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.