I love Kelley Armstrong’s work, and The Masked Truth is no exception. A group of troubled teens spends a weekend in therapy camp, and are taken hostage by a group of masked men. It’s a scary premise, and Armstrong lives up to expectations, keeping the pace on an adrenaline high throughout.

The main characters are Riley, who had witnessed the brutal murder of a couple she was babysitting for, and Max, whose psychiatric condition leads him to doubt everything he sees. Both characters are kickass and well-developed, and as always, Armstrong’s heroine is a standout.

Armstrong also gives us a glimpse into the reality of schizophrenia — I knew of the condition, but had no idea how terrifying it could be, or how dangerous it could make someone given a lack of treatment and the wrong circumstances.

The ending was a bit of a letdown, with the big reveal being far more convoluted than it had to be. The story also required major suspension of disbelief throughout, and while I don’t necessarily expect realism in a thriller that read very much like an action movie on the page, there were a few times in this novel where I had to silence that little voice in my head telling me something didn’t make sense. Ironically, for a novel about three masked men taking a group of teens hostage, it was the aftermath of the incident that felt most unbelievable.

Still, the story is an exciting ride overall. Just suspend your disbelief and enjoy the ride; you’ll find it hard to put this novel down.

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Thanks to Random House Canada for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.