Mask Market

by Andrew Vachss

Book Overview

They meet in a no-name diner. A shadowy man hands Burke a CD dossier of someone he wants found. Minutes later, as Burke watches from an alley, his client is gunned down by a professional hunter-killer... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375424229
• ISBN13: 9780375424229
• Release Date: August 2006
• Publisher: Pantheon Books
• Length: 241 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.6" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Gripping, Original, Highly Entertaining ...

In MASK MARKET, the 16th installment in Andrew Vachss' extremely popular "Burke" series, Mr. Vachss sends his protagonist/anti-hero, Burke, in a very new and different direction. The unlicensed investigator is confronted with a person from his past, a woman whom he rescued from a pimp when she was a teenager and then returned to her parents. It is now twenty years later and the woman is enmeshed in a homicide and the theft of a considerable sum of money. Burke is forced to evaluate the validity of his original rescue and explore the idea that perhaps he made a mistake. This self-evaluation and the subsequent investigation leads to a considerable amount of Burke's back-story being revealed, giving new insights into this complex and violent man's methods and motivations ... a true gift from the author to longtime fans of the series and new readers alike. The effects of aging are also in evidence on the Burke of MASK MARKET and not at all to the negative. MASK MARKET gives the reader a somewhat wiser, more emotionally evolved Burke than is presented in previous novels. Age, however, has done nothing to diminish the hatred Mr. Vachss' main character holds for his enemies or his desire for revenge. Additionally, I very much enjoyed Burke's tangential comments on current hot-button political issues. While Burke's political beliefs do tend to reflect my own, these digressions wonderfully demonstrate how a thinking, sentient human being need not be a robotic slave to a political ideology, i.e., one can be quite "liberal" in regard to issues such as the "right-to-life" and stem cell research while being quite "conservative" when it comes to matters concerning the protection of children. Much more introspective than previous books of the "Burke" series, MASK MARKET is crafted like a beautiful painting or piece of music, every brushstroke is in the perfect place, every note ringing true and clear. An absolutely brilliant book featuring one of the most heart-chilling villians ever created ... immensely rewarding for anyone willing and able to give it the serious and intelligent reading it deserves.

Burke's Law

Years ago I was told to purchase Vachss' novels by the Mysterious Bookstore in Manhattan. They said they were "hard core" novels. Great if I could stomach them. Each novel opened my eyes to a part of society that I was sure he was exaggerating...only to discover that they were indeed the underbelly of society. As the years progressed, the underbelly of society would come to the surface as a truism or a cause celeb. He would write a new book, delve to a deeper more hideous layer. Then voila, society would tread down the same path. With his history, I do not know why I would have doubted the truth in his novels. Now I take them for fact. Everytime I pick up a book his staccato writing style drops me into a comfortable world. The comfortable world of Burke and his "family". Burke's world, although outside the law, is the world that you root for, the world that you want to win. You wish the real world worked in tandem with Burke's laws. His books always, always, make you think. They skew your thoughts in a way that leave you wondering why you did not think of the situation in that fashion in the first place. Thought provoking, disturbing, and very readable. If you haven't you will want to read the whole series.

Read The Rest!

If you pick up this book hoping for a replay of the highly-conceived schemes and murders of the previous books, you might as well put it down. If you pick it up hoping for a replay of ANYTHING in the previous books, put it down. If you pick up ANY book just looking for a replay of the author's previous novel, seriously reconsider it. We've all been trained since grade school that the way to read a book is primarily to Identify The Plot, but with well-written books, there's always so much more going on. Besides, if you've read any of Vachss' work, you understand that he has no interest in reinventing his own wheel - he has an entire concept. And in Mask Market? Part of the concept would definitely be the idea of deception - there are tons of masks in this book and the majority of them are less than effective, Burke's included. The rest - and the best part - involves Burke's continuing evolution. Each book usually finds him in a different state of mind; this book finds him at a whole new stage in his life, not surprisingly. Risk has become a much heavier weight to carry and Burke is seriously hedging all his bets - the almost incidental mention of his now-regular prostate cancer screenings is like a frying pan to the face. His relationship with his family hasn't so much changed or even deepened as...I'm not sure. He openly admits that he loves them; he's always shown it, never said it. He spends the entire novel using a fake identity with his new lady friend, Loyal - not just a different name, but even financial and marital status. He never reveals himself. His behavior is that of a man with...something to lose? And he's forced to face some very ugly truths about himself - one is that he's gotten away from his "code", as Wolfe identifies it, of saving kids. The other is that he may have unknowingly endangered a kid while following that code. Its a complicated juxtaposition: he was always driven to act when coming across children in danger, but he also usually managed to "find the money" while doing it. Wolfe tells him "You can't be a mercenary and expect to be treated like a patriot." So which is he? There are a couple of very strong opinions by the end of the book. Vachss explores all these things and even manages to include a startlingly accurate description of Paris Hilton in the process. But no doubt, you'll see things that never even occured to me. So go ahead and satisfy your curiosity about the plot. Then, get to the heart of the book and read the rest.

Still Batting 1.000

Continuing characters are tricky things. Change too little, and the series grows stagnant. Change too much, and fans move on, looking elsewhere for comfort in another serving of "the familiar." And then, there's Burke. Vachss never sacrifices truth for expediency. Burke has evolved over the years, and yet never strayed from his core. He's loved, lost, grown and reverted, much like any other human on the planet. It's this realistic portrayal that elevates the Burke series over any other ongoing series currently on the shelves. MASK MARKET continues the trend of honestly chronicling the life of Burke, faults and all. There's no KO punch here -no plot twist in the final paragraphs, or unexpected appearance to shock the reader- but a continual rain of punishing jabs, that in the end combine for a devestating decision. Vachss -and Burke- go the distance in this one, and at the final bell, both the character and the reader are left standing, bruised and bloody, but ready for the next fight. You can read a synopsis by scrolling up. You can only experience the truth by spending some coin and sharing an evening with Burke. Trust me, it'll be worth your money and your time.