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Frank Janek #4
Mirror Maze
A vengeful woman observes her typical ploy of abducting and robbing her victims in order to humiliate them, but when the latest target is also murdered, Detective Frank Janek must discover the source of the woman's wrath. Reprint.
- GenresMystery
Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
8 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
About the author
William Bayer
53 books28 followersWILLIAM BAYER is the author of nineteen fiction and non-fiction books. Thirteen of his novels are now available in ebook and audiobook editions. His books have been published in fourteen foreign languages. Two of his novels, Switch and Pattern Crimes, were New York Times best sellers.
Bill was born in Cleveland, Ohio, son of an attorney-father and screenwriter-mother ( Eleanor Perry). He was educated at Phillips Exeter and Harvard where he majored in art history. His Harvard honors thesis was an analysis of a single painting by Paul Gauguin: “D’où venons-nous? Que sommes-nous? Où allons-nous?” For six years he served in Washington, Vietnam and New York as an officer with the U. S. Information Agency. He has been a grantee of The American Film Institute and The National Endowment of the Arts.
His novels have won the following awards: Peregrine (The Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel, aka “The Edgar”); Switch, (the French Prix Mystère de la Critique); Mirror Maze, (the French Le Grand Prix Calibre 38); The Magician’s Tale (The Lambda Literary Award for Best Mystery); The Dream Of The Broken Horses (the French Prix Mystère de la Critique).
His novel, Switch, was the source for seven television movies, including two four-hour mini-series. In all of them the main character, NYPD Detective Frank Janek, was played by the actor Richard Crenna. All seven movies were broadcast nationally by CBS in prime time.
Bayer is married to food writer, Paula Wolfert. They have lived in Paris, New York, Connecticut, Tangier (Morocco), and San Francisco. They currently reside in the Sonoma Valley, an area North of San Francisco which Jack London called “The Valley of the Moon.”
Bill was born in Cleveland, Ohio, son of an attorney-father and screenwriter-mother ( Eleanor Perry). He was educated at Phillips Exeter and Harvard where he majored in art history. His Harvard honors thesis was an analysis of a single painting by Paul Gauguin: “D’où venons-nous? Que sommes-nous? Où allons-nous?” For six years he served in Washington, Vietnam and New York as an officer with the U. S. Information Agency. He has been a grantee of The American Film Institute and The National Endowment of the Arts.
His novels have won the following awards: Peregrine (The Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel, aka “The Edgar”); Switch, (the French Prix Mystère de la Critique); Mirror Maze, (the French Le Grand Prix Calibre 38); The Magician’s Tale (The Lambda Literary Award for Best Mystery); The Dream Of The Broken Horses (the French Prix Mystère de la Critique).
His novel, Switch, was the source for seven television movies, including two four-hour mini-series. In all of them the main character, NYPD Detective Frank Janek, was played by the actor Richard Crenna. All seven movies were broadcast nationally by CBS in prime time.
Bayer is married to food writer, Paula Wolfert. They have lived in Paris, New York, Connecticut, Tangier (Morocco), and San Francisco. They currently reside in the Sonoma Valley, an area North of San Francisco which Jack London called “The Valley of the Moon.”
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September 13, 2020
This is the fourth and final entry in William Bayer's series featuring NYPD homicide detective Frank Janek. As in the other three, this book features an antagonist with deep psychological issues and in order to solve the case, Janek will have to prove himself a brilliant analyst. Janek is a detective who relies on the excellent team of detectives he leads. He also utilizes science and the normal routine of a police homicide investigation, but principally he relies on his brain as he attempts to sort through the evidence of a case and get into the mind of the perpetrator.
