A small percentage of people, majorly men, go toward the battle. It matters not the nature of the battle. It may be gun fire, an accident, a fire, or type of emergency. Some go with heat, with experience they go with cold. I appreciate that the drama with Rebecca was without detailed violence, far better to imagine the fear and anxiety. The killing of evil without overwrought remorse come with experience and a sense of true justice. The details of history and archeology remind me of the Matthew Reilly " Mercer" character.Gibbins is quite the storyteller. Best read I've had since Mary Renault on the one hand and Wilbur Smith on the other. One of the few books I'll be sorry to finish.This book was pretty down and dirty for Gibbins. It brings into play the concentration camps and human experiments done by the Nazis. Our heroes are on the trail of the Mask of Troy, an artifact taken out of Greece by Henrich Schleiman when he excavated Troy. All in all, a very good read, just be prepared for a little nitty gritty.David Robbins writes in depth about troy as I had never considered it. I enjoyed the archeology as well as the action story lineLove the history in his stories and great characters, my only complaint is the difficulty I have sometimes with the terminology used to describe eventsOne of Gibbins better works IMHO. Very action packed and loaded with insightful points to factual sites and events. Great dialogues in some sections relating to social issues that I found profound and moving.Skip SteinOrlando, FloridaMask of Troy is described as a fast moving explosive thriller.....What did I miss? I seldom find a book I cannot finish but after about 200 pages I gave up the struggle to read this crap.The plot is so convoluted and messy that it is hard to follow and the whole Homeric theme that is supposed to be the glue that holds the plot together is ridiculous. This book is primarily about whether or not the Trojan War is myth or reality and how its impacted future history of man. What a joke.The characters are boring, the dialogue is absurd and I must say that this author makes Steve Berry look like a genius and that is saying alot. That pretty much sums up all the good things I have to say about this lousy book!!!!I found this one a little harder to get into, but stick with it it was quite a good readThe Jack Howard Series fascinate me in that they detail a great deal of action underwater, and as a non-swimmer, I become enthralled with his mainly under sea, or in this case down an abandoned mine, exploits. Mr. Gibbins has done a tremendous amount of research and allied a number of events to produce a very readable instalment in the series. The only problem I had was that there was almost too much factual information involving Heinrich Schliemann and his exploits regarding the discovery of Troy, plus the involvement of William Gladstone and Otto Von Bismarck, along with Nazi concentration camps. It was almost overload, but it did lead to an exciting series of episodes, culminating in a very satisfactory conclusion – although I think that the next book in the series may link back to parts of this one.Howard and his full time companion Costas have an almost telepathic understanding with each other, enabling them to succeed when others might have failed. The only failing in the book is making the Russian thugs who are involved in the diving as thick as they appear to be in the story – experienced divers would not take that risk! That apart the involvement of Jack Howard’s young daughter, Rebecca, herself training as an archaeologist, and the threat to her well-being, make this a very good read.This is my fifth adventure with Jack Howard and I can't wait for him to pick me up and transport to my next book Paroah. The mask of Troy was fast paced exciting utterly possible and incredibly addictive. The history was so fascinating I found myself googling Troy and getting out my old school Homer to renew my memories of the book..I love learning something new whilst escaping in a story. Thanks David GibbindI believe every word! Spellbinding all plausible - always a lover of diving for archaeology since Cousteau - adds authenticity to the complex and many dimensional tapestry that emerges! I'm so glad there are more stories to get !isn't in.Another excellent book in the Jack Howard series can't wait t start the next. Keep it up please David Gibbins.If you enjoy the Dirk Pitt novels by Clive Cussler you will love this book and all the other novels by David Gibbins.A real page turner, will keep you amused on any long journey.