マスカレード

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!