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Sissy Sawyer #2
Czerwona Maska
Cincinnati, półmilionowym amerykańskim miastem, wstrząsa seria tajemniczych zabójstw. Nieuchwytny i bezwzględny morderca atakuje swoje ofiary w windach, zadając im na oślep ciosy nożami rzeźnickimi. Po dokonaniu zbrodni morderca po prostu znika, jakby rozpływał się w powietrzu. Policyjnej portrecistce, Molly Sawyer, udaje się, na podstawie skąpych zeznań naocznych świadków narysować jego portret pamięciowy. Z jej rysunku wyłania się straszliwa czerwona twarz mężczyzny, którego dziennikarze i mieszkańcy Cincinnati natychmiast nazywają „Czerwoną Maską”. Miasto pogrąża się w coraz większym niepokoju.
Tymczasem w Cincinnati przebywa na wakacjach Sissy Sawyer, teściowa Molly. Sissy jest osobą pod każdym względem niezwykłą. Wstrząśnięta potwornościami, jakie są dziełem Czerwonej Maski, postanawia wykorzystać swoje zdolności parapsychologiczne i za ich pomocą zdemaskować nieuchwytnego zbrodniarza. Seans spirytystyczny w domu pierwszej ofiary Czerwonej Maski naprowadza Sissy na właściwy trop, który pozwoli jej zdemaskować okrutnego zbrodniarza i zrozumieć motywy, jakie nim kierują.
Tymczasem w Cincinnati przebywa na wakacjach Sissy Sawyer, teściowa Molly. Sissy jest osobą pod każdym względem niezwykłą. Wstrząśnięta potwornościami, jakie są dziełem Czerwonej Maski, postanawia wykorzystać swoje zdolności parapsychologiczne i za ich pomocą zdemaskować nieuchwytnego zbrodniarza. Seans spirytystyczny w domu pierwszej ofiary Czerwonej Maski naprowadza Sissy na właściwy trop, który pozwoli jej zdemaskować okrutnego zbrodniarza i zrozumieć motywy, jakie nim kierują.
276 pages, Paperback
First published February 20, 2008
165 people want to read
About the author
Graham Masterton
423 books1,978 followersGraham Masterton was born in Edinburgh in 1946. His grandfather was Thomas Thorne Baker, the eminent scientist who invented DayGlo and was the first man to transmit news photographs by wireless. After training as a newspaper reporter, Graham went on to edit the new British men's magazine Mayfair, where he encouraged William Burroughs to develop a series of scientific and philosophical articles which eventually became Burroughs' novel The Wild Boys.
At the age of 24, Graham was appointed executive editor of both Penthouse and Penthouse Forum magazines. At this time he started to write a bestselling series of sex 'how-to' books including How To Drive Your Man Wild In Bed which has sold over 3 million copies worldwide. His latest, Wild Sex For New Lovers is published by Penguin Putnam in January, 2001. He is a regular contributor to Cosmopolitan, Men's Health, Woman, Woman's Own and other mass-market self-improvement magazines.
Graham Masterton's debut as a horror author began with The Manitou in 1976, a chilling tale of a Native American medicine man reborn in the present day to exact his revenge on the white man. It became an instant bestseller and was filmed with Tony Curtis, Susan Strasberg, Burgess Meredith, Michael Ansara, Stella Stevens and Ann Sothern.
Altogether Graham has written more than a hundred novels ranging from thrillers (The Sweetman Curve, Ikon) to disaster novels (Plague, Famine) to historical sagas (Rich and Maiden Voyage - both appeared in the New York Times bestseller list). He has published four collections of short stories, Fortnight of Fear, Flights of Fear, Faces of Fear and Feelings of Fear.
He has also written horror novels for children (House of Bones, Hair-Raiser) and has just finished the fifth volume in a very popular series for young adults, Rook, based on the adventures of an idiosyncratic remedial English teacher in a Los Angeles community college who has the facility to see ghosts.
Since then Graham has published more than 35 horror novels, including Charnel House, which was awarded a Special Edgar by Mystery Writers of America; Mirror, which was awarded a Silver Medal by West Coast Review of Books; and Family Portrait, an update of Oscar Wilde's tale, The Picture of Dorian Gray, which was the only non-French winner of the prestigious Prix Julia Verlanger in France.
He and his wife Wiescka live in a Gothic Victorian mansion high above the River Lee in Cork, Ireland.
At the age of 24, Graham was appointed executive editor of both Penthouse and Penthouse Forum magazines. At this time he started to write a bestselling series of sex 'how-to' books including How To Drive Your Man Wild In Bed which has sold over 3 million copies worldwide. His latest, Wild Sex For New Lovers is published by Penguin Putnam in January, 2001. He is a regular contributor to Cosmopolitan, Men's Health, Woman, Woman's Own and other mass-market self-improvement magazines.
Graham Masterton's debut as a horror author began with The Manitou in 1976, a chilling tale of a Native American medicine man reborn in the present day to exact his revenge on the white man. It became an instant bestseller and was filmed with Tony Curtis, Susan Strasberg, Burgess Meredith, Michael Ansara, Stella Stevens and Ann Sothern.
Altogether Graham has written more than a hundred novels ranging from thrillers (The Sweetman Curve, Ikon) to disaster novels (Plague, Famine) to historical sagas (Rich and Maiden Voyage - both appeared in the New York Times bestseller list). He has published four collections of short stories, Fortnight of Fear, Flights of Fear, Faces of Fear and Feelings of Fear.
He has also written horror novels for children (House of Bones, Hair-Raiser) and has just finished the fifth volume in a very popular series for young adults, Rook, based on the adventures of an idiosyncratic remedial English teacher in a Los Angeles community college who has the facility to see ghosts.
Since then Graham has published more than 35 horror novels, including Charnel House, which was awarded a Special Edgar by Mystery Writers of America; Mirror, which was awarded a Silver Medal by West Coast Review of Books; and Family Portrait, an update of Oscar Wilde's tale, The Picture of Dorian Gray, which was the only non-French winner of the prestigious Prix Julia Verlanger in France.
He and his wife Wiescka live in a Gothic Victorian mansion high above the River Lee in Cork, Ireland.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 9, 2014
he basic story was Ok, but for some reason, Sissy's dead husband has a different name and former career. Her son has a different wife, with whom Sissy is close friends and her grandson has become a grand-daughter.
If you haven't read the first book this won't matter - I don't think they need to be read in order.
Sissy is staying with her son and his family in Cincinnati, Molly is a sometime police artist and is asked to do create a sketch after a stabbing in a building down town.
Sissy is getting some strange readings from the cards while The Red Mask Killer continues to slice his way through Cincinnati residents and Sissy finds herself trying to convince another police department that she isn't a fruitbat.
If you haven't read the first book this won't matter - I don't think they need to be read in order.
Sissy is staying with her son and his family in Cincinnati, Molly is a sometime police artist and is asked to do create a sketch after a stabbing in a building down town.
Sissy is getting some strange readings from the cards while The Red Mask Killer continues to slice his way through Cincinnati residents and Sissy finds herself trying to convince another police department that she isn't a fruitbat.
October 5, 2025
Molly Sawyer, synowa Sissy, jest policyjną portrecistką. Dostaje zlecenia narysowania portretu pamięciowego napastnika, który zaatakował dwie osoby w windzie, w tym jedną zasztyletował. Z zeznań kobiety, która przeżyła atak, wyłania się przerażająca postać – jej twarz przypomina czerwoną maskę. Kiedy policja bezskutecznie próbuje złapać mordercę, Sissy po raz kolejny postanawia użyć swoich parapsychologicznych zdolności, aby pomóc w śledztwie. Czy połączone siły policji i wróżki będą w stanie złapać Czerwoną Maskę na czas?
Sama nie wiem, czy to jeszcze horror, czy po prostu thriller z elementami nadprzyrodzonymi. Bywało momentami brutalnie i krwawo, akcja się nie wlecze, czyli dobra rozrywka. Ale taka na jeden raz, raczej nie wrócę do tej książki.
7/10
Sama nie wiem, czy to jeszcze horror, czy po prostu thriller z elementami nadprzyrodzonymi. Bywało momentami brutalnie i krwawo, akcja się nie wlecze, czyli dobra rozrywka. Ale taka na jeden raz, raczej nie wrócę do tej książki.
7/10
February 21, 2021
This was my first adult horror book read. I was so proud when I found out I was allowed to get books from outside the children's section in the library.
The imagery is intense and highly Gorey but the story stuck with me and occasionally still haunts my thoughts.
The imagery is intense and highly Gorey but the story stuck with me and occasionally still haunts my thoughts.
June 15, 2017
When you browse the current horror shelves it's hard to find a horror or supernatural novel that's not vampires or zombies. Graham Masterton may have dabbled in these areas, however The Painted Man is a breath of fresh air. Masterton twists the standard serial killer crime novel on it's head when he adds his usual gruesome flair, in this case in a standalone second Sissy Sawyer mystery. There are plenty of thrills and plot twists as the story unfolds. Clever from start to finish, this is a recommended read with good characterisation and scenes of great horror.
March 27, 2018
Interesting story about how an artist brings a villain to life. This is book two in a series and I would like to read book one.
April 9, 2018
Love his books.....
February 18, 2019
Had this book for a while and finally decided to read it. Not my usual type of book but enjoyed it none the less. Good twist towards the end. Overall a nice little quick read that keep my interest.
November 6, 2020
* 3.5 *
April 2, 2023
The second book in the series. I enjoyed this one. Fairly short and not too complicated!! Kind of!!
May 5, 2023
My least favourite series from this author but the second book from this series I liked much more than the first one. 3.5 stars rounded up as GM is still my favourite author so I’m biased.
November 5, 2023
Ciekawa książka. Miło zobaczyć inną niż nienawiść relację pomiędzy synową i teściową, a i główny morderca posiada ciekawą historię.
February 7, 2025
Great book and an ending I never saw coming.
January 19, 2016
This is unquestionably better than the first in the Sissy Sawyer series: Touchy and Feely (Sissy Sawyer Mysteries). The protagonist, Sissy Sawyer, is still a bit annoying with her cards that give her clues to the future, but she is matched up with her daughter-in-law, a police sketch artist, trying to figure out how a psychopath who is terrorizing Cincinnati is managing to elude the police and appear in more than one place at the same time.
This novel has a compelling villain and a bit of a mystery, although it's not all that hard to figure it out, especially if you are familiar with some of Masterton's other novels. The means by which the good guys try to defeat the bad guys are also not unlike those in some other Masterton novels.
Nonetheless, an improvement, and it's too bad this one was not the first in the series rather than the second.
This novel has a compelling villain and a bit of a mystery, although it's not all that hard to figure it out, especially if you are familiar with some of Masterton's other novels. The means by which the good guys try to defeat the bad guys are also not unlike those in some other Masterton novels.
Nonetheless, an improvement, and it's too bad this one was not the first in the series rather than the second.
January 31, 2016
This was the first novel from Graham Masterton that I had read and I thought it was great.
A superb mystery that keeps you turning the pages, plenty of suspense, gore and action and a clever ending.
Everything you want for a satisfying read!
A superb mystery that keeps you turning the pages, plenty of suspense, gore and action and a clever ending.
Everything you want for a satisfying read!
December 16, 2010
Another good horror yarn from Masterton, a small novel but everything moves along at quite a pace.
January 18, 2015
A good short Masterton, very addictive and very easy to read.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews