Part historical novel, part psychological thriller, Masquerade, the fairly unoriginal story of an ingenue grappling with his encounter with a more fascinating character, doesn't quite know what it is meant to be, stifled as it is by a central flaw.

Although her material is not uninteresting and her writing is easy and flowing, Sternberg seems too timorous in her approach. Because they are related by a reticent observer only indirectly involved, the more impactful elements of the plot are dulled and drowned in a sea of less colourful minutia. Her insistence at various parts of the book on the idea that history mirrors itself exactly is not only an odd but, more crucially, restrictive concept that she abandons in the end in any case.

But more importantly, Sternberg shies from a seemingly obvious side of her story, leaving a nebulous and unfortunate gap at the heart of her book. Although incidental mentions of homosexuality pepper the narrative, usually with censorious undertones, making at least one of her main characters either gay or, even better, bisexual, by adding complexity and hidden possibilities, would have helped explain the unusual bond between Eddie and Alexander, while infusing extra tension into the plot.

For a queer reader, all the elements are there and it seems only the author's reticence in embracing her material fully stops this side of the story from being developed and revealed. This is unfortunately the real and almost only masquerade presented to the reader here. Although the theme of the mask appears in the latter parts of the book it isn't otherwise that prominent; certainly not enough to inspire the title for the whole book.

The book, which is divided in two parts, is entertaining and sustains the reader's interest well enough, but it lacks that extra spark that would have made it more meaningful and engagingly thrilling.