The Puppetmaster

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.