Masquerade [Hardcover]

Gayle Lynds (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1996

Confused, dazed, and unable to remember her own name, Liz Sansborough embarks on a terrifying journey in search of the truth that takes her into the perilous world of international terrorism, mind-altering drugs, and high-level post-Cold War espionage. 35,000 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Liz Sansborough wakes up one morning in a house she doesn't know, with a man she doesn't know, unable to remember her own name or anything that has ever happened to her. Already terrified, she is almost instantly plunged into incredible danger -- and discovers that she's a crack shot and a CIA employee. She must navigate through a world of corrupt secret agents, international terrorism, and mind-altering drugs without knowing who her enemies are or what the truth is.

From Publishers Weekly

The publisher's claim that Lynds will be the "first bestselling female author of international suspense" is hollow-and a bit surprising, given that at least one bestselling female author of international suspense, Linda Davies (whose Wilderness of Mirrors is reviewed below), is a fellow Doubleday writer. But Lynds does an admirable job in her debut novel of aping some of the top male international suspense writers of our era, especially early Ludlum, as she tosses into a swiftly moving narrative stream a vast and dangerous conspiracy, an array of improbable coincidences, several rogue government agents, a legendary international assassin (the "Carnivore") and a nearly friendless innocent caught in the middle of it all. Amnesiac Liz Scarsborough awakens to a house and husband she can't remember, to be told that she's an ex-CIA agent who has been living in hiding from the Carnivore. Liz believes that story for only a little longer than readers will, and she soon finds herself on the run from a gallery of threatening figures, heading for Paris in the company of a very neatly introduced fellow agent and incipient love interest. The resourceful heroine is captured but escapes, is recaptured but escapes again, in a dizzying sequence of action scenes that eventually involves a doppelganger, mind-bending drugs and brainwashing. Thriller fans may not find plausibility in Lynds's first, but they certainly will find the sort of teeth-grinding suspense that they crave. Major ad/promo; author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 419 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; 1st edition (January 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385479611
• ISBN-13: 978-0385479615
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,635,296 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Welcome to my author page. I'm the New York Times bestselling author of award-winning international espionage novels -- spy thrillers -- but when I was growing up, I had no idea ordinary people wrote books. I thought that was the literary turf of dead people, and if not them, then certainly gods and goddesses.

Despite my youthful conclusions, I still dreamed of creating the sorts of novels that would transport people to other worlds, other experiences, and leave them not only truly satisfied but feeling smarter, as I did when I read a really good tale.

Today I've published some eight novels, with a ninth on the way -- The Book of Spies, due out March 30, 2010, from St. Martin's Press. How did I get so lucky? I began writing literary short stories that were published in small journals. The discipline propelled me onward, and here I am today, creating adventure stories about London and Paris, Washington, D.C. and Rome. With me you can travel the world in my books, examining the clandestine world of spies, criminals, and secret power that quietly and importantly impacts all of us.

Some basic facts. My books have won such awards as "Novel of the Year" (THE LAST SPYMASTER) given by the Military Writers Society of America and the American Authors Associations, and have been People magazine "Page-Turner of the Week" and "Beach Read of the Week." Publishers Weekly lists MASQUERADE as among the top ten spy novels of all time. BookPage concurs: "Gayle Lynds has joined the deified ranks of spy thriller authors like Robert Ludlum and John le Carre." With Bob Ludlum, I created the Covert-One series and wrote three of the novels. One of them, THE HADES FACTOR, was a CBS miniseries in April 2006.

I'm a member of the Association for Intelligence Officers and co-founder and former co-president (with David Morrell) of International Thriller Writers. Born in Nebraska, raised in Iowa, I now live on the side of a hill in Southern California.

Thank you for dropping by. Please visit my website at www.GayleLynds.com to test your Spy-Q, visit my World of Espionage, and sign up for cool prizes.

Warm regards, Gayle

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fast paced rollercoaster ride!, September 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Masquerade (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:

5.0 out of 5 stars She must've learned a lot from Robert Ludlum., March 4, 2004

By 

Brad Cooper "Author of Guilty by Association" (Beckley, WV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Masquerade (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!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thanks Robert Ludlum!, January 1, 2002

By 

Chelle "always reading" (Round Rock, TX, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Masquerade (Paperback)

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!