bad, I really think about becoming an author myself. Honestly, I could do better. This book started off as yet another "hard boiled lawyer meets her match", then delved into repressed memories, ex husbands, and an overall story line that was just terrible. By the time I got to the ridiculous ending, I didn't like or care about anyone in the story. Oh, and if I had to hear the narrator's attempt at a Canadian accent (abooot?) one more time, well, you get the idea - I would skip this one.

I screamed out loud...

Don't waste your valuable time, money or credit. Very shallow characters that were very predictable. The more I listened the more I grew to dislike the characters, the narrator and the author. Of the hundreds of books I have read and listened to, this is the first one I would toss on a fire...wait...I'll just delete it.

EDITOR NEEDED!

(spoiler-free) This book would have made a far more entertaining and far less exasperating read had it been abridged, making it 25-30% shorter. We, unfortunately, had the unabridged version, which ran on and on and on, chockful of extraneous, redundant, and finally excruciatingly boring descriptions, minor characters, and repetitive dialogue, not to mention product placements! Joy Fielding is a good author whose work my wife usually enjoys, but she was as frustrated as I by its bloated descriptions.

Another flaw was that the only sympathetic character in the book is the first ex-husband. The protagonist is so unlikable that you don't really care what happens to her.

Pros: the reader, Laura Hicks, is quite good.
the ending twist, if you make it that far, is good, though pretty implausible.

Poorly written

This book is so poorly written that it is painful. I have enjoyed Fielding in the past but this one misses on all counts. The heroine's lack of self esteem is tedious and at times overwhelming. The author's constant use of the heroine talking out loud to herself and mixing it with her dialogue with other makes it very hard to follow. Don't waste your money on this one.

Bad

I wish I had read the reviews before purchasing this book. In the first hour I learned to really hate the key character. What a dreadful little whore - cheating with her friends husbands with no remorse. And that is just one of her short-comings. The dialog is poorly written and the woman constantly talks to herself it is sometimes difficult to know when she is talking out loud or in her head. I am 1/2 through the 1st part, but not sure if I will stick it out or not. It is really dreadful.

Lasted Only to 1:55:44

The book's promo tells us that Amanda likes spinning classes and a compliant jury. She hates nicknames, the color pink and a few other things. Marcia likes a well-written book with a sensational plot, interesting characters and an inspired narration. Marcia hates poorly written, dreadful books about thinly drawn characters tied up in ridiculous or non-existent plots, described by an irritating narrator ... and wasting her time and money. I tried to listen, I really did! But I lasted only 1 hour, 55 minutes and 44 seconds. I've never read Fielding before and don't plan to listen again. Marcia likes learning from her mistakes.