Editing The Puppet Masters (section)

==Reception==
[[Anthony Boucher|Boucher]] and [[J. Francis McComas|McComas]] characterized ''The Puppet Masters'' as "a thunderously exciting melodrama of intrigue", noting that Heinlein displayed "not only his usual virtues of clear logic, rigorous detail-work, and mastery of indirect exposition", but also unexpected virtues like "a startling facility in suspense devices [and] a powerful ingenuity in plotting".<ref>"Recommended Reading," ''[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction]]'', February 1952, p. 105</ref> [[P. Schuyler Miller]], noting that the novel's "climactic situations seem to be telegraphed", suggested that Heinlein presented his background situations so effectively that readers solve the story's mysteries more quickly than Heinlein allowed his characters to.<ref>"The Reference Library", ''[[Astounding Science Fiction]]'', March 1952, pp. 159</ref> In his "Books" column for ''[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction]]'', [[Damon Knight]] selected the novel as one of the 10 best [[science fiction|SF]] books of the 1950s.<ref>"Books", ''[[The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction]]'', April 1960, p. 99</ref>

The book was also reviewed in the  15 June 1951 issue of ''[[Kirkus Reviews]]''.  The reviewer wrote

<blockquote>The recurrent enigma of the flying saucer is finally solved when an aerial pieplate is caught with its exhaust down by the F.B.I. of 2007.  Hero Sam penetrates the contaminated area, brings a 'master' back—a gelatinous gray mass which attaches itself to a soldier's body and controls his thought processes.  Sam and his girl spot further landings, plan a counter campaign and eventually are able to rid the solar system of its parasites.  Exciting, even if it exacts a strong stomach.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Puppet Masters |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/robert-a-heinlein/puppet-masters/ |work=[[Kirkus Reviews]] |access-date=5 October 2022}}</ref></blockquote>