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Puppet Master #2
Act of Revenge
When terrorists attack Boston, Louis Massina races against time to save the city with a high-tech counteroffensive . . . On Easter Sunday morning, the city of Boston is struck by a widespread and coordinated series of terrorist attacks: an explosion in the T, a suicide bomber at Back Bay Police Station, and heavily armed gunmen taking hostages at the Patriot Hotel. For robotics innovator Louis Massina, aka the Puppet Master, this is far more personal than a savage act of political terrorism. Boston is his city—and one of his employees, Chelsea Goodman, is among the hostages facing certain death. As Chelsea fights from the inside, Massina leads his team of tech geniuses at Smart Metal to deploy every bot, drone, and cyber weapon at their disposal to defeat the fanatics and save his city and friend. That's step one. Step two: Find the twisted mastermind behind the attacks and make him pay.
528 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 30, 2018
200 people are currently reading
218 people want to read
About the author
Dale Brown
154 books1,135 followersFormer U.S. Air Force captain Dale Brown is the superstar author of 25 consecutive New York Times best-selling military-action-aviation adventure novels: FLIGHT OF THE OLD DOG (1987), SILVER TOWER (1988), DAY OF THE CHEETAH (1989), HAMMERHEADS (1990), SKY MASTERS (1991), NIGHT OF THE HAWK (1992), CHAINS OF COMMAND (1993), STORMING HEAVEN (1994), SHADOWS OF STEEL (1996) and FATAL TERRAIN (1997), THE TIN MAN (1998), BATTLE BORN (1999), and WARRIOR CLASS (2001). His Fourteenth Novel AIRBATTLE FORCE will be published in late Spring 2003... Dale's novels are published in 11 languages and distributed to over 70 countries. Worldwide sales of his novels, audiobooks and computer games exceed 10 million copies.
Dale was born in Buffalo, New York on November 2, 1956. He graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Western European History and received an Air Force commission in 1978. He was a navigator-bombardier in the B-52G Stratofortress heavy bomber and the FB-111A supersonic medium bomber, and is the recipient of several military decorations and awards including the Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Combat Crew Award, and the Marksmanship ribbon.
Dale was also one of the nation's first Air Force ROTC cadets to qualify for and complete the grueling three-week U.S. Army Airborne Infantry paratrooper training course.
Dale is a director and volunteer pilot for AirLifeLine, a non-profit national charitable medical transportation organization who fly needy persons free of charge to receive treatment. He also supports a number of organizations to support and promote law enforcement and reading.
Dale Brown is a member of The Writers Guild and a Life Member of the Air Force Association and U.S. Naval Institute. He is a multi-engine and instrument-rated private pilot and can often be found in the skies all across the United States, piloting his own plane. On the ground, Dale enjoys tennis, skiing, scuba diving, and hockey. Dale, his wife Diane, and son Hunter live near the shores of Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
Dale was born in Buffalo, New York on November 2, 1956. He graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Western European History and received an Air Force commission in 1978. He was a navigator-bombardier in the B-52G Stratofortress heavy bomber and the FB-111A supersonic medium bomber, and is the recipient of several military decorations and awards including the Air Force Commendation Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Combat Crew Award, and the Marksmanship ribbon.
Dale was also one of the nation's first Air Force ROTC cadets to qualify for and complete the grueling three-week U.S. Army Airborne Infantry paratrooper training course.
Dale is a director and volunteer pilot for AirLifeLine, a non-profit national charitable medical transportation organization who fly needy persons free of charge to receive treatment. He also supports a number of organizations to support and promote law enforcement and reading.
Dale Brown is a member of The Writers Guild and a Life Member of the Air Force Association and U.S. Naval Institute. He is a multi-engine and instrument-rated private pilot and can often be found in the skies all across the United States, piloting his own plane. On the ground, Dale enjoys tennis, skiing, scuba diving, and hockey. Dale, his wife Diane, and son Hunter live near the shores of Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
January 11, 2022
Throat slashing. Female slavery. The bad guys are so despicable I couldn't take it. 0 of 10 stars
January 18, 2018
A fairly standard action thriller. Starting with a terrorist assault on a Boston hotel, the action moves into Syria as a counter-terrorism group, together with all kinds of bots and tech helping, take vengeance on the jihadi terrorists. Lots of action. Several changing points of view.
February 21, 2018
Not the Dale Brown I know!
Did not read the first book, but this was a choppy story and an unsatisfactory ending.
Did not read the first book, but this was a choppy story and an unsatisfactory ending.