This case may be his toughest challenge yet. A profoundly damaged young woman named Gelsey lives above a very elaborate mirror maze that her now-dead father constructed when she was a young girl. We learn early on that on occasion her father took Gelsey down into the maze and abused her. Now on rainy nights, she visits the maze and then drives from her home in New Jersey into Manhattan. There she goes into a bar and tricks a target who appears well-to-do into asking her up to his room or to his home. Once there, she drugs the man and then robs him. Before leaving, she always writes a mirror-imaged message on the guy's chest, insulting him in some way. This will be the first thing he sees when he wakes.
Now, though, one of her targets has been found shot to death and robbed of something extremely valuable. Janek and his team are assigned the case. Hotel employees describe Gelsey say that she left the bar with the victim. Thus she becomes the prime suspect. Janek realizes almost immediately, though, that there's a lot more to this case than meets the eye, and the whole situation will very rapidly become decidedly more complex and a lot more violent.
Meanwhile, Janek will also be assigned to reopen a murder case, known simply as "Mendoza," which has haunted the department and damaged careers for nine years. Mendoza, a very wealthy "player," was convicted of having his wife murdered in a spectacular fashion and is now in prison. The case also involved the assassination of a police detective in a car bombing and there have long been accusations that, in their determination to bring down a cop killer, the detective investigating the case manufactured evidence against Mendoza to ensure his conviction. A new lead in the case now appears, though, and as he attempts to unravel the case, Janek will find himself in mortal danger and aggravating a lot of his fellow cops along the way.
The two investigations are very compelling and thus the book moves along at a brisk pace. Janek continues to be a very appealing protagonist and it's too bad that Bayer decided to end the series this quickly. This book was published in 1994, and like the others, may be a bit hard to find. But for readers who enjoy complex psychological crime novels, the series is definitely worth seeking out.
This case may be his toughest challenge yet. A profoundly damaged young woman named Gelsey lives above a very elaborate mirror maze that her now-dead father constructed when she was a young girl. We learn early on that on occasion her father took Gelsey down into the maze and abused her. Now on rainy nights, she visits the maze and then drives from her home in New Jersey into Manhattan. There she goes into a bar and tricks a target who appears well-to-do into asking her up to his room or to his home. Once there, she drugs the man and then robs him. Before leaving, she always writes a mirror-imaged message on the guy's chest, insulting him in some way. This will be the first thing he sees when he wakes.
Now, though, one of her targets has been found shot to death and robbed of something extremely valuable. Janek and his team are assigned the case. Hotel employees describe Gelsey say that she left the bar with the victim. Thus she becomes the prime suspect. Janek realizes almost immediately, though, that there's a lot more to this case than meets the eye, and the whole situation will very rapidly become decidedly more complex and a lot more violent.
Meanwhile, Janek will also be assigned to reopen a murder case, known simply as "Mendoza," which has haunted the department and damaged careers for nine years. Mendoza, a very wealthy "player," was convicted of having his wife murdered in a spectacular fashion and is now in prison. The case also involved the assassination of a police detective in a car bombing and there have long been accusations that, in their determination to bring down a cop killer, the detective investigating the case manufactured evidence against Mendoza to ensure his conviction. A new lead in the case now appears, though, and as he attempts to unravel the case, Janek will find himself in mortal danger and aggravating a lot of his fellow cops along the way.
The two investigations are very compelling and thus the book moves along at a brisk pace. Janek continues to be a very appealing protagonist and it's too bad that Bayer decided to end the series this quickly. This book was published in 1994, and like the others, may be a bit hard to find. But for readers who enjoy complex psychological crime novels, the series is definitely worth seeking out.
February 7, 2017
Starting Words:Always on those rainy nights when she decided to drive into the city to play the game, she would first revisit the mirror maze.
Ending Words:He was assigned a twenty-four-year-old-partner,handed the keys to a car,then sent out on his first street patrol.
Mirror Maze was my first novel by William Bayer and am very sure it won't be the last.The writing was simple enough, characters loveable and it all add up to produce an interesting tale.
A group of girls headed by a Madame (Diana) go out individually and pick marks (affluent married men on business) and entice and seduce them then drug and rob them of their monies and valuables without going into the sexual art.This marks are picked up in responsible hotel bars and eatery but then along the line one of the girls (Gelsey) went solo (operating alone) after a dispute with the Madame (Diana) over the treatment melted on her colleague in the game.
Gelsey who went solo started picking marks (affluent married men on business) on her own without the protection of the Madame and always leaving what she called her signature on the victims in form of writing on the chest of her victims'a derogatory'statement written instead of from left to right,it was always written from right to left and when the victim come to consciousness and go to the bath to clean up that is when the victim will see what is written on his chest and he will be more annoyed, This was going on peacefully until one of Gelsey mark got murdered.
I really enjoyed this and it made me to understand more about mirrors and the system of writing backwards.... I give this 4stars
Ending Words:He was assigned a twenty-four-year-old-partner,handed the keys to a car,then sent out on his first street patrol.
Mirror Maze was my first novel by William Bayer and am very sure it won't be the last.The writing was simple enough, characters loveable and it all add up to produce an interesting tale.
A group of girls headed by a Madame (Diana) go out individually and pick marks (affluent married men on business) and entice and seduce them then drug and rob them of their monies and valuables without going into the sexual art.This marks are picked up in responsible hotel bars and eatery but then along the line one of the girls (Gelsey) went solo (operating alone) after a dispute with the Madame (Diana) over the treatment melted on her colleague in the game.
Gelsey who went solo started picking marks (affluent married men on business) on her own without the protection of the Madame and always leaving what she called her signature on the victims in form of writing on the chest of her victims'a derogatory'statement written instead of from left to right,it was always written from right to left and when the victim come to consciousness and go to the bath to clean up that is when the victim will see what is written on his chest and he will be more annoyed, This was going on peacefully until one of Gelsey mark got murdered.
I really enjoyed this and it made me to understand more about mirrors and the system of writing backwards.... I give this 4stars
August 26, 2020
" Remember: Somewhere in here lies the answer to a riddle. I'm not sure what the riddle is, except that it had to do with the way the mirrors catch the light and make something out of it, something you can't touch, but that's real - and that never existed before."
I have reviewed two novels by William Bayer here on Goodreads: very, very good Switch (solid four stars) and almost as good The Magician's Tale (also four stars), which the author published under the pen name of David Hunt. For me, these are extremely high scores for crime novels/thrillers, which means I must like the author's prose. On the other hand it also allows me to state major disappointment with Mirror Maze (1994). I am unable to rate the novel anywhere near the four-star territory.
Captivating first chapter: an attractive woman prepares herself for another episode of her game: finding a suitable mark in a Manhattan bar and allowing herself to be picked up. Naturally, a dupe is instantaneously found, happy to invite her to his apartment and finalize the easy catch. But it is not to be: the woman drugs him, he falls asleep, she steals some valuables from him and "inscribes" the guy - with indelible black marker she writes a phrase on his chest, in mirror-reverse. Wow!
Meanwhile, Detective Janek, whom we know from Switch, is meeting with an informant, who might have new details on a notorious unsolved case from the past - the Mendoza case. These two threads - the exploits of and search for the mirror-reverse writer and revisiting of the Mendoza case - form the two parallel axes of the novel.
I much prefer the "Mendoza" thread, which exposes the enormous complexity of the case in all kinds of dimensions: legal, psychological, human, and - most of all - the inextricable entanglement with the power games of office and city politics. Janek is sent to Havana to interrogate a potential witness in the case. I find the Havana episode the best part of the novel - well written, plausible, and devoid of affectation.
While Mr. Bayer's prose is, as usual, accomplished, what bothers me is how pretentious the main theme - fascination with mirrors - is. The following passage epitomizes it:
Sexual abuse of children by their parents is a horrible thing. Yet it happens not as often as the "asexual" abuse, which routinely occurs in a frighteningly high percentage of families, where parents wreck their children's lives as a result of their own inadequacies, complexes, and plain stupidity. I would like to read more books with this in the background rather than cliché sexual abuse.
