The suspenseful tale of a vengeful criminal long believed dead, set against the backdrop of turbulent post-World War 1 France and Roaring Twenties Hollywood, where Universal’s super-production of a horror classic starring Lon Chaney is being sabotaged at every turn. ________ “Gets right down to business from the first page and rapidly develops into an inventive re-invention of The Phantom of the Opera. A mix of the real and the unreal, tied together with a magic thread, this is a must for lovers of both the classic story and silent Hollywood.” - David McGillivray, actor, producer, playwright, screenwriter and film critic “This gripping fiction blends seamlessly with Hollywood fact in the 1920s as a tense murder melodrama centers around a psychopath long thought dead and the French inspector nemesis on his trail – with vivid bit parts for a feisty entertainment reporter, an innocent ingénue, and the “man of a thousand faces” himself: Lon Chaney Sr. A thoroughly enjoyable read." - Elias Savada, co-author of Dark Carnival: The Secret World of Tod Browning, “Hollywood’s Master of the Macabre" “Masquerade is a wonderful thriller that transports you from Paris, France to Hollywood during the glory days of silent film. Only a movieland insider like John McCarty could convincingly introduce us to stars like Lon Chaney while maintaining an iron grip of unrelenting suspense. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough, while loving every one of them!” - Joseph A. Citro, author of The Gore, Shadow Child, and Lake Monsters

本書は名作「オペラ座の怪人」を再構築し、戦後のパリと狂騒のハリウッドを舞台に虚実が入り混じる迷宮を描いています。映画史を知り尽くした著者によるサイレント映画黄金期の描写は圧巻。怪優ロン・チェイニーを物語に溶け込ませ、虚構の惨劇と現実の狂気が交差する様は、文芸と映画愛が融合した極上の結晶です。 仮面の下に隠された人間の業と、銀幕の裏に潜む闇を抉り出す筆致は、単なるミステリーを超えた文学的な深みを湛えています。復讐者の執念が撮影現場を蝕む緊張感の中、虚構を演じることの危うさと魔力を、ぜひその肌で体感してください。読後の余韻は、往年の名画のように深く心に刻まれるはずです。