Puppet Master

Puppet Master #1

by Dale Brown, Jim DeFelice

In Dale Brown’s Puppet Master, intelligent machines take center stage as America battles the Russian mafia in Eastern Europe.

Louis Massina is revolutionizing the field of robotics. His technological wonders are capable of locating disaster survivors, preventing nuclear meltdowns, and replacing missing limbs. After one of Massina’s creations makes a miraculous rescue, an FBI agent recruits him to pursue criminals running a massive financial scam—and not coincidentally, suspected of killing the agent’s brother. Massina agrees to deploy a surveillance “bot” that uses artificial intelligence to follow its target. But when he’s thrust into a dangerous conspiracy, the billionaire inventor decides to take matters into his own hands, unleashing the greatest cyber-weapons in the world and becoming the Puppet Master.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Audiobook, Science Fiction, Military Fiction, Suspense

608 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 30, 2016

About the author

Former U.S. Air Force captain Dale Brown is the superstar author of 25 consecutive New York Times best-selling military-action-aviation adventure novels: FLIGHT OF THE OLD DOG (1987), SILVER TOWER (1988), DAY OF THE CHEETAH (1989), HAMMERHEADS (1990), SKY MASTERS (1991), NIGHT OF THE HAWK (1992), CHAINS OF COMMAND (1993), STORMING HEAVEN (1994), SHADOWS OF STEEL (1996) and FATAL TERRAIN (1997), THE TIN MAN (1998), BATTLE BORN (1999), and WARRIOR CLASS (2001). His Fourteenth Novel AIRBATTLE FORCE will be published in late Spring 2003... Dale's novels are published in 11 languages and distributed to over 70 countries. Worldwide sales of his novels, audiobooks and computer games exceed 10 million copies.

Dale was born in Buffalo, New York on November 2, 1956. He graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Western European History and received an Air Force commission in 1978. He was a navigator-bombardier in the B-52G Stratofortress heavy bomber and the FB-111A supersonic medium bomber, and is the recipient of several military decorations and awards including the Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Combat Crew Award, and the Marksmanship ribbon.
Dale was also one of the nation's first Air Force ROTC cadets to qualify for and complete the grueling three-week U.S. Army Airborne Infantry paratrooper training course.

Dale is a director and volunteer pilot for AirLifeLine, a non-profit national charitable medical transportation organization who fly needy persons free of charge to receive treatment. He also supports a number of organizations to support and promote law enforcement and reading.

Dale Brown is a member of The Writers Guild and a Life Member of the Air Force Association and U.S. Naval Institute. He is a multi-engine and instrument-rated private pilot and can often be found in the skies all across the United States, piloting his own plane. On the ground, Dale enjoys tennis, skiing, scuba diving, and hockey. Dale, his wife Diane, and son Hunter live near the shores of Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

Reviews

[Jocelyn Healy · Rating 3 out of 5]

For my January read I chose Puppet Master by Dale Brown. I’ve read two of his other books in the past year Tiger’s Claw and Iron Wolf and enjoyed them both so I decided to try another. I like Brown’s work because they’re thrillers and who doesn’t love a great thriller. I did fall a little far behind while reading this book because it was a little over 600 pages but I was interested in it enough to read a little bit extra on the weekends. One of my closest friends had also finished this book right before I was thinking of reading it so I got to borrow her’s which worked out perfectly. She gave me some great feedback on plot of it so I decided to go ahead and dive into it.
Basically the book is revolved around robotics which is why I think I wasn’t as into this book as I could’ve been. I tend to be more interested in books that are realistic, I find that it makes it easier for me to connect with what’s being said. The main character is named Louis Massina. I can’t say much without giving away the ending but he is apart of a huge mission to find out who has killed his agent’s brother.
This book was very action packed which is how the author kept my attention. Although it was an interesting and exciting book to read, it was at times confusing to keep up with so there were a few times I had to go back and re-read a few pages. Good book but definitely not one of Brown’s best.

[Charles A. CALLARI III · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Puppet Master" by Dale Brown is a gripping techno-thriller that delves into the world of international espionage and advanced military technology. The story revolves around retired Air Force lieutenant-general Patrick McLanahan, who discovers a covert plot to manipulate global events using cutting-edge weaponry. As McLanahan races against time to expose the puppet master behind the scenes, readers are taken on a thrilling rollercoaster of suspense, intrigue, and high-stakes military action.

[Steve Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the introduction of the characters, and think this group has potential. Hope the action ramps up and the robots begin to have a more prominent role in the stories. Plenty of potential...

