Masques [Hardcover]

Bill Pronzini (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1981

Mystery

Product Details

• Hardcover: 269 pages
• Publisher: Arbor House Pub Co; First Edition edition (July 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0877953082
• ISBN-13: 978-0877953081
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,407,079 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars nightmare at mardi gras, March 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Masques (Mass Market Paperback)

Steven Giroux suffers from nightmares. But, he stumbles into one during his waking hours that is far more frightening than his nocturnal episodes. A good, solid, scary, thriller/mystery. Not Pronzini'z best, but still very good. Bill Pronzini is one of the major talents in fiction today. His "Nameless Detective" series is classic. It baffles me that he is not better known by the general reading public. Maybe this book will be a good introduction to his talent. But, reader, don't stop here! explore the tresures of this prolific writer.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars He was selected King of the Masque, March 20, 2004

By 

Mary E. Sibley (Carneys Point, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Masques (Paperback)

Having fun was a theme of Mardi Gras. Voodoo was mentioned in the guide book. The Pirate's Head Hotel had atmosphere. Steve Giroux was from San Francisco. He thought there was a kind of craziness to the carnival. He had been separated from his wife for six months. Someone called him about a photograph. The problem was he knew nothing of such a picture. New Orleans reminds him of Venice where he had gone five years previously on a package tour. The crowd of masked people in the streets makes him feel claustrophobic. His date for the evening is dressed as a voodoo queen. They go to a jazz club on Dauphine Street. He is astonished to discover that the woman, Juleen, believes in voodoo. She had been born in Metairie.

It is the following day. His memory of the previous evening is not clear. A woman named Mona invites him to have lunch with her. She has also gone through the aftershock of divorce. Again someone, in a menacing manner, seeks to take a phtograph from him and Steve knows nothing about it. The book is full of--well--voodooish atmosphere. Two days later Steve is still wondering whether Juleen is dead or alive. He receives a mysterious package at his hotel. It is a doll seemingly spurting blood.

Steven decides to tell Mona of the macabre events that have overtaken him. He feels a sense of relief. Later he runs into further causes of befuddlement, some of which involve the woman Mona. He finds that he is a sort of jester in a comic masque. "If I ever cease to love, if I ever cease to love...." Bill Pronzini does a professional and exciting job in the writing of this story on the theme of Mardi Gras.

3.0 out of 5 stars Great New Orleans travel guide - just average as a thriller, January 23, 2005

By 

coachtim (Indiana, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Masques (Mass Market Paperback)

Readers who have traveled to New Orleans (especially during Mardi Gras) will definitely want to read "Masques" because author Bill Pronzini does a great job describing the city, its streets and all the glitz, glamour and gratuitous behavior that is present during Mardi Gras.

As a story though, this pot-boiler is just so-so. Protagionist Steve Giroux is trying to put his life back together after a failed marriage and devastating fire to his photgraphy business. He thinks a trip to Mardi Gras is just the ticket. Wrong! He soons find himself persued by a masked reveler who seems to think that Giroux has a photograph that belongs to him. As Giroux attempts to sort all of this out he meets two lovely women each with a different agenda for him. What transpires is a race against time to stay alive and figure out the mystery regarding the photograph.

As some of the earlier reviewers have noted there are a few unbelievable premises regarding the plot that Pronzini just basically ignores. Why Giroux just simply doesn't involve the police is explained, but not satisfactorily enough to be feasible in this reviewer's mind.

An interesting "Twilight Zone-type" ending makes the book worth reading to the end. And at the very least, it IS a very quick read.

RECOMMENDED FOR HARD CORE PRONZINI FANS AND MARDI GRAS ATTENDEES