Blood Mask
by Lauren Kelly
Published by HarperCollins
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By Kathy Perschmann, Librarian, Chanhassen, MN
(Lauren Kelly is just one of the pseudonyms of Joyce Carol Oates.)
This horrific suspense novel will keep you guessing to the very end. It is the story of young Marta/Annemarie, who lives with her aunt Drewe Hildebrand in upstate New York, on a rural estate turned into an artist's colony.
When Marta's father is imprisoned for embezzlement and her mother goes off the rails, to her great relief she is sent to live with Drewe, her mysterious rich aunt. Drewe Hildebrand is a self-centered eccentric who does her best to manipulate Marta (even changing her name from Annemarie) to fit into her idea of what a "daughter" should be in her odd world.
The story begins with Marta discovered in a park, covered in blood, drugged and injured. As she recovers, she slowly recalls the events that led up to her beating and abandonment in the park and the kidnapping of Drewe.
But nothing is exactly as it seems. Does Marta really love Drewe? Who exactly is the strange artist who sculpts bizarre masks with frozen blood? Were the fanatic Christians for Life who protested Drewe's last big exhibit involved in her disappearance?
Marta's drugged state and her fragile condition after being saved is depicted well--almost uncomfortably so. Marta's life with her strange aunt and her even stranger artist friends is
almost sinister.
Armchair Interviews says: The twists and turns in the plot will shock you and keep you addicted to the very end.