The Puppetmaster

by Tony Russo

In the mid-1980s, Lottery Fever gripped the nation. States with lotteries saw larger and larger multimillion-dollar payoffs. When in September 1984, $40 million dollars were won in the Illinois State Lottery, imaginations exploded across the land. Across the border in Missouri, a persistent faction pushed for a Lottery. Tired of losing revenue to Illinois, a growing number of Missouri business and political leaders demanded a State Lottery. Unaware of his underworld connections, the Lottery Commission appointed Vincent Mancini as the Comptroller. As Comptroller, he controlled the movement of large amounts of cash through a series of banks to always get the best interest rate. Utilizing his underworld contacts to several offshore banks, he could wash a significant amount of drug-earned cash. Mancini's plan was working well until his actions brought him to the attention of Joe Crane. Now it is a race between Mancini and Crane, which threatens Crane and those closest to him, and a wrong move could cost him his life.

300 pages, Paperback

First published September 4, 2014

About the author

Tony Russo has spent his life as an educator teaching English in both secondary and college classrooms while nurturing his writing muse. “It took a long time, but I never gave up, and I encourage you to do the same.” Tony lives with his wife and cat on Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island.