Puppet on a Chain
First edition cover (UK)
AuthorAlistair MacLean
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
GenreThriller
PublisherCollins (UK)
Doubleday (US)
Publication date
1969
Preceded byForce 10 from Navarone 
Followed byCaravan to Vaccarès 

Puppet on a Chain is a novel by Scottish author Alistair MacLean. Originally published in 1969 with a cover by Norman Weaver, it is set in the late 1960s narcotics underworld of Amsterdam and other locations in the Netherlands.

Plot introduction

Paul Sherman is a veteran Interpol Narcotics Bureau agent, used to independent action and blunt force tactics. He is assisted by two attractive female agents, one an experienced operative, the other a rookie. Sherman is in the Netherlands after receiving word about a vicious heroin smuggling ring from a friend. However, the narco-criminals will kill ruthlessly to protect its operation and even before Sherman can leave Schiphol Airport he has already witnessed the gunning down of his key contact, been knocked half-unconscious by an assassin, and tangled with local authorities. "Puppet on a Chain" has the standard twisting plot, local atmospherics, and sardonic dialogue that were Maclean's trademarks as a story-teller. Maclean allows his protagonist to have a bantering sarcastic relationship with his assistants that provides a streak of humor as the plot unfolds. Unfortunately, Sherman's relationship with his assistants is used against him. As his investigation is undermined by betrayal, leaving him constantly a half-step behind his adversaries, Sherman must resort to increasingly violent action to turn the tables. The story culminates in a violent struggle above the streets of Amsterdam to save the life of his surviving female operative, not knowing whether anyone they meet can really be trusted.

Reception

The New York Times called the book "one of the best in the Greene-Ambler-MacInnes tradition... the writing is as crisp as a sunny winter morning".[1]

The book became a best seller.[2]

Background

MacLean got the idea for the book from visiting Amsterdam with then business partner Geoffrey Reeve who later directed the film version.[3]

Film adaptation

Puppet on a Chain later appeared in film as a 1970 movie directed by Geoffrey Reeve.

References

  1. ↑ Łask, Thomas (4 November 1969). "End Papers". New York Times. p. 43.
  2. ↑ "Best Seller List". New York Times. 11 January 1970. p. 295.
  3. ↑ Webster, Jack (1991). Alistair MacLean: A Life. Chapmans. pp. 152–153.


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