What is the name of the book and when was it published?
The name of my book is The Mask Maker, and it was published May of 2015.
What’s the book’s first line?
Albert slowed the Aston Martin and jerked the steering wheel hard to the right.
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
Christmastime….an Aston Martin drives into the Appalachians with a hostage in the trunk. Days later, mutilated remains are found, and sometime in between those happenings a woman ends up in bed with a man she believes is her husband, only to realize he’s a stranger with an identical face.
Albert Johnson is a prodigy raised in abuse and isolation, living at his childhood home in rural Maryland. At sixteen he’s forced to find employment, eventually ending up at a cleaning company with clients that include top research facilities. When he stumbles upon cutting edge advance face transplant research, he devises a plan to finally be with Jill, the woman he loves. Though it’s his tragic upbringing that fuels his spiraling psychoses, it’s his obsession with her that unleashes a monster whose actions occur in a vortex of unimaginable coincidences. Albert is in the crosshairs of police, a gang, and a CIA agent.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
I wrote the book while considering the question of whether man is born evil or good, and exploring the types of people who commit evil deeds on a different level of inhumanity than run-of-the-mill criminals. The story grew out of a brilliant character I envisioned growing up in an environment where he experienced mostly cruel and immoral behavior.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
Because it is entertaining, and it shows something about human nature and the cost of abuse to society, and it’s well written and well researched.