City of Masks (Cree Black)
Daniel Hecht
About the author
Daniel Hecht is an American novelist who has written Skull Session (1997), The
Babel Effect (2000), Puppets (2001), and is also known for the Cree Black series
which contains City of Masks (2002), Land of Echoes (2004), and Bones of the
Barbary Coast (2006). Before he started writing he played acoustic 6 and 12 string
guitar and published three records: "Guitar" (1973), "Fireheart-Fireriver" (1977)
and "Willow" (1980), which were released on Windham Hill.
About the book
Hecht's New Age ghost story introduces Cree Black, a psychologist of renown transformed years
ago into a hyper-empathic ghostbuster by a spectral visit from her beloved husband. Lured from
her upscale Seattle offices to a spirit-infested mansion in the heart of decadent New Orleans, she
immediately identifies with the haunted socialite Lila Beauforte. This allows reader Fields to
showcase her skills, as Cree's somewhat brusque, unaccented speech subtly shifts into a quavering
southern drawl. The actress also uses an impressive variety of bayou accents to distinguish the
other New Orleanians-from the good ol' boy gruffness of Lila's worried husband to the cultured,
iron magnolia locutions of her aristocratic mother. The novel has its share of spooky suspense-
courtesy of anthropomorphic furniture, disappearing snakes and a pig-faced man-ghost with rape
on its mind-and is filled with enough scientific rationale to make these sinister shades seem
surprisingly credible. But the source of the ghosts isn't difficult to discern, and the many repeat
analyses of the case elements will lead restless listeners to agree with Cree's assistant Joyce Wu
when she complains (in Fields's amusingly on-target Long Island accent), "The metaphysics he-ah
are a complete no-brain-ah, and I'm sick 'a goin' over it and over it."
This book shows some of the darker or seedier sides of New Orleans, a city that will always offer a
great locale for mystery and suspense.. Hecht does an admirable job of evoking "The City That
Care Forgot". Besides, the book is extremely well written, grabbing you right from page 1, full of
cool ideas, rich descriptions, and a a great ensemble of characters. I heartdly recommend it!!
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