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The Puppetmasters
Caught in the web of ruthless international forces, Kendall Radcliffe is kidnapped and taken to Afghanistan. Why was she singled out, and what does it have to do with corporate espionage, NSA surveillance, and investigation by the Mossad? Secrets will be revealed, and much blood will be shed. Governments will fall, and some will be fleeing for their lives. Who is the enemy, and who has betrayed whom? Who siphoned off hundreds of millions of dollars of ill-gotten gains? This dramatic and action-packed story will grab your attention and leave you eagerly awaiting the next installment.
318 pages, Paperback
First published September 3, 2013
3 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
About the author
K.D. Lamb
2 booksK.D. Lamb is a legal specialist in software piracy, who has also worked in insurance defense, complex litigation, medical malpractice, and police misconduct cases, working alongside federal, state, and local law enforcement. Lamb was a corporate witness for a high-tech company, testifying in the U.S., Canada, Great Britain and Asia in dozens of civil and criminal cases. Lamb attended the University of Washington and currently lives in Bellevue, Washington.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 13, 2014
In all honesty, if Amazon allowed half stars, it would be a 3.5. The story was a good one, but a few things held it back.
It took a little time to get into the book, and the lack of development of some of the characters hurt the story at the end. Lamb tried to show the transformation in the CEO, but because so little was shown of him early on, it didn't quite work. Other characters were better developed, including Kendall and Rashid, which is why their trek through the mountains kept interest.
The captivity in Afghanistan was missing some of the dramatic punch needed to really suck the reader into the book. The narratives tended to run long, and at times, made the timeline of the story bounce too much. The actions scenes in the middle of the story felt rushed, and it wasn't until the latter half of the book that I really got into it.
The author is to be commended on the knowledge of the Afghan culture. The explanations of various terminology is woven into the context of the story fairly well. There were a few misses, including the lack of description about Prophecy and knowing an Apache Longbow helicopter is an attack aircraft and not capable of transporting people other than the pilot and gunner. I admire the effort though. Sometimes the heroes were just a little too lucky, and although the earthquake was feasible, it was almost too convenient to be believable, even in a fictional novel. If a reader is willing to indulge a little, it is still plausible enough.
The story wound up a little too quickly, though, offering no real build-up to what should have been a dramatic and emotional ending. A few too many loose ends were not tied up adequately when they should have been.The final chapter leaves a sequel open, but the scarcity of detail makes it feel appended to the novel instead of being an integral part of the continuing story.
Overall, it was an intelligent read, and a good story told in a rather pedestrian way. I'm not sure if it was looked at by a book editor (it was definitely copyedited, because there were few, if any mistakes), but if not, I wonder if the work could have been more.
I think it is worth checking out with those caveats attached. I will be curious to see if a sequel is forthcoming.
It took a little time to get into the book, and the lack of development of some of the characters hurt the story at the end. Lamb tried to show the transformation in the CEO, but because so little was shown of him early on, it didn't quite work. Other characters were better developed, including Kendall and Rashid, which is why their trek through the mountains kept interest.
The captivity in Afghanistan was missing some of the dramatic punch needed to really suck the reader into the book. The narratives tended to run long, and at times, made the timeline of the story bounce too much. The actions scenes in the middle of the story felt rushed, and it wasn't until the latter half of the book that I really got into it.
The author is to be commended on the knowledge of the Afghan culture. The explanations of various terminology is woven into the context of the story fairly well. There were a few misses, including the lack of description about Prophecy and knowing an Apache Longbow helicopter is an attack aircraft and not capable of transporting people other than the pilot and gunner. I admire the effort though. Sometimes the heroes were just a little too lucky, and although the earthquake was feasible, it was almost too convenient to be believable, even in a fictional novel. If a reader is willing to indulge a little, it is still plausible enough.
The story wound up a little too quickly, though, offering no real build-up to what should have been a dramatic and emotional ending. A few too many loose ends were not tied up adequately when they should have been.The final chapter leaves a sequel open, but the scarcity of detail makes it feel appended to the novel instead of being an integral part of the continuing story.
Overall, it was an intelligent read, and a good story told in a rather pedestrian way. I'm not sure if it was looked at by a book editor (it was definitely copyedited, because there were few, if any mistakes), but if not, I wonder if the work could have been more.
I think it is worth checking out with those caveats attached. I will be curious to see if a sequel is forthcoming.
January 6, 2014
I am being generous with giving this book two stars. The author can clearly write and could weave an interesting story. Unfortunately this particular book manages to simply anger the reader and insult our collective intelligence. Lamb's talent is simply lost here through the various errors and clichés throughout the entire arc.
Be it that the book reads as a marketing pamphlet for the NSA's surveillance program or that the heroine (Kendall) is so unlikable that I often wished her demise in the hands of the terrorists, this book simply manages to be more a comedy of errors than the spy novel the title tries to disguise it as.
I was mentally checked out quickly into the story when Kendall continually acts like a spoiled princess on vacation than a kidnapped victim (an act she continues until the final chapter). I rolled my eyes to the back of my head when she took out three soldiers with headshots and killed a snow leoppard with a handgun (no joke). But the Harlequin novel ending that makes you want to double check the cover to see if you somehow missed the shirtless Fabio on a white horse really was the cherry on the top of this crap cake.
Avoid. Your brain cells will thank you.
Be it that the book reads as a marketing pamphlet for the NSA's surveillance program or that the heroine (Kendall) is so unlikable that I often wished her demise in the hands of the terrorists, this book simply manages to be more a comedy of errors than the spy novel the title tries to disguise it as.
I was mentally checked out quickly into the story when Kendall continually acts like a spoiled princess on vacation than a kidnapped victim (an act she continues until the final chapter). I rolled my eyes to the back of my head when she took out three soldiers with headshots and killed a snow leoppard with a handgun (no joke). But the Harlequin novel ending that makes you want to double check the cover to see if you somehow missed the shirtless Fabio on a white horse really was the cherry on the top of this crap cake.
Avoid. Your brain cells will thank you.
February 14, 2016
Slugs from the moon Titan attach themselves to people's backs and control them.
Narrated by Lloyd James
Narrated by Lloyd James
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews