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I really like this genre but many authors who write these types of books leave too many holes, unfathomable situations, failed attempts at finding sympathy with the failings of the protagonist. (Think of the amnesiac Jason Bourne who somehow solves the most heinous crimes imaginable while "trying to find himself"). Enough already.
All the books I've read by Gayle Lynds are wonderful, convoluted, plot twisting, adventures in which the heroes are real larger than life individuals who make mistakes but real, believable mistakes not the ones which the reader sees as an obvious technique to further the plot. Gayle (if I may use her first name only), writes wonderful stories. The adult versions of all those great adventure stories we read as kids, where the good men and women were great and the bad men and women were horrible and the truth comes out at the end. I couldn't ask for more.

Not what I would call "very good condition".

Gayle Lynds is a very good suspense writer. She grabs your attention and keeps it to the very end. There are a lot of twists andf turns but she keeps you hooked.

The story and plot are nice enough but as the story unfolds it just does not measure up to many of todays Spy thrillers. The story in the last half of the book even becomes rather sophomoric in nature. When there is a gun battle and one of the characters gets shot 2-3 times, he apparently goes home and takes a couple of Tylenol and is good to go the next day without any lingering affects from yesterdays gun shot wounds, really?? And the rest of the story follows suit. The manner in which the story is written is so elementary compared to the bar that has been set by a variety of writers in the Spy Thriller Genre today. There are many more accomplished writers who actually write thoughtful, provocative thrillers that are certainly have much more credibility to their story lines than this book. I was stunned when I saw Publishers Weekly's praise. I certainly will be much more measured on any review they give a book from this point forward.

This and all of Gayle Lynds' books are EXCELLENT. She has an imagination with the best of them, and is a wordsmith worth the attention.

Even those she has written under other writers titles, like Ludlum, are excellent. It is a shame she has not written more.
In my opinion, Gayle Lynd is THE BEST female writer in the action/thriller genre. THE BEST.

I like Gayle's writing style since I also liked Robert Ludlum and read all of his books over the years. They are very similar styles and story lines of spies and intrigue. I read "The Coil" first not realizing this was a predecessor book. Still didn't take away the fun of reading it. If you like Ludlum you will also like Gayle Lynds too. Enoy

I had trouble getting through this book. I was hoping for a spy thriller to keep me on the edge of my seat, but it didn't keep me there for long. Part of the time I was rolling my eyes at the ridiculous plot, and part of the time I was cringing at passages that read like a trashy romance novel. I am really surprised by the large number of glowing reviews. It isn't the worst book I've ever read - there is a lot of action, and the plot keeps moving forward while becoming more and more ridiculous. For me, the plot was unbelievable, the characters were stereotypes, and the writing was mediocre.

読み始めたときは、ストーリーのスケールの大きさに唖然としてしまいました。CIAのトップが画策する極秘のプロジェクトをめぐって世界中を
駆けめぐる主人公、それに次々と展開する様々な人物の行動が巧みに絡み合い、読み応えのある国際スリラーに仕上がっています。ちょっと読んだだけでは女流作家の手になるものとは信じられませんが、骨太なストーリーの裏で主人公の女性ジャーナリストの細やかな心情もうまく描かれていて、なるほどと感心してしまいます。ストーリーの鍵を握る殺し屋、「カーニヴォア」の正体がじわじわ明かされいくのもなかなかよかったです。

The protagonist of Gayle Lynds' thriller Masquerade has lost her memory. Unable to recall even her name, she knows only as much of her past as her caretaker Gordon tells her: she is his fiancee, Liz Sansborough, a retired CIA agent who has been living under cover as a journalist and who is being targeted by one of the world's deadliest assassins, the Carnivore. Liz's reactions when under attack, she finds, are indeed those of a trained operative, but her occasional near memories don't correspond with what she's been told. Her hunt for her identity takes Liz away from Gordon's grasp, finally, and into the thick of a dangerous game of international intrigue in which identifying the bad guys is hard, and outrunning them even harder.

Masquerade, if not unputdownable, is a decent thriller with transparent prose and a likeable protagonist (who figures also in Lynds' more recent novel The Coil). The book unfortunately ends on a disappointing note, with a final chapter that strains credibility, but I would nonetheless enjoy reading more from this author.

In the intelligence business, you can't trust anyone, particularly people you are working for. In this novel, there is a lot of double dealing and, in some cases, the people don't always know who they are dealing with.
A group of people handling large sums of untraceable money find they can siphon some off into their own accounts, and use their assets to give themselves an edge in business dealings. People are assassinated for the convenience of the agents, and various crimes (including murder) are committed in the United States. A senior official in the CIA uses his position to recruit homicidal people with no morals who will follow his directions without question.
A trail of dead bodies are left strewn about the landscape. Some people are elimated because they know to much, and some just get in the way.
An international assassin wants to come in from the cold. He makes the mistake of contacting U.S. intelligence. Some people want to offer immunity in exchange for what he knows, but other people want him dead because he knows secrets they want to keep buried. He might disrupt the plans of a person preparing to make a large financial killing, a person prepared to eliminate confederates and subordinates in order to cover his tracks.
Some elements of the plot have been used before, e.g., drugging someone to make them follow your commands, but overall the plot is very original and has some interesting action and some twists in the tale. It is difficult to put the book down as you follow the story to the end.

Move over Robert Ludlum! Gayle Lynds has beaten you at your own game, and with women protagonists who are flesh and blood characters in a breakneck-paced thriller that includes a developing love story through the many twists and turns in the conspiracy plot. The only thing I don't understand is why Hollywood hasn't grabbed this story. It's far better material for a movie than Ludlum's "Osterman Weekend," in which his plot was so convoluted it was impossible to keep track of what was going on, who was doing what or why. I have finally found a woman author to replace my old favorite, Helen McInnes who preceded Ludlum. In her time, she was the queen of international intrigue, but in the 21st Century, that title now falls to Gayle Lynds.

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!