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The Puppet Master
After a heated argument at home Ruby packs her bags and leaves, feeling insecure, vulnerable and spurred on by a twisted and neglected past that just won't seem to let he go. But where has she gone?
Alessi and Danny search high and low in an attempt to find the Ruby they know and love but when they do, strangely, she won't come home. She's in deep, living a dangerous life, so enticing that even Alessi and Danny struggle to match it.
Ruby Palmer is a shadow, a stranger and a dangerous one at that. Those who cross her do so at their peril!
Book Two in the POKERFACE series...
Alessi and Danny search high and low in an attempt to find the Ruby they know and love but when they do, strangely, she won't come home. She's in deep, living a dangerous life, so enticing that even Alessi and Danny struggle to match it.
Ruby Palmer is a shadow, a stranger and a dangerous one at that. Those who cross her do so at their peril!
Book Two in the POKERFACE series...
293 pages, Paperback
First published December 17, 2012
5 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 14, 2013
This is the second book in the Poker Face Series, the first is Poker Face. Ms Sturman has created a little piece of her own world in a British setting, and the results are incredible. Unlike the first, this story plays more to Ruby's internal struggles, making it wildly different from the first one. I'm not sure what's left for Ruby to explore, though I'm sure Ms Sturman is!
This book has as much conflict as you could ever want in a thriller, legal or not. In The Puppet Master (Poker Face), there's little of the legal, but a boatload of conflict, almost all due to Ruby herself, though there are villains, more easily despised than dealt with, to spice up the mix. I found myself quite anxious through the middle of the book as Ruby, Danny and Alessi work through a major course correction for her, largely because I couldn't figure out how she would get through it. Also, I wondered what would happen next, since it was too early in the book for this to be anything but the appetizer.
The main course, so to speak, was fully satisfying, and relieved almost all my tensions, and the dessert was a wonderful strawberry shortcake with a dollop of whipped cream atop. You may substitute your own favorite; it will be as satisfying to you.
The cover by Ivan Waldock is great and helps tie the series together.
I read Puppet Master on my Kindle, where it was easy to read. Like Poker Face, there are British phrasings and word choices, hardly surprising given Ms Sturman's British heritage, but none of them were more than a small bump in the road, so to speak. There are some grammar issues, mostly missing commas, that may cause someone like me to notice them, but should not interfere with enjoying the story. I opened it using Kindle for Mac; it was fine there as well.
I recommend Puppet Master to any reader looking for an intriguing thriller. If you're looking at this after having read Poker Face, what are you waiting for? If you haven't read Poker Face, this story will still work, but references may not make as much sense, and the relationships will be murky, I think.
This book has as much conflict as you could ever want in a thriller, legal or not. In The Puppet Master (Poker Face), there's little of the legal, but a boatload of conflict, almost all due to Ruby herself, though there are villains, more easily despised than dealt with, to spice up the mix. I found myself quite anxious through the middle of the book as Ruby, Danny and Alessi work through a major course correction for her, largely because I couldn't figure out how she would get through it. Also, I wondered what would happen next, since it was too early in the book for this to be anything but the appetizer.
The main course, so to speak, was fully satisfying, and relieved almost all my tensions, and the dessert was a wonderful strawberry shortcake with a dollop of whipped cream atop. You may substitute your own favorite; it will be as satisfying to you.
The cover by Ivan Waldock is great and helps tie the series together.
I read Puppet Master on my Kindle, where it was easy to read. Like Poker Face, there are British phrasings and word choices, hardly surprising given Ms Sturman's British heritage, but none of them were more than a small bump in the road, so to speak. There are some grammar issues, mostly missing commas, that may cause someone like me to notice them, but should not interfere with enjoying the story. I opened it using Kindle for Mac; it was fine there as well.
I recommend Puppet Master to any reader looking for an intriguing thriller. If you're looking at this after having read Poker Face, what are you waiting for? If you haven't read Poker Face, this story will still work, but references may not make as much sense, and the relationships will be murky, I think.
February 11, 2014
I enjoyed this sequel. Sequels are great because the characters are established. It was an odd turn near the beginning and took some explanations to understand it all but it had a good pace to it and the characters never wavered in who they were. I'm looking forward to more with interest.
February 2, 2014
Second book in the Poker Face series & just as gripping as the first.
March 28, 2019
I loved seeing what Ruby would get up to next!
April 6, 2020
Another AMAZING book in this series and I felt as though it ran smoothly on from the last. Lots more action in this one with new threats for Ruby than the last book also tidying up some of the ends left from book one. This book was slightly more focused on Ruby's feeling and internal battles as well as the physical battle she must fight. Although I did miss Danny granddad I thought he might make more of an appearance, also there are a few little questions left at the end of this book such as what is going to happen about the newly employed Tabitha, though not sure that would warrant a third book as the end of this one did seam kind of final.
January 25, 2013
What an amazing second book. If you thought you had heard the last of Ruby Palmer then you were wrong...thank goodness. I was swept away into a world of danger, betrayal, love and intrigue from the first page to the last. If you read one series of books this year read Poker Face and The Puppet Master by Jess Sturman-Coombs. But be warned......don't make any plans to do anything as you will not be able to put them down. AMAZING READ.
June 14, 2013
The Puppet Master is darker than Poker Face and you sometimes wonder how much trouble one girl can get into too - it's a rollercoaster ride - especially if you've taken Ruby to your heart (and Danny & Alessi)but it is yet another page turner from the author.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews