Masterminds: A Retrieval Artist Novel

Retrieval Artist #15

by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

The fate of the Alliance hangs in the balance as the masterminds behind the Anniversary Day bombings trigger the final stages of a plan decades in the making. A plan that will bring about the total destruction of every dome on the Moon.

As Moon Security Chief Noelle DeRicci struggles with the overwhelming scope of the investigation, Retrieval Artist Miles Flint races to save the life of a man from his daughter Talia’s past. A man with vital information regarding the identity of the masterminds who planned the Anniversary Day bombings. And deep beneath the surface of Armstrong, a dome engineer makes a chilling discovery that could crack the investigation wide open.

If only he can get someone to believe him.

The thrilling conclusion to the Anniversary Day Saga.

Genres: Science Fiction, Mystery, Audiobook, Thriller, Crime

375 pages, Paperback

First published June 3, 2015

About the author

Kristine Kathryn Rusch is an award-winning mystery, romance, science fiction, and fantasy writer. She has written many novels under various names, including Kristine Grayson for romance, and Kris Nelscott for mystery. Her novels have made the bestseller lists –even in London– and have been published in 14 countries and 13 different languages.

Her awards range from the Ellery Queen Readers Choice Award to the John W. Campbell Award. In the past year, she has been nominated for the Hugo, the Shamus, and the Anthony Award. She is the only person in the history of the science fiction field to have won a Hugo award for editing and a Hugo award for fiction.

In addition, she's written a number of nonfiction articles over the years, with her latest being the book "A Freelancer's Survival Guide".

She has also published as:
Sandy Schofield (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kristine Grayson - romances
Kathryn Wesley (collaborations with husband Dean Wesley Smith)
Kris Nelscott - mysteries
Kris Rusch - historical fiction
Kris DeLake - romances

Reviews

[Lois · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was worth the wait. I can easily see more books dealing with the fallout from this series. I hope we get to keep up at least peripherally with Gomez and her team which should include another alliance favorite of mine. Also congrats to the happy couple:)
Well done!

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rounding up. Very satisfying end to a long series. Rusch does a great job with intricate plotting. Sentences aren't complex at all but characters and world are well drawn!

[Anissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe I've read the last in this series. This one was quite the tense read and I wasn't sure at all of the survival Miles, Noelle, Nyquist, Talia or the domes. Happily, the complaint I had for the two books prior to this (that they were glacial until about halfway through) was not present this time. I won't spoil but this was a great tie up to the story and I still feel like there's room enough for more stories in this universe. I'm a little sad it's over but I enjoyed the read. Recommended.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is touted to be the last book in the Anniversay day series which I have been reading avidly over many years. It was a good ending tying up the plot but like all good stories left the reader wanting more. Hopefully there will be so we can know what the future holds for Miles Talia Nyquist and others. Well done ms Rusch. A series that I truly loved

[Marion Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Masterminds is the eighth and final book of the Anniversary Day Saga in the Retrieval Artist Series by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. All the threads of the previous seven books in the saga finally comes together as we find out who is the mastermind behind the Anniversary Day Bombings on the Moon’s colony of Armstrong. You will have read it for yourself to find out who that person is and make sure you begin with Anniversary Day, the first book of the saga, and continue with the rest of the books before reading Masterminds.

This novel revolves around another possible attack on Armstrong that will destroy the colony once and for all. Retrieval Artist Miles Flint and Moon Security Chief Noelle DeRicci are racing against time to thwart the latest attack to the colony. Along the way, both of them receive more clues from unlikely sources about the mastermind’s plans to destroy Armstrong and cause chaos across the galaxy. Also, it shows the role of clones and how they are used like chattel for humankind.

Rusch has written an excellent conclusion to a thrilling series and has all of the superlatives that I have written in previous reviews of these books. It has been a real treat to discover those books (by accident) and be totally engrossed into a fictional universe that I’m sad to leave. Rusch has written publicly that she will return to the Retrieval Artist Universe at a later date. I will have to wait until that time arrives….but I will give all the Retrieval Artist books my highest reading recommendation. I would suggest you start with the standalone books beginning with The Disappeared and read all through to Masterminds. I promise that you will be intrigued and engrossed into a fascinating near-future fictional world as much as this reviewer has been.

[Soo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mini-Review:

Review for Retrieval Artist Series #1-15

- 4 Stars for Narration by Jay Snyder
- 4 Stars for Concepts
- 4 Stars for Leading Characters
- 2 Stars for "Bad Guys"
- 3 Stars for Side Characters
- 2.5 Stars for Uneven Plot Progression, Awkward Flashbacks, Rushed Ending

Overall Impressions:
- Solid PG-13 Sci-Fi with a handful of great books that were character driven vs plot driven. Plot driven sequences were the weakest part of the series.
- I felt like I was reading an in depth brainstorming sessions & semi-polished drafts vs a finished piece that linked together for a whole.
- Lots of potential for amazing character driven plot within a rich world setting.
- Would have better continuity & plot arcs if there were several trilogies focusing on different parts of the whole.
- Unfortunate series name that only takes in a small portion of the actual story. Flint is not the main character for each book. There's always two or more characters that carry the story in each book.
- There were a lot of interesting plot lines developed over the series and they were not all addressed by the end of the book.
- It's hard to "tell" and have the reader "experience" every little idea and piece of a large arc in short volumes. There was a distinct enthusiasm for setting & characters that carried into the story but that did not necessarily worked out to be a great story. Some of the books were more like loosely connected short stories with varied quality of content.

