{"id":539,"date":"2024-10-01T12:57:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-01T12:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=539"},"modified":"2024-10-01T12:57:00","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T12:57:00","slug":"book-review-the-grand-puppet-master","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=539","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: The Grand Puppet Master"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-media-text alignwide is-stacked-on-mobile\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-background\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-vertical is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-1 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-text-color has-large-font-size\"><strong><em>The Grand Puppet Master<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-regular-font-size\">by Eddie Shay<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Genre:<\/strong> Mystery, Thriller &amp; Suspense \/ Female Sleuths<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>ISBN: <\/strong>9780473704698<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Print Length:<\/strong> 275 pages<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ub-buttons align-button-center orientation-button-row ub-flex-wrap wp-block-ub-button\">\n<div class=\"ub-button-container\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3ZCwuFV\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"ub-button-block-main ub-button-medium ub-button-flex-medium\" rel=\"noopener\">\n<div class=\"ub-button-content-holder\"><span class=\"ub-button-icon-holder\"><\/span><span class=\"ub-button-block-btn\">Buy from Amazon<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<p><\/p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>Reviewed by Toni Woodruff<\/em><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"ub_advanced_heading wp-block-ub-advanced-heading\"><strong><\/strong><strong>A speedy, twisty technothriller with mind-controlling AI and enough secrets to blow your mind<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Lacey Green isn\u2019t a detective\u2014or at least she didn\u2019t train to be\u2014but she\u2019s got the drive and ability to stop evil. She\u2019s also got someone who believes in her, someone who just so happens to be the best special visual effects artist in New York. One body suit later and Lacey Green is breaking open a giant illegal sex ring in Flushing, NY and posting it as a groundbreaking TikTok detective.<\/p>\n<p>Little does she know, this body-doubling is about to quadruple or more.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>When her father dies of a mysterious suicide, she ignores his cryptic message about danger in Hong Kong and heads off to bury him anyway. Days later, she\u2019s trapped in quarantine lockdown with her flighty mother\u2014who\u2019s already asking for inheritance money\u2014and the obvious fact that her dad has been keeping things from her.<\/p>\n<p><span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The first of which is that he\u2019s a millionaire with an insane penthouse apartment and enough secrets to cover the floor. Was he good? It sure seemed like it. Did he create a brain-chip that controls people? Definitely. So how much is he responsible for who is using it and for what gain? Oh, and why are people eating their hands?<\/p>\n<p>The twists are just getting started. Lacey is in constant danger, so in a way, she\u2019s just trying to stay alive and free, but in another, she doesn\u2019t run away from the life-threatening investigation. The stakes are both personal and global, and there\u2019s no one to trust. Since it remains a mystery if Shawn (Lacey\u2019s dad) was playing a role in the evil scheme or just caught in the middle of it, each character who shows up to try to help Lacey could be two-timing her. The amount of twists and reveals will give you whiplash.<\/p>\n<p>Mysteries run amok in <em>The Grand Puppet Master<\/em>. They\u2019re always developing, getting consistently more dangerous and strange, and they complicate what we thought we knew about these people we\u2019ve grown to like.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It seems like Lacey is the only one we can trust though\u2014our hero, a bold, brave, intelligent risk-taker\u2014until it becomes her flighty mom too. Michelle is a firecracker of a character from the moment she steps on scene, but there\u2019s more goodness to her than she lets on. I can\u2019t help but appreciate what she does for this narrative.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And believe me when I say this: The surprises never stop! This is a backstabbing, body-doubling relentlessly paced thriller. You won\u2019t believe the amount of change the story goes through by the 50% mark of the novel. Where could it go from there? To dark, sensationalized places.<\/p>\n<p>With as many twists as this novel, there is room for some head-scratching decisions and explanations. The sexualization of the novel is dark and includes some triggering material that sensitive readers should be aware of. These scenes can feel more like they\u2019re invoking shock than fitting in naturally sometimes, and the second half of the novel slows down the pace a bit. But the story of the badass amateur detective saving the world from mind-control ultimately wins the day.<\/p>\n<p>With this promising debut, Eddie Shay establishes himself as a worthy puppeteer, capable of controlling intricate plot-lines and putting on a good show.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ub-buttons align-button-center orientation-button-row ub-flex-wrap wp-block-ub-button\">\n<div class=\"ub-button-container\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3ZCwuFV\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"ub-button-block-main ub-button-medium ub-button-flex-medium\" rel=\"noopener\">\n<div class=\"ub-button-content-holder\"><span class=\"ub-button-icon-holder\"><\/span><span class=\"ub-button-block-btn\">Buy from Amazon<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<p><\/p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Thank you for reading Toni Woodruff\u2019s book review of<em> The Grand Puppet Master <\/em>by Eddie Shay! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ub-buttons align-button-center orientation-button-row ub-flex-wrap wp-block-ub-button\">\n<div class=\"ub-button-container\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/independentbookreview.com\/category\/book-review\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"ub-button-block-main ub-button-medium ub-button-flex-medium\" rel=\"noopener\">\n<div class=\"ub-button-content-holder\"><span class=\"ub-button-icon-holder\"><\/span><span class=\"ub-button-block-btn\">Book Reviews<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<p><\/p><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"ub-button-container\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/independentbookreview.com\/category\/blog\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"ub-button-block-main ub-button-medium ub-button-flex-medium\" rel=\"noopener\">\n<div class=\"ub-button-content-holder\"><span class=\"ub-button-icon-holder\"><\/span><span class=\"ub-button-block-btn\">IBR Blog<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<p><\/p><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"ub-button-container\">\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/independentbookreview.com\/writers-only\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"ub-button-block-main ub-button-medium ub-button-flex-medium\" rel=\"noopener\">\n<div class=\"ub-button-content-holder\"><span class=\"ub-button-icon-holder\"><\/span><span class=\"ub-button-block-btn\">Resources for Writers<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<p><\/p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/independentbookreview.com\/2024\/10\/01\/book-review-the-grand-puppet-master\/\">Book Review: The Grand Puppet Master<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/independentbookreview.com\/\">Independent Book Review<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Grand Puppet Master by Eddie Shay Genre: Mystery, Thriller &amp; Suspense \/ Female Sleuths ISBN: 9780473704698 Print Length: 275 pages Buy from Amazon Reviewed by Toni Woodruff A speedy, twisty technothriller with mind-controlling AI and enough secrets to blow your mind Lacey Green isn\u2019t a detective\u2014or at least she didn\u2019t train to be\u2014but she\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":540,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}