After not hearing from Nathan for awhile, Steven approaches one of his best friends, Senator Paul Hersey, to beg for his assistance. Paul assures him he is on top of the kidnapping and will not let any harm come to Nathan.

The story jumps from this point to the introduction of four main characters and their respective families. Finn is an Irish assassin with a loving wife, twin sons and also rearing his deceased brother’s adult son Mick. Finn accomplishes his kills as a sniper and has promised his wife that in only two more jobs he will retire.

David Collier was the former head of a large international banking consortium whose boss had embezzled millions, managing to make it appear David was the culprit. The financial troubles and mental anguish that arose from the legal battles to vindicate him did not come close to matching the terror of the loss of his wife from cancer, and the imminent threat to his nine year old daughter Leah from very advanced kidney disease. The slim hope remaining, having had a failed kidney transplant, is a cloning process for a new kidney in Germany that his insurance company is refusing to pay.

Jay Alexi, newly married with a child on the way, is trying at a very young age to start over. As a teenager Jay was caught hacking his way into very restricted systems; he is now a convicted felon trying to support his family with minimum wage positions while his in-laws have written their daughter off because of him.

Dr. Alanna Mendes is a true rocket scientist whose only love had been her job until she met her fiancé. Ray was not terribly ambitious but was certainly more than she had ever had, even briefly, as he lost his life in a fishing accident some months earlier. Alanna is stunned as Ray reappears in her life asking her to go with him into a witness protection program.

David, Jay and Alanna have all become desperate people for different reasons. This should give us all pause, wondering how far we would go if truly desperate. Job recruiters appear to Jay and David offering unbelievable opportunity and high wages, as well as a cloned kidney for Leah. To Alana, witness protection representatives offer a short two weeks of work in the Caribbean in exchange for the necessity of the witness protection program. There is a deliberate failure to disclose to all of them the nature and kind of work involved.

The married team writing as Jan Coffey is well known for their technologically sound, inventive plots, showcased here.  The technology exhibited reflects meticulous and careful research.

The Puppet Master contains an incredibly well structured plot with suspense that keeps building at varying paces. The utilization of international venues adds texture and depth which accompanies the very well developed characters.

It is unusual with such a few strokes of a pen to be able to flesh out such credible and distinct characters, particularly when there are so many principals. An unusual degree of warmth permeates all their lives which truly humanize acts committed as a result of desperation; but the acts are made both necessary and possible, ultimately by the unnamed Puppet Master.

The Puppet Master is memorable read that has this reviewer seeking the authors' backlist.

--Thea Davis