March 15, 2025
Maybe a 3.75
Exciting action-packed start to the book and a nail-biting ride at the end. The middle of the book kind of dragged a bit though. Common story theme of America getting attacked, then hunting down the people in a foreign country that planned the attack…but with an additional twist at the end to bring the story back to US soil. The terrorist acts were one form of scary, but the evolution of the AI tools in the story hints at an under-lying scary future of AI if they eventually surpass the Turing Test.
Exciting action-packed start to the book and a nail-biting ride at the end. The middle of the book kind of dragged a bit though. Common story theme of America getting attacked, then hunting down the people in a foreign country that planned the attack…but with an additional twist at the end to bring the story back to US soil. The terrorist acts were one form of scary, but the evolution of the AI tools in the story hints at an under-lying scary future of AI if they eventually surpass the Turing Test.
March 23, 2018
Brown has crafted an international suspense novel that could be tomorrow's headlines. The features I liked best were the advanced robots and drones. This is the future of warfare, I think. I was also fascinated with the computer work done by Smart Metal to investigate the terrorists' plans. This novel portrays a whole new aspect on the war against terror. I recommend this novel to readers who love a plot full of action and suspense revolving around cutting edge technology.
I received a complimentary digital copy of this book through Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours. My comments are an independent and honest review.
I received a complimentary digital copy of this book through Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours. My comments are an independent and honest review.
June 14, 2018
Cliche all the way
Parts were exciting, long stretches were meh. I was more interested in the software than the actual plot (which I have read so many times, or watched so many times). The ending sucks.
Parts were exciting, long stretches were meh. I was more interested in the software than the actual plot (which I have read so many times, or watched so many times). The ending sucks.
March 3, 2018
There is a saying that "Revenge is a dish best served cold." As we come to learn the act of revenge can create consequences that we do not expect. When things and people we love are hurt we often want to lash out, but when we don't consider all the consequences of our actions the backlash can be costly. Messina, Goodman and Givens will learn this truism.
A different read than books of war that Dale Brown have written about in the past, but perhaps it's because he has a co-author that now does the writing.
A different read than books of war that Dale Brown have written about in the past, but perhaps it's because he has a co-author that now does the writing.
January 3, 2019
Very choppy, no flow. Mostly follows a typical plot of something bad followed by the planning and hi tech toys introduced, but missed the part that you need a ending. As someone else said, it was like a page limit was hit so BOOM, end of story. Probably trying to build excitement for #3 but the book just ends, nothing is tied up. Gave it a 3 as any book is worth a read imho, but #3 wont make it to my reading list.
March 15, 2020
Louis Massina wasn't about to take the attacks on Boston lying down. He made his company's bots, drones and cyber weapons available to fight the fanatics responsible. I found Act of Revenge to be thrilling. I liked it better than the first book, Puppet Master. The ending of Act of Revenge seemed to me to leave open another book in the series. I hope so. I would look forward to reading it, as I am a Dale Brown fan.
June 19, 2018
As always these two authors put together a fast-paced techno thriller. It is well written and has a decent plot, perhaps I have read too many from this genre, I feel even though it was updated (drones, robots) the plot is becoming a bit worn. Not that I didn't enjoy this book (I did) it is probably an indication that I need to switch genres for a while
September 12, 2018
This was a pretty good book but very jumpy. It would talk about a situation happening somewhere at a particular point in time then jump back to something related a few days or weeks prior. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the book but the jumps had me confused at time and I had to reread pages to connect things up.
June 24, 2021
Entertaining but not up to the standard of earlier books such as "Flight of the Old Dog" or "Sky Masters". Technology described seems feasible and some of it probably exists. Story line and character descriptions emphasizes hatred between West and Middle East. Seems overdone. Leaves the "bad guy" surviving and sets the stage for more of the same in a future book.
December 6, 2017
This is a “hold-on-to-your-seat” thriller that could be right out of today’s headlines. The action is non-stop, with just enough love interest to throw in additional plot twists.
I am adding Dale Brown to my favorites of Robert Ludlum and W.A. Johnstone.
Caution – graphic violence.
I am adding Dale Brown to my favorites of Robert Ludlum and W.A. Johnstone.
Caution – graphic violence.
February 20, 2018
fast paced, typical ISIS plot
March 3, 2018
Manly man book wish I has read book one first plenty of RW action, glad it is fiction
May 15, 2018
More far fetched than the normal Dale Brown book
May 19, 2018
I love the people of Smart Metal. This whole story line is very thought provoking. However the end of this book was full of loose ends..............perhaps on purpose.......perhaps not?
June 8, 2018
Boston is attacked on Easter morning and the story is trying to get the mastermind of the attack
June 30, 2018
Interesting read. Almost sci-fi. A bit of a cliff-hanger at the end.
July 22, 2018
A pretty good techno-thriller.
August 17, 2018
ok, not great, but ok. Didn't seem to go anywhere. Disjointed geographical areas. Inadequate character development. Expected more from Dale Brown.
August 31, 2018
Good story, lots of action and technology. Good light action reading.
January 24, 2019
The suicide bombing kind of plot left a very interesting plot. I like this reading, very captivating all the twists and turns on the spy parts.
February 19, 2019
This was an enjoyable read and I look forward to the next in the Puppet Master series by Dale Brown & Jim DeFelice
April 2, 2020
One of the worst endings I ever read. Absolutely implausible.
July 24, 2021
Holds your interest from start to finish. Great mystery and thriller and I highly recommend it.
November 24, 2022
Good book a bit disjointed in places which lowers the calibre
May 13, 2025
An intense read. A typical Dale Brown book. A lot of good "looking Ahead" into the cyber world. Great story right up to the end. typical "surprise end" for a Dale Brown story.
Read
April 8, 2019In the Book Act of Revenge by Dale Brown and Jim DeFelice is sci-fi about when jihadists attacks Boston and a tech company called Smart Metal goes after the terrorist named Ghadab how planned the attack in the united states but he is operating the attack from Liberia. The jihadists are heavily armed and take hostages at the Patriot Hotel and among them is Chelsea Goodman who works at Smart metal and her boss Louis is enraged by the attack because he grew up in Boston and uses every thing to get Chelsea Goodman out because of her wellbeing and her importance at Smart Metal. Chelsea defends herself after being forced into a room. Some challenges that Chelsea faces is locked in a room and comes very close to getting raped and blow up by a suicide bomber that is about to rape her and Louis is trying to get Chelsea out unharmed. My favorite character is Chelsea because she is very smart and can think outside the box in tough situations and is strong hearted and is not bother about her getting nearly raped and blown up.
I can relate to this book because in the book many people in the book are in a crisis and I was in crisis for a long time and went down a dark road but I found someone to help me guide me to the right path and still sometimes the memories return. Sometime when I am close to giving up look back to remember what and who I am doing the task for and just thinking about how the would look if I failed them pushes me to keep going just like when Louis is determined to save Chelsea from her death.
I have really enjoyed reading Act of Revenge a lot because I love reading about real world things and how people will react to them and survive the aftermath of the event. My favorite part was when Chelsea and her grandma are close to the getting out of the hotel but then are stopped and are forced into the big room because it represents that sometimes we are so close to getting something but then all of a sudden we put pushed down and it is hard to recover from or you might never recover. But my least favorite part is when they introduce Bozzone because Bozzone is a serious and all business man in the book he show very little emotion except for being serious and see things a waste of time. A thing that Dale Brown And Jim DeFelice do really well is how they use different people perspective and how they tell what they are doing at the given time. For example one chapter it tells from Chelsea and the next will say at the same time so it is showing the reactions from different people and how they react.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes action, sci-fi and a mix of fiction and nonfiction because of the advance technology base in really world settings.
I can relate to this book because in the book many people in the book are in a crisis and I was in crisis for a long time and went down a dark road but I found someone to help me guide me to the right path and still sometimes the memories return. Sometime when I am close to giving up look back to remember what and who I am doing the task for and just thinking about how the would look if I failed them pushes me to keep going just like when Louis is determined to save Chelsea from her death.
I have really enjoyed reading Act of Revenge a lot because I love reading about real world things and how people will react to them and survive the aftermath of the event. My favorite part was when Chelsea and her grandma are close to the getting out of the hotel but then are stopped and are forced into the big room because it represents that sometimes we are so close to getting something but then all of a sudden we put pushed down and it is hard to recover from or you might never recover. But my least favorite part is when they introduce Bozzone because Bozzone is a serious and all business man in the book he show very little emotion except for being serious and see things a waste of time. A thing that Dale Brown And Jim DeFelice do really well is how they use different people perspective and how they tell what they are doing at the given time. For example one chapter it tells from Chelsea and the next will say at the same time so it is showing the reactions from different people and how they react.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes action, sci-fi and a mix of fiction and nonfiction because of the advance technology base in really world settings.
February 27, 2020
You will have some trouble with this if you haven't read puppet master. A rather abrupt ending, like he reached a page limit. A good story though, with some enticing technology. A lot of where we are with AI today.
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I accidently read this again in February of 20. I barely remembered any of the details or characters. It's a story easy to follow and reads quickly.
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I accidently read this again in February of 20. I barely remembered any of the details or characters. It's a story easy to follow and reads quickly.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews