Mike Tucker is a professional art dealer who moonlights as a professional thief. Through Clitus Felton, an ex-thief who runs a book store, Tucker receives offers to ply his second trade, but he picks and chooses which capers he becomes involved in. In "The Wall of Masks" he is teamed again with Jimmy Shirillo who first appeared in "Blood Risk". Together with George Knight they plan to steal a wall of masks which has been looted from a previously undiscovered Mayan ruin in the Mexican jungle. Unfortunately, the local general appears during the heist expecting his customary payment for looking the other way, He kills all the people involved except Tucker, Shirillo and Knight. Now they must find a way out of the jungle alive.

My Rating = B +

An enjoyable read, with more character depth than either previous Coffey title.

Book Information

"The Wall of Masks" is the third of five books that Dean Koontz published under the pseudonym "Brian Coffey". It is one of the harder titles to locate and tends to be fairly expensive. Unfortunately, most of the copies I see listed for sale are ex-library editions. It is the last of the three Coffey titles to feature art collector/thief Mike Tucker, preceded by "Blood Risk" in 1973, and "Surrounded" in 1974. It was never released in paperback in the United States.

American First Edition Information

You have a first edition if there is a $6.95 price on the inside front of the dustjacket and if it states "First Printing" on the copyright page.