At least the ending is quite good. The mandatory "final twist of plot" is unexpected in a completely unexpected way.
Two-and-a-half stars.
I have reviewed two novels by William Bayer here on Goodreads: very, very good Switch (solid four stars) and almost as good The Magician's Tale (also four stars), which the author published under the pen name of David Hunt. For me, these are extremely high scores for crime novels/thrillers, which means I must like the author's prose. On the other hand it also allows me to state major disappointment with Mirror Maze (1994). I am unable to rate the novel anywhere near the four-star territory.
Captivating first chapter: an attractive woman prepares herself for another episode of her game: finding a suitable mark in a Manhattan bar and allowing herself to be picked up. Naturally, a dupe is instantaneously found, happy to invite her to his apartment and finalize the easy catch. But it is not to be: the woman drugs him, he falls asleep, she steals some valuables from him and "inscribes" the guy - with indelible black marker she writes a phrase on his chest, in mirror-reverse. Wow!
Meanwhile, Detective Janek, whom we know from Switch, is meeting with an informant, who might have new details on a notorious unsolved case from the past - the Mendoza case. These two threads - the exploits of and search for the mirror-reverse writer and revisiting of the Mendoza case - form the two parallel axes of the novel.
I much prefer the "Mendoza" thread, which exposes the enormous complexity of the case in all kinds of dimensions: legal, psychological, human, and - most of all - the inextricable entanglement with the power games of office and city politics. Janek is sent to Havana to interrogate a potential witness in the case. I find the Havana episode the best part of the novel - well written, plausible, and devoid of affectation.
While Mr. Bayer's prose is, as usual, accomplished, what bothers me is how pretentious the main theme - fascination with mirrors - is. The following passage epitomizes it:
"The world of mirrors. Mirror-madness time. Reflections that don't show who you are [...] Mirrorworld. The mockery of mirrors. Their cruelty. Infinite corridors. Galleries of images. [...]"This is just one of the many, many, many fragments exploiting the world of mirrors. Actually what bothers me even more is that the author does not explore the reflection metaphor, instead focusing on titillating the reader with continual repetition of the word 'mirror.'
Sexual abuse of children by their parents is a horrible thing. Yet it happens not as often as the "asexual" abuse, which routinely occurs in a frighteningly high percentage of families, where parents wreck their children's lives as a result of their own inadequacies, complexes, and plain stupidity. I would like to read more books with this in the background rather than cliché sexual abuse.
At least the ending is quite good. The mandatory "final twist of plot" is unexpected in a completely unexpected way.
Two-and-a-half stars.
September 21, 2020
WOW, found a new author-thank you GoodReads patrons....Says it’s #4, but I read it as a stand alone book. Great character development, psychological killer?, action packed and good detective work. I will be back for more...
June 1, 2021
MIRROR MAZE [1994] By William Bayer
My Review Four Stars****
Hey, don’t dare miss out on reading this gone (but still available) great forgotten book! In the late ‘90s it could be stated with resounding conviction that no author of that period could write better psychological thrillers than William Bayer. In the same vein there was no main character in crime fiction that was as compelling as NYPD Lieutenant Frank Janek. He was a complex protagonist who was both sympathetic and believable. Bayer’s works were certainly powerhouse police procedurals but the author’s primary goal was first and foremost to create memorable if not unforgettable novels of sheer heart thudding suspense.
This third book of the Janek series is not unsurprisingly dissimilar to the prior two novels featuring the astute Lt. Janek and his special homicide squad. Bayer is known for his strong atmospherics, and this third installment of the Janek Series is no exception. The city of New York is a main character in the novel with an uncanny sense of locale. The grandness and the grime of New York are palpable in each riveting page of the unfolding narrative. The plot is multi-faceted but the main storyline follows two divergent paths as Janek and his elite team of detectives try to solve both a cold case and a new homicide.
