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Lancaster #2
The Master Key: The Lancaster Trilogy Vol. 2
Unlocking the past…could unleash chaos.Josie begins her new life in the future as wife to the world president, John Lancaster. But all is not idyllic. A dangerous man from her past returns to wreak more havoc and destruction. Along with him comes a hostage, Josie's great-niece seven times removed. The trade off—a keycode for the life of her niece.As revelations of Josie's long-ago past begin to unfold, every question she has ever asked is answered. Together with John, she heads to the Scrap Yard, a cybernetics space station where a battle to regain control of the world’s droids begins.Can Josie save the life of her new-found niece? Will learning the truth about her family and her past really be enough to put the ghosts to rest?
403 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2011
1 person is currently reading
14 people want to read
About the author
T.K. Toppin
28 books59 followers"I tell lies, write them down, and call it fiction."
T.K. Toppin writes character-driven tales, loaded with mystery, intrigue and adventure, navigating the realms of Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction and Space Opera. Previously with small press publishers, she is now immersed in indie publishing, embracing its many challenges and delights. T.K. is an award-winning author, her novel The Dark Without, received Literary Titan's Book Award.
Born, raised and living in Barbados, when T.K. is not writing, can be found studiously working on her doctorate in Procrastination by binge-watching shows on streaming networks, doing absolutely nothing, and juggling the baffling realm of social media marketing.
T.K. Toppin writes character-driven tales, loaded with mystery, intrigue and adventure, navigating the realms of Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction and Space Opera. Previously with small press publishers, she is now immersed in indie publishing, embracing its many challenges and delights. T.K. is an award-winning author, her novel The Dark Without, received Literary Titan's Book Award.
Born, raised and living in Barbados, when T.K. is not writing, can be found studiously working on her doctorate in Procrastination by binge-watching shows on streaming networks, doing absolutely nothing, and juggling the baffling realm of social media marketing.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 18, 2018
The Master Key is an adrenaline-driven, fast-paced action story. In this story T.K. introduces us to more of Josie's past and the horrors and mysteries that it holds. With Josie, readers must process it as she does, and then stand back and marvel at how she deals with it.
I enjoyed reading The Master Key, and will be picking up The Endless Knot soon. This is a complex series that keeps one guessing as to what is really going on - and the hope that love brings to it is a soother to the horrific events that unfold within its pages. The future is surely a dangerous place!
I enjoyed reading The Master Key, and will be picking up The Endless Knot soon. This is a complex series that keeps one guessing as to what is really going on - and the hope that love brings to it is a soother to the horrific events that unfold within its pages. The future is surely a dangerous place!
July 28, 2011
The Master Key by T.K. Toppin is an exciting Sci-Fi story sure to please fans of the genre. It’s the second in the trilogy and just as good as the first. Ms. Toppin’s characters are three-dimensional and interesting. It’s the future, and people live quite different lives, but some things are fundamental to all humanity, and this is displayed well with those who people the story.
Josie is from our time and finds herself in the future a few hundred years. She marries the president. This is a great set-up, almost guaranteeing there will be action—and there is.
She’s relatable and spunky. For all her charm, she has a mouth on her, and it’s humorous when the people of the future hear her display her verbal “talents.” She’s crass but honest. Her husband, John, the president, is complex, a contradiction of traits.
All of the characters in this story have depth, and emotions are described well. Dialogue and narrative are quite effective.
Josie is trusting, and John worries for her safety, with good reason. There are mysteries to be solved. The sci-fi aspects and futuristic technology are fascinating and woven into a tale with an underlying humor that pops out once in a while.
Suspense is created in several ways through the characters. For example, Josie meets her great-great, and so on niece. Is the girl for real? Readers will keep turning pages to discover this and other mysteries that drive the tension. Things are unpredictable.
This book is richly detailed. The author has done a great job at world building. There is plenty of adventure, and fight scenes are abundant, sometimes graphic and very realistic. It’s action packed. There are some wild scientific turns, at times almost freakish.
Charming and funny scenes are mixed in. Josie and John have great chemistry, and this comes into play throughout this fast-paced story.
Themes of family, trust, ethics, and immortality raise some intriguing issues and stimulate thinking.
This is a great read but sometimes vague (luckily not too often). Interesting questions come up at the end, and I expect the third in the trilogy will be as good as the first two.
Josie is from our time and finds herself in the future a few hundred years. She marries the president. This is a great set-up, almost guaranteeing there will be action—and there is.
She’s relatable and spunky. For all her charm, she has a mouth on her, and it’s humorous when the people of the future hear her display her verbal “talents.” She’s crass but honest. Her husband, John, the president, is complex, a contradiction of traits.
All of the characters in this story have depth, and emotions are described well. Dialogue and narrative are quite effective.
Josie is trusting, and John worries for her safety, with good reason. There are mysteries to be solved. The sci-fi aspects and futuristic technology are fascinating and woven into a tale with an underlying humor that pops out once in a while.
Suspense is created in several ways through the characters. For example, Josie meets her great-great, and so on niece. Is the girl for real? Readers will keep turning pages to discover this and other mysteries that drive the tension. Things are unpredictable.
This book is richly detailed. The author has done a great job at world building. There is plenty of adventure, and fight scenes are abundant, sometimes graphic and very realistic. It’s action packed. There are some wild scientific turns, at times almost freakish.
Charming and funny scenes are mixed in. Josie and John have great chemistry, and this comes into play throughout this fast-paced story.
Themes of family, trust, ethics, and immortality raise some intriguing issues and stimulate thinking.
This is a great read but sometimes vague (luckily not too often). Interesting questions come up at the end, and I expect the third in the trilogy will be as good as the first two.
September 3, 2011
Josie's back in all of her delightful, foul-mouthed sassiness. As with its predecessor, Lancaster Rule, Toppin amazed me with her imaginative and realistic future, this one with some master codes, cloning and more betrayals. The banter is better than ever, as is the suspense and intrigue. Both volumes ended with marvelous closure, while at the same time staying open for another sequel. I can't wait to see what kind of trouble Josie gets into next.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews