Customer Reviews

Death Mask

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There are lots of terms that can be used to describe a good horror novel: suspenseful, thrilling, twisted, et cetera. One term that I don't use with many such novels is clever. Yes, they may be well-written, but the plots are often relatively straightforward. Death Mask by Graham Masterton is not only better than the average horror novel, it is more clever than the average one as well.

The heroines of the story are Molly Sawyer and her mother-in-law Sissy. "Heroine" is the proper word: they are both nice, courageous people with no grand emotional baggage to weigh them down. Sissy has psychic talents, primarily used through her tarot cards, and as the story opens, she is foreseeing some bad things. Molly is an artist who every now-and-then does sketch work for the police. This happens after a brutal attack in an elevator of an old Cincinnati skyscraper leaves one man dead and a woman injured.

The wounded woman gives Molly a description of a large and freakish man whose sunburnt visage soon gives him the name of the Red Mask killer. This killer is motivated by revenge, though for what is unclear: whatever the reason, he's not about to stop killing, and he will prove extremely elusive. All this is bad enough, but Sissy and Molly have come to a realization: Molly's artwork is coming off the page and into real life, including her two Red Mask sketches, which means that there isn't one killer but three.

In a way, Death Mask is like Masterton's previous novel, The 5th Witch, which also had police pursuing - and being completely overwhelmed by - supernatural forces, and which depend, to some extent, on a whiter form of witchcraft to offer hope of stopping these forces. Even with these vague similarities, however, Death Mask is original enough, and more importantly, is a really fun read.

Graham has been my favorite author ever since I plunged into the horror genre at the age of fourteen or so, I used to climb my dad's personal library shelves to get to the good stuff...after another fourteen years it's comforting to know that the master is still at his craft and these days all I have to do is go to the bookstore to get his latest, no ladders needed...Death Mask has been a pleasant surprise, I am a huge lover of his older works, the intricate lattice work of mysticism and folklore mixed with sensitive characters made for memorable reads, this book reminds me of the good old times when reading Masterton's books was the best part of my care free day.

Death Mask is clever and intense, sprinkled with mysteries and surprises and special treats to satisfy the hungriest of eyes that need a lot of juice out of words on paper. I adored the tale of a red faced killer who appeared and disappeared at will, one who was a murdering nemesis tracked by a police team and a very special sketch artist, one who had more power with her brush than she would have ever imagined. The novel does a wonderful job of drawing the reader into the so far undisturbed lives of some really special characters, when Molly discovers that her drawings seem to come to life she no longer knows how to handle the situation, but her talents are needed to help find a killer no matter what is going on in her head or in her personal life. A vicious murdering figure is on a killing spree and only Molly and her card reading mother in law have the sensitivity and enough intuition mixed with some otherworldly help that can help in solving the mystery of the insane assassin. Masterton does a tremendously good job of creating Molly and Sissy and Red Mask, not to mention the special cards, which were as haunting and enchanting as any fortune telling deck I have ever seen. For fans of mystery, horror and enticing thrillers mixed with something extra special this is a real treat, I adored this books and was ready to read more of the master, he has always been great in my eyes and this book was a real pleasure to read, not to mention a whole lot of fun!

- Kasia S.

Death Mask was my introduction to the work of living legend Graham Masterton, and I have to say, I'll be actively seeking more of his work in the future. This novel involves a forensic sketch artist who is called in to assist the police after a man with a red face hacks a man and woman up in an elevator. As opposed to the last book I read, reviewed above, this one was a supernatural thriller with real killing thrown in. Masterton filled the book with several twists and turns, only one of which did I see coming early on, and a cast of engaging characters.

This was my first Graham Masterson novel, so I cannot compare it to any of this other works. I can say that I did in fact finish the book, although there were quite a few times (especially toward the end) where I wanted to throw my kindle across the room in frustration. Why?

First, the prose is poor. I am one of those readers who is especially critical of grammar/structure/style. There are a number of modern authors that I will not read due to their inability to actually "write." I will qualify this by saying that Graham Masterson is by no means the worst offender in this category (that title is held by James Patterson). However, the actual writing leaves a lot to be desired.

Second, the plot was a bit, well- stupid. At first there was quite a bit of intrigue, but as the details were fleshed out over the course of the book, I found myself thinking, "Well, that's dumb" at almost every plot turn. I don't want to spoil the plot for anyone who is going to read the book- However, I will say that the ending is especially bad.

Masterson appears to have a loyal following- the reviews (on Amazon) of his works are largely positive. I purchased this book based on the aggregate of those reviews, and was sorely disappointed.

A solidly written piece from one of the Masters of Horror fiction. It's a supernatural, thrilling, detective mystery, all in one.

It will come as no suprise to anyone who knows him that Graham Masterson can write, but if there remains the slightest doubt in your mind buy this! Leave all the lights on, curl up for an unputdownable book and enjoy yourself.

This is my second novel of Graham Masterton I read. He didn't disappoint. Looking forward to reading another one of his novels.

Book wasn't scary or all-that-compelling but I did manage to stay with it to the finish. Reasonably interesting characters but overall the book is nothing that I would buy again.

I have found it harder and harder to get hard back copies of Masterton's material. Most of the horror genre I enjoy in Masterton's work is always the supernatural material, where he can really go to town and show his fangs in the Uber Sex and violence whilst doing what only he can do in a supernatural work.
This novel takes longer than usual to get to the supernatural side of the main plot, and it appears that the styles in Bonnie Winter( I have both Hardback and Paperback of this story), and Chaos Thoery where I kept on waiting for the supernatural line to drop in, but... well just suffice to say its worth a read even if it is not a supernatural horror.
So much of the last 20 years of horror, and dare I say it even 30 years has been nothing compared to Masterton. He is the past master of the first person narrative, and yet he also continues to develop the style he defines.Whilst this is a great read, fully a Masterton book, some recent works like Edgewise, and the Devil in Grey show how he does Supernatural Horror so well.
And yet, Since I started with Charnel House in approximately 1977-78, I would say that his books like THE DEVILS OF D DAY, THE WELLS OF HELL, DJINN ( Number three with The Great Harry Erskine) and others, especially ones like Mirror,and TENGU show that Masterton is probably the only person he makes you leave your lights on, and leaves some of the J-Animation and J-Horror for ( and I wish this was so, sometimes) Dead. If someone needs ideas for an English language Horror film, MAKE A MASTERTON BOOK INTO A FILM !!!