The former is a baffling multilayered “migraine” of a murder case (dubbed simply “Mendoza”) that has remained a mystery and has haunted Internal Affairs for nine years. An affluent man sits in prison for the macabre slashing and strangling of his wife in a society sex scandal case which was tainted by the suspicion of police corruption marked by both evidence and witness tampering. This Rubik’s Cube of a case also serves up an ostensible suicide by a man leaving a letter claiming responsibility, the violent death of a witness alleging that Mendoza was the victim of an elaborate frame job by the police. There was also a narcotics cop moonlighting as a PI who was blown to smithereens. A confluence of circumstances at the beginning of the book offers up a golden opportunity to pursue the cursed Mendoza mess. Kit (the police captain who is Janek’s superior and oldest friend in the department, not to mention a former love interest) sends him to Cuba for an interview with the missing woman who discovered the victim all those years ago. She was unable to be located after the murder of her employer, and after the passage of so many years was presumed probably dead. Janek must enter socialist Cuba with no credentials or weapon and go “undercover” to interview the witness. He is subjected to an unspeakably harsh and unforgiving reception that is so well scripted that it makes the reader cringe and fear for him.
The latter case is the current homicide of an out of towner in his high-end hotel room downtown. A mysterious young redhead was seen socializing and having drinks with the victim in the lounge of the hotel. It is rather quickly ascertained that the man was a “mark” and the woman drugged, robbed, and endeavored to humiliate him by “signing” his chest using an indelible marker and mirror-writing “You are a total jerk” (legible only when viewed in a mirror). The investigation team learns that there is a ring of women who are preying on men out on the town looking for one-night stands. But did the professional seductress also shoot the victim in the head after putting him to sleep with a dose of medication to knock him out? What kind of killer shoots a man who is fast asleep? The detectives learn that the girl likely robbed him of more than money and jewelry. The murder victim was guilty of industrial espionage and had stolen a computer prototype chip from his employer that was worth billions.
The book is populated by dozens of colorful characters and the author’s style is electric, the pace relentless. The reader is hooked from page one, and is captivated by the narrative until the final page. Bayer is a master story teller who is on par with the best most successful contemporary authors of crime friction and psychological thrillers writing today.
Central to the theme of the book is in fact a secret hall of mirrors, but unlike anything that the average reader could begin to imagine. An incredible and sprawling labyrinth of several halls of mirrors was constructed by a man obsessed and left standing as his life’s work and both enchanting and terrifying legacy. It has been opined by critics that the author deployed the concept of the mirror maze to facilitate an examination of the blurring of illusion and reality and innocence and guilt. The book is told through the viewpoints of Janek and the emotionally damaged Gelsey, the girl who had been identified as the beautiful redhead in the hotel bar. The relationship they develop is heart-rendering, and the father-daughter kind of connection is especially driven home to the reader by the novel’s continued fleshing out of Janek’s background and belief and the expansion of his character arc.
Finally, it is perhaps not a surprise that both plot lines converge at the conclusion of the book and culminate in a showdown between good and evil in the secret mirror maze that is virtually hidden beneath an old decrepit and deserted amusement park. The present case eerily dovetails with the cold and black heart of the demon case “Mendoza”. The showdown and deadly battle between the morally righteous and caring Janek and a lethal sociopathic specter from the past is both riveting, terrifying, and impossible to forget after the book is closed.
This is the third and final Janek book, and a disappointment to Bayer’s loyal fans. Bayer was not a fan of series characters and deigned to write the Janek books only due to the sensational success of NYT Bestseller SWITCH (1985) and the character of NYPD Lt. Frank Janek. It is perhaps a record that Bayer’s novel SWITCH became the source for seven television movies, including two four-hour mini-series. All seven movies were broadcast by CBS in prime time. His second novel featuring Janek (WALLFLOWER) was also adapted to film by CBS television as Forget-Me-Not-Murders. Personally, I feel that of the three outstanding Janek books, it is MIRROR MAZE that could have benefitted most from adaptation to the screen. The perplexity, complexity, amazement, and terror of the labyrinthine mirror maze could have been visually stunning and unforgettable imagery.
Finally, I will acknowledge the final showdown in the mirror maze and its sequalae, then later Janek’s decision and disposition at the conclusion of the book were depressing and puzzling in that order. I did read an interview with Bayer that clearly and concisely explained his reasoning for the ending. It was only then that I had an “ah, hah!” moment and was able to the reasoning behind it.
My Review Four Stars****
Hey, don’t dare miss out on reading this gone (but still available) great forgotten book! In the late ‘90s it could be stated with resounding conviction that no author of that period could write better psychological thrillers than William Bayer. In the same vein there was no main character in crime fiction that was as compelling as NYPD Lieutenant Frank Janek. He was a complex protagonist who was both sympathetic and believable. Bayer’s works were certainly powerhouse police procedurals but the author’s primary goal was first and foremost to create memorable if not unforgettable novels of sheer heart thudding suspense.
This third book of the Janek series is not unsurprisingly dissimilar to the prior two novels featuring the astute Lt. Janek and his special homicide squad. Bayer is known for his strong atmospherics, and this third installment of the Janek Series is no exception. The city of New York is a main character in the novel with an uncanny sense of locale. The grandness and the grime of New York are palpable in each riveting page of the unfolding narrative. The plot is multi-faceted but the main storyline follows two divergent paths as Janek and his elite team of detectives try to solve both a cold case and a new homicide.
The former is a baffling multilayered “migraine” of a murder case (dubbed simply “Mendoza”) that has remained a mystery and has haunted Internal Affairs for nine years. An affluent man sits in prison for the macabre slashing and strangling of his wife in a society sex scandal case which was tainted by the suspicion of police corruption marked by both evidence and witness tampering. This Rubik’s Cube of a case also serves up an ostensible suicide by a man leaving a letter claiming responsibility, the violent death of a witness alleging that Mendoza was the victim of an elaborate frame job by the police. There was also a narcotics cop moonlighting as a PI who was blown to smithereens. A confluence of circumstances at the beginning of the book offers up a golden opportunity to pursue the cursed Mendoza mess. Kit (the police captain who is Janek’s superior and oldest friend in the department, not to mention a former love interest) sends him to Cuba for an interview with the missing woman who discovered the victim all those years ago. She was unable to be located after the murder of her employer, and after the passage of so many years was presumed probably dead. Janek must enter socialist Cuba with no credentials or weapon and go “undercover” to interview the witness. He is subjected to an unspeakably harsh and unforgiving reception that is so well scripted that it makes the reader cringe and fear for him.
The latter case is the current homicide of an out of towner in his high-end hotel room downtown. A mysterious young redhead was seen socializing and having drinks with the victim in the lounge of the hotel. It is rather quickly ascertained that the man was a “mark” and the woman drugged, robbed, and endeavored to humiliate him by “signing” his chest using an indelible marker and mirror-writing “You are a total jerk” (legible only when viewed in a mirror). The investigation team learns that there is a ring of women who are preying on men out on the town looking for one-night stands. But did the professional seductress also shoot the victim in the head after putting him to sleep with a dose of medication to knock him out? What kind of killer shoots a man who is fast asleep? The detectives learn that the girl likely robbed him of more than money and jewelry. The murder victim was guilty of industrial espionage and had stolen a computer prototype chip from his employer that was worth billions.
The book is populated by dozens of colorful characters and the author’s style is electric, the pace relentless. The reader is hooked from page one, and is captivated by the narrative until the final page. Bayer is a master story teller who is on par with the best most successful contemporary authors of crime friction and psychological thrillers writing today.
Central to the theme of the book is in fact a secret hall of mirrors, but unlike anything that the average reader could begin to imagine. An incredible and sprawling labyrinth of several halls of mirrors was constructed by a man obsessed and left standing as his life’s work and both enchanting and terrifying legacy. It has been opined by critics that the author deployed the concept of the mirror maze to facilitate an examination of the blurring of illusion and reality and innocence and guilt. The book is told through the viewpoints of Janek and the emotionally damaged Gelsey, the girl who had been identified as the beautiful redhead in the hotel bar. The relationship they develop is heart-rendering, and the father-daughter kind of connection is especially driven home to the reader by the novel’s continued fleshing out of Janek’s background and belief and the expansion of his character arc.
Finally, it is perhaps not a surprise that both plot lines converge at the conclusion of the book and culminate in a showdown between good and evil in the secret mirror maze that is virtually hidden beneath an old decrepit and deserted amusement park. The present case eerily dovetails with the cold and black heart of the demon case “Mendoza”. The showdown and deadly battle between the morally righteous and caring Janek and a lethal sociopathic specter from the past is both riveting, terrifying, and impossible to forget after the book is closed.
This is the third and final Janek book, and a disappointment to Bayer’s loyal fans. Bayer was not a fan of series characters and deigned to write the Janek books only due to the sensational success of NYT Bestseller SWITCH (1985) and the character of NYPD Lt. Frank Janek. It is perhaps a record that Bayer’s novel SWITCH became the source for seven television movies, including two four-hour mini-series. All seven movies were broadcast by CBS in prime time. His second novel featuring Janek (WALLFLOWER) was also adapted to film by CBS television as Forget-Me-Not-Murders. Personally, I feel that of the three outstanding Janek books, it is MIRROR MAZE that could have benefitted most from adaptation to the screen. The perplexity, complexity, amazement, and terror of the labyrinthine mirror maze could have been visually stunning and unforgettable imagery.
Finally, I will acknowledge the final showdown in the mirror maze and its sequalae, then later Janek’s decision and disposition at the conclusion of the book were depressing and puzzling in that order. I did read an interview with Bayer that clearly and concisely explained his reasoning for the ending. It was only then that I had an “ah, hah!” moment and was able to the reasoning behind it.
May 2, 2022
So, first, this is a series and it MUST be read in order. I failed to do that, and therefore found myself totally bewildered by the whole Mendoza plotline. Not the book's fault, but mine.
The main story in this book, though, it's an interesting one, although at times it's really slow and becomes a bit pretentious language-wise with a constant repetition of the word mirror without delving into the metaphor.
Nevertheless, it is entertaining, and you'll probably get a lot more of enjoyment beginning from the beginning, not as I did. /0\
Now, regarding the narration, Jeffrey Kafer does an excellent reading, but not a good narration. There is a lack of emotion to it that borders the monotone and, at least for me, detracts from the story.
The main story in this book, though, it's an interesting one, although at times it's really slow and becomes a bit pretentious language-wise with a constant repetition of the word mirror without delving into the metaphor.
Nevertheless, it is entertaining, and you'll probably get a lot more of enjoyment beginning from the beginning, not as I did. /0\
Now, regarding the narration, Jeffrey Kafer does an excellent reading, but not a good narration. There is a lack of emotion to it that borders the monotone and, at least for me, detracts from the story.
March 16, 2018
One of the hardest book to go through. Can't see myself reading any more novels written in third person's view. Story was so unrealistic, almost fairytale-like. The connection between Janek and Gelsey was bull. The part where Janek could sense the loneliness and hurt from the eyes of a police sketch on Gelsey was complete bull. There were also lots of names thrown around I've given up on trying to figure out who was who. Dialogues were boring, characters were two-dimensional. I wasn't engaged throughout.
November 14, 2021
The following was written by a fellow member, Jer Wei who has said exactly what I would have said had I been articulate enough to write at this time (my mind is somewhat boggled because of cancer treatment that I'm currently undergoing). Sorry, Jer that I failed to get you permission but I do hope you'll forgive me. Very grateful to you.
One of the hardest books to go through. Can't see myself reading any more novels written in third person's view. The story was so unrealistic, almost fairytale-like. The connection between Janek and Gelsey was bull. The part where Janek could sense the loneliness and hurt from the eyes of a police sketch on Gelsey was a complete bull. There were also lots of names thrown around I've given up on trying to figure out who was who. Dialogues were boring, characters were two-dimensional. I wasn't engaged throughout."
One of the hardest books to go through. Can't see myself reading any more novels written in third person's view. The story was so unrealistic, almost fairytale-like. The connection between Janek and Gelsey was bull. The part where Janek could sense the loneliness and hurt from the eyes of a police sketch on Gelsey was a complete bull. There were also lots of names thrown around I've given up on trying to figure out who was who. Dialogues were boring, characters were two-dimensional. I wasn't engaged throughout."
December 21, 2021
Police Mystery) I'm so sorry, but I can no longer tell if William Bayer is good or not. He's just got me snookered. If he writes it, I'll read it. Frank Janek, NY homicide detective, has two crimes this time. One mirrors the other and both are fascinating. Do yourself a favor and find a William Bayer mystery.
October 20, 2020
Frank Janek of Homicide has meet a psychological person, she has a ritual, the one that has turned deadly. To find her, he explores giving us a page turner plot. Well done as was the narration. Given audio for my voluntary review
September 16, 2025
Pretty much exactly what I expected from a book recommended by a 70 year old man lol
June 22, 2009
I was all set to love this book - it had such an interesting premise. I did like the book and will read the other 2 in the Frank Janek series, but I didn't love it. The book dragged in places - the cold case especially dragged. I kept waiting for it to tie into the second case, but it never did. As far as the "Mirror Maze" case, Gelsey just never came off as totally psycho as she could have been. And she became "cured" so easily. The capture of Kane & Diana went off without a hitch and felt wanting. I guess what I'm getting at is that the book could have been much better - it didn't live up to its potential.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 30, 2016
Thoroughly enjoyed it - the first Mayer I've read, and I'll be looking out for more. It entertained me, but I also put it down thinking that I learned a few things from the book - that's important to me and adds to the enjoyment. It did get off to a slow start, but then recovered and hooked me.
There's quite a lot of psychology in there, and an MO I had't seen before. Characters are well drawn, and the pace was measured and fats enough to keep me awake late. There were only a couple of things there which I thought were a bit far out - but that's me I guess.
I rate as four stars minus, so a four it is.
There's quite a lot of psychology in there, and an MO I had't seen before. Characters are well drawn, and the pace was measured and fats enough to keep me awake late. There were only a couple of things there which I thought were a bit far out - but that's me I guess.
I rate as four stars minus, so a four it is.
January 3, 2008
It is an interesting book. Unfortunately, the most intrigue involves Gelsey, and her life. The other cases have some interest at the beginning, but their value seems to diminish as time goes on. The mirror maze itself is fantastic, and something I had never read before. The novel goes to a different place with mirrors, and how they can be used. Creative.
March 14, 2015
100 pagina's minder was voor dit boek ook voldoende geweest: het boek kent veel stukken met weinig ontwikkeling. Daarnaast laat de vertaling nogal wat steken vallen. De hoofdlijnen in het verhaal zijn best goed.
January 29, 2009
This book inspired me to learn how to write backwards, and I can do it quite fluidly now.
November 21, 2013
Liked the main character.
February 2, 2016
This is the first of Bayer's books that I have read and I thought it was pretty good. The story was intricate and well tied together at the end. I will try to find more of his books.
July 12, 2016
Weird beginning but it got better...
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