I have a lot of brain intensive work that I have to do right now and this series was an easy to follow popcorn read. There were a handful of books that were great but the whole series was not written to what I would consider a polished state.

The series needed more editing, rearranging and continuity to make it shine as a whole. I'll read more work by this author and hope the quality of the content will rise to meet the potential of the concepts created.

[Gregoire · Rating 4 out of 5]

j'ai adoré les premiers tomes avec Miles Flint et le climat généré par les aliens, les interrogations sur les lois etc
les épisodes de The anniversary day sont beaucoup plus dilués (l'écriture moins soignée) et moins poignants (malgré le nombre astronomique de morts) mais je reconnais que l'auteure a su dans ce dernier tome tisser les différents fils entre ses principaux protagonistes en une toile solide pour conclure la série même si je regrette que les motivations des terroristes infiltrés à tous les niveaux utilisant des clones soient si peu détaillées et donc moins crédibles que celles des "aliens" ...

En vo, J'ai lu la review de Samuel Lubell
ici : http://www.sfrevu.com/php/Review-id.p...
que j'ai trouvé intéressante et conforme à mes impressions

[Carly Kirk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Satisfying!

Very satisfying tying up (and together) all the many threads that made up the Anniversary Day Saga! Can't wait for more stories within the Retrieval Artist series and I'm planning on checking out more books by Rusch written under her various pen names.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great ending to a great series. Best sci-fi epic!

[Mervi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great and satisfactory ending to the series.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice conclusion to tha Anniversary Day subseries of the Retrieval Artists book. Really, this subseries is one long story, 2000+ pages, split up into 8 books. This book pulls together all the far-flung subplots and characters into an exciting climax. Most of the characters are trying to find the perpetrators of the Anniversary Day and Peyti Crisis bombings and to stop them from further destruction on the Moon, or anywhere else. And of course they finally succeed, and we find out who dunnit.

I hope Rusch writes more books in this series. This one resolves the Anniversary Day crisis and finishes all we need to know about some of the characters. But of course, we want to see more about Miles and Talia. It looks like Miles may become more social and maybe even make some friends. Talia is brilliant and complicated, and I hope we get to see more of what she's like growing up. Nyquist and DeRicci would probably figure into any stories that take place on the moon. There are still issues of sometimes-violent bigotry against clones (who are property with no human rights) and aliens. (This is a relevant issue reflecting similar bigotry on our present Earth.) The S3 law firm is gearing up to work on those issues. And of course the bigotry affects Talia, who is secretly a clone. So yes, more books please.

[Kris Sellgren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Masterminds is the eighth and final novel in the SF Anniversary Day saga. It is an exciting and thoroughly satisfying conclusion to a series so gripping that I read the entire thing non-stop, with breaks only for food and sleep. Master storyteller Rusch follows the threads of many disparate lives throughout the series, each tied to another piece of the puzzle that Masterminds finally solves in a breathtaking way. The suspense is high throughout the series, with its betrayals and twists, and it boils over here. Read the Anniversary Day saga. Start with Anniversary Day.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miles Flint, who used to be the main character of this series before the Anniversary Day story line, gets more face time in the final book of this saga. As with the previous books, there is not a lot of action, and not much suspense either. Most of the story - here and as a whole - is investigating, researching , and talking. There are lots of characters, lots of flashbacks, and lots of clones.
I liked the story as a whole, and some books certainly more than others, but I did feel that there could have been a bit more action a little less character building, especially in those characters that were barely involved in the story.

[Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my second time through the whole Saga, so I guess I liked it enough. But, it really runs out of steam, and I found the big reveals at the end a let down, mostly because there were 7 books of build up. What resolution could possibly live up to that? My personal opinion is that she should have cut story lines (the Pippa one for example) and kept the saga at 5 books total instead of 8. Then it would have been spectacular. As it is, it drags and I can only recommend to hardcore fans of the retrieval artist universe.

[Alain Normand · Rating 4 out of 5]

After painfully getting through the previous four books, this one finally returns to the pace and suspense I was used to in the early part of the Disappeared series.
Only four stars because there are too many characters and too many side stories making it difficult to follow. Plus a last minute almost miraculous save makes it a bit unrealistic.

