THE MASK is not the first in a series about Vanessa Michael Munroe; rather, it is well into the series. But it passes my test: a book in a series should be understood without requiring that the previous books have been read. So that's one good point.

Another is its comments about Japanese society and laws, particularly when they are compared with American society and laws. And that's what the story is about: why Munroe's boyfriend was arrested for murder, why it is practically impossible to get him out of prison, and how to investigate what really happened.

Unfortunately, the majority of this book describes that investigation, and here is the problem with that: Munroe. She is superwoman and too hard to swallow.

If you are familiar with Lee Child's Jack Reacher, I would say that Munroe is a female version of Reacher. Like Reacher, Munroe is successful at most anything she tries to do. And boy does she, like Reacher, kick ass. In other words, she always wins a fight, even against a man, even against three men, even against three men with pipes and guns.

Just as unbelievable is Munroe's ability to be Vanessa or to be Michael. She can switch from a desireable woman to a man who can wear her boyfriend's clothes and fool everyone into believing she is Michael. No explanation is given about how she must have changed her voice. The reader is told only that she gets away with this because she is tall.

For these reasons, the book is boring and seems too long.

I won THE MASK through librarything.com.