- Hardcover: 419 pages
- Publisher: Doubleday (Feb 1996)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0385479611
- ISBN-13: 978-0385479615
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.5 x 3.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 4,540,676 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
"A mirror-maze of perils and pitfalls."--"The Wall Street Journal"
"You won't sleep until you finish."--"Cosmopolitan"
"A gloriously paranoid, immensely satisfying international thriller." -"Los Angeles Times"
A "People" Magazine "Page Turner of the Week"
"A disturbing link to recent headlines."-"The New York Times"
"Watch out Robert Ludlum! A bravura performance by Lynds, whose maiden race in the international thriller sweepstakes should make 'the boys' turn around."-Sue Grafton
"Page-turning suspense...An edge-of-the-seat spy novel."-Faye Kellerman
"A master of intrigue and adventure. Her rush-to-the-next-page excitement never stops."-Clive Cussler
"Move over Ian Fleming...an engrossing story of internaitonal intrigue with (at last) a femlae heroine who can hold her own."-"New Woman"
"Teeth-grinding suspense."-"Publishers Weekly"
""Masquerade" is a ball." -"Santa Barbara News Press"
"Rivals those of established masters." -"Chattanooga Free Press"
"Elaborate charade...nonstop pace." -"Library Journal"
"A female author blasts into the old boys' club of the international thriller." -"San Diego Union-Tribune"
"An impressive debut." "-Winston-Salem Journal"
"Hard to put down...a surprising conclusion." -"The Omaha World Herald"
--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.
"You won't sleep until you finish."--"Cosmopolitan"
"A gloriously paranoid, immensely satisfying international thriller." -"Los Angeles Times"
A "People" Magazine "Page Turner of the Week"
"A disturbing link to recent headlines."-"The New York Times"
"Watch out Robert Ludlum! A bravura performance by Lynds, whose maiden race in the international thriller sweepstakes should make 'the boys' turn around."-Sue Grafton
"Page-turning suspense...An edge-of-the-seat spy novel."-Faye Kellerman
"A master of intrigue and adventure. Her rush-to-the-next-page excitement never stops."-Clive Cussler
"Move over Ian Fleming...an engrossing story of internaitonal intrigue with (at last) a femlae heroine who can hold her own."-"New Woman"
"Teeth-grinding suspense."-"Publishers Weekly"
""Masquerade" is a ball." -"Santa Barbara News Press"
"Rivals those of established masters." -"Chattanooga Free Press"
"Elaborate charade...nonstop pace." -"Library Journal"
"A female author blasts into the old boys' club of the international thriller." -"San Diego Union-Tribune"
"An impressive debut." "-Winston-Salem Journal"
"Hard to put down...a surprising conclusion." -"The Omaha World Herald"
--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.
Product Description
What Do You Do...When you gaze into the mirror-and find a stranger looking back? Liz Sansborough has no recollection of her past as a CIA agent; no idea what her future holds. For her, there is only the present...and the chilling knowledge that the world's most lethal assassin has set his sights on her. Who Do You Trust...When your only link to your identity is a stranger who claims to be your lover? Gordon is so gentle, so loving-and so secretive. If Liz dares to put her life into his powerful hands, will he guard it with his own-or snuff it out? Where Do You Turn...When violence explodes around you, when nothing makes sense, when nobody-including yourself-is who he or she appears to be? As Liz unravels a series of lies, she begins to suspect that the truth she encounters might be far more sinister-and deadly-than the original deception...
--This text refers to the
Mass Market Paperback
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I checked this book out from the library yesterday and to my surprise this old guy who worked there told me it was one of his favorite books, that he'd read it several times.
"What's it like?" I asked.
"Sort of a cross between THE BOURNE IDENTITY and SEE JANE RUN, if you know what I mean."
I did indeed know what he meant. Jason Bourne (who probably everybody knows about now because of the hugely successful movie) and Jane Whittaker are two of my all time favorite characters from two of my all time favorite books. To be compared with Robert Ludlum (who Ms. Lynds would later write with) and Joy Fielding is an honor of the first order, but it also sets up high expectations. After that kind of billing I was ready for a rock 'em, sock 'em thriller that would leave me bleary-eyed as I stumbled into bed at two in the morning. I'm hear to tell you I was not disappointed, though I was not bleary-eyed, because this book kept me on the edge of the sofa and on the edge of reality all night long as my fingers blistered through the pages. When I'd finished my adrenaline was pumping, my eyes were wide open and I'd bitten off a couple nails. It was as if I'd had a dozen cups of coffee without anything to eat.
So what was it about this five star book that got and kept me so excited? A whole lotta stuff. Every time I thought I had a handle on where it was going, the story twisted down the least expected of paths, pulling me along like a fish in the line. Yes, I'm a sucker for a strong female protagonist, I'm also a sucker for a good story and you get both here, but you get so much more, like turncoat bad guys that get you so emotionally involved that you'd like to squash them like a bug, like a bad guy turned good over love who winds up dead of account of it and, after you've wiped away the tears, you gasp in horror at what happens to his lover. You get to see a rummy drunk, who'd been beaten down over the years by a despicable husband, overcome her addiction, throw her shoulders back and save the day. You get to see justice and you get to smile as our heroine squashes some of those bugs.
But there is still more. This is a story about a young woman who wakes one morning not knowing who she is, ala Jason Bourne and Jane Whittaker, but because it's about a woman who is apparently suffering from amnesia, please don't think it's a clichéd story, because it's not. As I said above, this story, Liz Sansborough and Sarah Walker's story, will take you to the most unexpected places, get your blood running, your pulse racing and your adrenaline rushing as you read the night away to an exciting, thrilling and fulfilling climax. And then you'll what to do just what I'm going to do, you'll want to go out, get and read MOSAIC, the Gayle Lynds book that comes after MASQUERADE.
Reviewed by Vesta Irene
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Liz Sansborough wakes with amnesia and her supposed boyfriend and lover Gordon Tate tells her she is an ex-agent for the CIA and that the international assassin called the Carnivore is trying to kill her because sheï¿'s the only person alive who has ever seen his face. Whatever doubts she has about this are quickly wiped away when two men break into her home, shooting. Gordon tosses her a gun and she instinctively shoots and kills one of the intruders. Afterward CIA agents show up and spirit her away to a safe house, where they tell her they need her help in bringing in the Carnivore, who is seeking asylum in exchange for information on who heï¿'d been working for and who heï¿'d killed over the last thirty years.
However at the CIA training camp called the Ranch in Colorado, where they send her to hone up her secret agent skills and trade craft, she stops taking her antidepressants, which were really memory suppressants and she starts getting strange memory flashes that cause her to question who she really is. With the help of the seemingly bumbling director of the camp, Asher Flores, she escapes to find the truth and thus begins a book long chase that will have you reading the night away. The CIA declares Liz and Asher rogue agents, tells the press theyï¿'re wanted for murder and sends their best and brightest after them. Asher they want dead, Liz they need alive, because they have dastardly plans for her. It seems the CIA intends to kill the Carnivore, because he knows too much about some highly placed CIA big wigs.
MASQUERADE grabs your attention from page one and keeps it long after you finish the book. There are more plot twists than you can shake a stick at and Ms. Lynds disguises them so well that youï¿'re already half way into the turn before you discover youï¿'re on a different track.
I know there are those in this post 9/11 world who might pass on an international thriller written in 1996, but that would be a mistake. If you havenï¿'t read MASQUERADE, which is kind of a prequel to THE COIL coming out in April, 2004, then as Stephen King used to say about Richard Laymon, ï¿'Youï¿'ve missed a treat.ï¿' There is enough action and adventure in MASQUERADE for ten normal books. Enough solid writing to keep you reading all night long. Enough spy trade craft to turn you into a secret agent. Iï¿'m surprised the CIA allowed this book to be published, itï¿'s that good.
Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne
However at the CIA training camp called the Ranch in Colorado, where they send her to hone up her secret agent skills and trade craft, she stops taking her antidepressants, which were really memory suppressants and she starts getting strange memory flashes that cause her to question who she really is. With the help of the seemingly bumbling director of the camp, Asher Flores, she escapes to find the truth and thus begins a book long chase that will have you reading the night away. The CIA declares Liz and Asher rogue agents, tells the press theyï¿'re wanted for murder and sends their best and brightest after them. Asher they want dead, Liz they need alive, because they have dastardly plans for her. It seems the CIA intends to kill the Carnivore, because he knows too much about some highly placed CIA big wigs.
MASQUERADE grabs your attention from page one and keeps it long after you finish the book. There are more plot twists than you can shake a stick at and Ms. Lynds disguises them so well that youï¿'re already half way into the turn before you discover youï¿'re on a different track.
I know there are those in this post 9/11 world who might pass on an international thriller written in 1996, but that would be a mistake. If you havenï¿'t read MASQUERADE, which is kind of a prequel to THE COIL coming out in April, 2004, then as Stephen King used to say about Richard Laymon, ï¿'Youï¿'ve missed a treat.ï¿' There is enough action and adventure in MASQUERADE for ten normal books. Enough solid writing to keep you reading all night long. Enough spy trade craft to turn you into a secret agent. Iï¿'m surprised the CIA allowed this book to be published, itï¿'s that good.
Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
47 reviews
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Fast paced rollercoaster ride!
12 Sep 1999
Format:Paperback
I received this book as a advanced reader copy when I was a manager of a bookstore. Having nothing else to read while riding the bus home, I took the copy with me and finished it within two days! The plot was intense, leaving you guessing what was happening next. In this day and age of the BIG authors pounding out books for bucks, Masquerade is a refreshing change. The characters are believable, not the cardboard cutouts that you find so often in this genre. Her (Gayle's) descriptive qualities give you an almost photographic detail of the settings and the people in the story. The last few chapters of this novel leave you sweating, gasping, and biting your fingernails to the quick! If you read only one novel in the next year, let it be this one. You won't be disappointed.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
She must've learned a lot from Robert Ludlum.
5 Mar 2004
Format:Mass Market Paperback
The International Thriller genre has historically been dominated my male writers (some of my favorite authors as a matter of fact). David Morrell, Tom Clancy, Frederick Forsyth, David Baldacci, and others. A few years ago I noticed that Gayle Lynds had cowritten a few books with the great Robert Ludlum (the "Bourne" series). Since then, she has started writing solo novels and this one is simply a masterpiece. Non-stop action, a gripping plot, writing that is well-structured but not over the top, and characters you can understand.
As the storyline plays out, you often find yourself wondering where it will go next...and the unexpected turns just add to the thrill ride. A perfect read for a long weekend or a plane ride because you will not want to put it down!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Thanks Robert Ludlum!
1 Jan 2002
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Had I not read The Hades Factor, co-authored by Robert Ludlum and Gayle Lunds, I doubt I would have even looked at this book. But I am a longtime Ludlum fan and decided that if he could share authorship with Gayle Lunds then it was worth the chance. What a great book! I love amnesia stories, and spy thrillers, and Masquerade combines both. This was a real page-turner in the Ludlum tradition. This was a powerful and compelling story - as well as a great start for a new novelist!
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