[Bob Cutler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally, the Anniversary series concludes! Nicely wrapped up - but it was a long slog getting here - a minor quibble. I read everything Rusch writes including her mystery/detective novels (written as Kris Nelscott).

[Groucho42 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yeah, the last one. It dragged, but in the end she tied the pieces into a whole. As folks think the third attack on the Moon is imminent, all the key players slowly come together, communicate, and try to figure it out. As with others, a bit overwritten; but a nice conclusion.

[Jean Kipper · Rating 5 out of 5]

One rip snorting adventure. But read the whole series to make sense of it.

Good sci-fi, good science. Read the whole series to follow the story. A fun read. It hangs together well. Good imagination.

[Charl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whew! I wasn't completely certain they'd stop the conspiracy! Well done, Ms. Rusch!

An uncertain-until-the-very-end conclusion to the epic Anniversary Day Saga, with a perfectly acceptable ending. Well written, well plotted, and well worth reading.

[Al Menaster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ending was a little abrupt, but Rusch tied up all 8 books. Lots of interesting characters, lots of action in this novel.

[Jean Hontz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great wrap up to a well written and otherwise really well drawn series.

[John Wegener · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great finish to the Anniversary Day series. Nail-biting right to the end.

[Karen A. Wyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have two different assessments to this book, as an installment of the Anniversary Day saga and as its culmination.

As an installment, I liked the book very much. Down-to-the-wire suspense is difficult to do well, and Rusch does it well, in general and here. Multiple character threads come together, and as we learn more about some characters who earlier appeared peripheral, we in some cases will like them more as well.

As a culmination of this saga-within-a-series, I find the book not quite as successful -- though I hope and guess that some of the many loose threads will be addressed in future Retrieval Artist books, even though Rusch characterizes those coming books as "stand alone" novels. Of those threads that Rusch seems to mean to resolve to some extent, I find the treatment of the "masterminds" disappointingly cursory. The revealed motivation itself, to the extent (not clear) that it applies to most or all of the conspirators, is not implausible (and in fact I'd thought of it as a possibility), but as Rusch handles it, it doesn't quite work as an adequate explanation of the conspiracy as a whole.

All that notwithstanding, I found the way the book pulls threads together somewhat satisfying, despite the issues I've identified.

[Angie Boyter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whew! Quite an accomplishment!
Highly recommend this, but you should read all the volumes close together in order to keep things straight. It could use a cast of characters; you can't even use the Search function on the Kindle, because the character whose background you are trying to remember may have appeared in an earlier book.
Flaws:
Plot--Clones are a bit factor, and a number of factors in the clone issue had some problems.The legal status of clones was hard for both me and David to find credible. It also was difficult for us to believe that a LARGE number of clones could escape detection in a society when extremely sophisticated forms of identification were standard and very complete records were available about everyone.
Technical--I wish she had had somewhat better editing for repetitiveness and mechanical errors.
MILD SPOILER: There were nice wrap-ups of most of the main characters, but Luc Deshin just seems to have dropped off the radar. I wonder why?

[Craig Cote · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great science fiction is often a lens for viewing philosophical or moral dilemmas, with "The Cold Equations" being a canonical example.

The original Retrieval Artist novel tackled just such a dilemma and the subsequent books often shared the same core. The Anniversary Day saga takes that problem and makes it one of several competing-yet-intertwined issues -- making for a very complicated, and therefore very REAL philosophical stew.

Then Rusch throws in complicated characters, mixed timelines, seat-of-your-pants action, intrigue, betrayal and heroes, and the result is 8 novels that get progressively harder and harder to put down.

This is storytelling at its finest. Start from the very beginning if you can, but read it.

[Samuel Lubell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This conclusion to the Anniversary Day subseries in the Retrieval Artist series is flawed and uneven, but still worth reading as the climax to an eight-book long series. I still feel the eight books could have been condensed as some read more like character notes and whole sections seem irrelevant to the mystery or much longer than needed to provide the necessary clue.

See my full review at http://www.sfrevu.com/php/Review-id.p...

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast paced conclusion to the Saga. Really enjoyed all the characters coming together. Having 1 book a month was like having a wish granted, all the times I finished a great book that was part of a series an I would be so at a loss thinking" it'll be a year or more before the next book". Great book, great series, great narrator, can't say enough!!!

[Melissa Railey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this series. I think it might be my absolute favorite science fiction series out there. Rusch is a master of suspense and world building. I care for all the characters in her novels and fear for their safety as Rusch doesn't keep all her characters alive. Major characters die. If you're looking for a great science fiction series, I recommend The Retrieval Artist wholeheartedly.

[Rain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Breathtaking speed of a photo finish across the line, with the "cast of thousands" all living happily ever after, and a good time was had by all. The whole Anniversary Day saga could have been condensed down to 3 or 4 books, but despite that quibble, a lot of fun :-)

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nail-biter. An excellent ending to an almost unwieldy threads of action.