Max Brand, the pen-name of Frederick Faust (1892-1944) was a master of the fast-action tale with mythic themes - including redemption and honor - often set in a mythic landscape. He wrote some of his classic westerns, historical adventures, sports stories and medical romances (he invented Dr. Kildare) while living in an Italian villa. When the United States entered the Second World War, Faust became a War Correspondent, and was killed in action in 1944.

The stories in this first collection dedicated to Max Brand's crime and mystery stories embrace a wide range of protagonists - a boxer paid to take a fall, a treasure-hunting western badman, a pickpocket, a stubborn cop, a murderous husband, and a spy in the mean streets leading to World War II.

Masquerade, the 24th in the "Lost Classics" series, is the first collection of Max Brand's crime and mystery stories. The ten tales were originally published between 1935 and 1938, and most have never been reprinted. Masquerade is edited with introduction and prefaces to each story by Max Brand's biographer, William F. Nolan.