I received this book for free from bloggingforbooks.com for my honest review. This book was a true page turner. Loved every moment of the story and the ending--wow. Five novels with Michael and she keeps getting more interesting. This was the first book by the author featuring the heroine, Vanessa Michael Munroe that I have read and I am now keen to go back and read the other Munroe books. The Mask can be enjoyed without reading the prior books. Although past events between Munroe and Bradford are referenced often in The Mask, it was enough to know that something has happened in the past and I was still able to enjoy the book. However, Munroe and Bradford seem to have a complex relationship and although understanding the complexities of the relationship itself is not important for enjoying the book, I think that I may have had a better appreciation for what was going on if I had read the earlier books. I also think that I would have better understood Munroe as there is little in the way of character development in The Mask.
The action in the book is fast. Munroe is a professional who is able to move about at will and to understand subtleties that most would miss. I have seen her character likened to Jack Reacher of the Lee Child books and there certainly is likeness between the characters. But while Reacher is able to rely on his brute strength and size in addition to his skills, Munroe relies mostly on her deadly skills and keen insights into people's behaviors. For example, she is able to infer what her Japanese contacts are saying with ease even though verbally, they are saying something quite different. While the story is a fun ride, Munroe's ability to stay several steps ahead of everyone else does get to be unbelievable as do the coincidences which surround her own work at the biotechnology company.The story starts out with an action scene which is actually a foreshadow of things to come. The author uses a lot of blatant foreshadowing for the first few chapters. It is almost too much as the reader is being told over and over that things are not as they seem and that Monroe would wish that she knew now what she learned later. But, once this settles down, the story races ahead without further interruptions.Overall, a quick, action packed, summer read. Dont expect a lot more out of the book, but enjoy the wild ride.