[Adam Rivera · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gave me a lot of mixed feelings im not gonna lie to you. The beginning half of the book was a little bit of a slow crawl but it did pick up for a bit in the middle and then back to slow crawl till the end in my opinion. The writing style had me very confused for some parts of it , it felt more like jumping around tk random parts and with very little feeling of cohersion. This book feels like it was written by two authors in not a good way. Most of the character archs felt very silly and i felt the only archs that went into actual character development were johnny, christina, and tolevi. The rest felt very one note and some so bent one revenge theyd make dumb decisions (i.e. masina and jenkins) when jenkins kept on accusing tolevi when quite clearly he didnt have anything to do with it it was very frustrating. Overall i think with better character development and better story boarding i wouldve given a 4 stars but as it stands its 3 at most

[Dakota Stein · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was great I loved it. A little hard to follow at times when it jumped POVs but that didn't stop me from enjoying the story. All I can say is the science of robots/AI clash with the government (CIA, Russian Mafia, FBI) over a case of mistaken identity to create such an interesting story with a lot of twists and turns and surprises. There were times when it was hard to put down. Who would think that Science, Governments, and Mystery would be genres that go together. Science and government make sence but mistaken identity an interesting choice to add that element to the writing. I guess mistaken identities are always interesting no matter what the circumstances are surrounding it.

[Drew Thomson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was O.K. I have liked the Dale Brown series about Patrick McLanahan and Brad McLanahan, so I thought I would give this book a try. i also bought Act of Revenge (Puppet Master 2). The premise about Louis Massina's robotics business was interesting. But the book ended without the issues being resolved. To me, it seemed to leave everything hanging. I hope that Act of Revenge will be better.

[Lou · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this was an interesting book, it seemed to be very jumpy between what was going on in Boston and what was going on in Russia and the Ukraine.

It took away from the continuity of the book.

I liked the characters Chelsea and Johnny because they seemed to be the "good guys" in the whole book. The rest had axes to grind and it brought a hard edge to the book.

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great story! One of the most enjoyable and satisfying books I have read. Can't wait to read #2 in the series. He has been one of the best writers around, starting with the Old Dog series, and this new partnership works!

[Richard Domey]

Good read.

Interesting read. I hope there is some truth in the details 're: robotics. Fun to see potential. I'd like to know if there is going to be a 2nd book in the series. Good characters.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Puppet Master just missed the mark for me. I did not connect to the characters, and struggled to finish the book. While it had potential, I just did not find the main characters very likable.

[John B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Action oacked

Action packed. Great plot. Great futuristic tale..believable. Hard to put down. If you like mysteries this is a good read.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crime, mystery and Science Fiction

[Mike Mildon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected better from both of them
non of the cool technology of Brown and a story that lacks urgency from DeFelice

[Kenneth Flusche · Rating 5 out of 5]

actually better than book 2, hate reading out of order but it happened The ending of course was not necisary but it leads into book two

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent read. Not his best. Act of Revenge (2nd) is much better in terms of both plot and character development.

[Lchamp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick, entertaining read. Introduces a lot of characters.

[Carly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fast paced thriller book.

[Kevin Middaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story, moderate action. It has some interesting characters for future stories.

[Johen Lvinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I couldn't continue reading until the end of the book.

[Pete · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reasonably well done, and brings Brown up to date... Quite different from most of his stories... partly because the technology is so off the wall. 🤠

[Harold Walters · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took me a while to get through this book. I was easily distracted ... perhaps unfairly to the book.

[Ronnie Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was a great page turner ,loved the use of prosthesis for soldiers and how it help to possibly make a super soldier 😀 but not really

[Ram · Rating 2 out of 5]

The plot unraveled soon after the start

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

It could have been so much better

[Ada Iaboni · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book did not thrill me too much. Reading the general description, made sound more interesting that it actually was. Too many things in this book just did not hit home for me.

[Seabreeeze · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a convoluted mess. There were interesting bits but way too much confusion. I finished it so I guess I cannot give it one star.

[Ric Ulloa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a real fan of Dale Brown, but this definitely ranks as one of my least favorites. I cannot say why, it just never grabbed my interest. I forced my way to the end and, though it was OK, it wasn't a typical Dale Brown thriller. Maybe I just missed the old characters and that's my fault, but I never got really involved in this whole story.

[Les Mangis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great plot I hope this is the beginning of a series.

[Travis Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read every other collaboration between these two authors, so naturally I picked this one up as well. My only real "disappointment", if you could really even call it that, was that this book did not follow along in the Dreamland/Whiplash series. I enjoy being able to follow the characters through more than one book, but heck, every series has to start somewhere. While much of Dale Brown's past work has focused mainly on aircraft, from his own experience as a pilot, there has been the trend of going more towards robots, with the CID suits in his McLanahan series, and now with the design team testing AI here. While I enjoy the books still, I wish there could still be a part for the good old Megafortress that launched Brown onto the literary scene.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of this book was fast paced although they could have skipped like 10 chapters in the middle to make it shorter. The part where Tolevi was in Russia, Ukraine. His entire trip could be summarized in a debrief meeting with his CIA agent about how his ear was cut.

Also, the book ended with a few lose ends for example, they never really got who killed the FBI agent Jenkins' brother and what the CIA really wanted with the Butcher. Seems like a novel close to 500 pages and still left the reader wondering is that it???

It was fun to read about the Bots and their role in the future. This is the first book in the series I guess. However, I'm not sure if I want to invest the time to read another 500 pages for book 2. Hope time will change my mind to be more willing.