內容簡介
He's copying famous serial killers and the game has just begun.
A woman is found murdered in the woods. It seems like a simple case but it soon escalates into a terrible nightmare. Someone is replicating the killing styles of the mostinfamousmurderers of all time. No one knows this criminal's motives...or who will die next.
時間遊戲Two ex-Secret Service agents, Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, have been hired to defend a man's innocence in aburglaryinvolving anaristocratic, dysfunctional family. Then a series of secrets leads the partners right into the frantic hunt that is confounding even the FBI. Now King and Maxwell are playing the Hour Game, uncovering one horrifying revelation after another and putting their lives in danger. For the closer they get to the truth, the closer they get to the most shocking surprise of all.
中文簡介
他模仿著名的連環殺手,比賽才剛剛開始。
一個女人發現了在森林裡。它看起來像一個簡單的情況下,很快就會變成一個可怕的惡夢。升級有人複製殺死風格的最臭名昭著的兇手。沒有人知道這個犯罪的動機…誰會死的下一個。
兩個ex-Secret服務代理商,肖恩國王和米歇爾出版社,已經被雇用保衛一個人是無辜捲入了在盜竊貴族,不正常的家庭。然後一系列秘密引導合作夥伴直接進入瘋狂的捕獵,甚至是混雜了聯邦調查局。現在國王和麥克斯韋打小時的遊戲,揭露一個接一個恐怖的啟示,把他們的生命處於危險中。他們能對越接近真相,越接近他們進入令人震驚的驚奇。
作者簡介
David Baldacci was born in Virginia, in 1960, where he currently resides. He received a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Virginia Commonwealth University and a law degree from the University of Virginia. Mr. Baldacci practiced law for nine years in Washington, D.C., as both a trial and corporate attorney. David Baldacci has published 14 novels and a young adult series, Freddy and the French Fries. He has also published a novella for the Dutch entitled Office Hours , written for Holland's Year 2000 "Month of the Thriller." Baldacci authored a short story, The Mighty Johns, as part of a mystery anthology published in 2002. His works have been in numerous worldwide magazines, newspapers, journals, and publications. Baldacci has authored seven original screenplays. His books have been translated into more than 40 languages and sold in more than 80 countries. All of his books have been national and international bestsellers. Over 50 million copies of Mr. Baldacci's books are in print worldwide. Castle Rock entertainment made Absolute Power (Warner Books, 1996) into a major motion picture starring Clint Eastwood and Gene Hackman. The novel Absolute Power won Britain's W.H. Smith's Thumping Good Read award for fiction in 1997, and was nominated for a literary award in Italy. Absolute Power was selected for People Magazine's "Page Turner of the Week." Absolute Power won the 1996 Gold Medal Award for Best Mystery/Thriller from the Southern Writers Guild.
戴維·鮑爾達奇，1960年出生於美國維吉尼亞，從中學開始就養成了寫作的習慣，習慣於專注觀察周遭事物以獲取靈感。從維吉尼亞聯邦大學獲得政治學學士學位後，他又從維吉尼亞大學獲得了法學學位。作為一名辯護律師和商務律師，鮑爾達奇先生在華盛頓法律界工作了9年，豐富的司法經驗為他從事推理、犯罪小說寫作奠定了深厚的基礎。1996年，鮑爾達奇出版了他的第一部長篇小說《絕對權力》，該書隨即成為了全美暢銷書，並獲得多項文學大獎。此後，戴維·鮑爾達奇幾乎以每年一本新書的速度，迅速成為美國暢銷小說界的新星。他的書被翻譯成37種語言，發行多達80多個國家，全球銷售量超過四千萬冊。
媒體評論
"Baldacci's last book, Split Second, was a relatively weak offering from this bestselling author, sunk by a cartoonish villain and absurd plot. But it did introduce two of Baldacci's (Absolute Power, etc.) most memorable characters, former Secret Service agents Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, in business together as private investigators in smalltown Wrightsburg, Va. Baldacci is back in form, and King and Maxwell reappear in this utterly absorbing, complex mystery-thriller that spins in unexpected directions. The novel starts as a serial-killer thriller, for there's a murderer at work in Wrightsburg whose selection of victims appears random but whose modus operandi, differing from kill to kill, MIMICS the work of a Notorious serial killer—the Zodiac killer, John Wayne Gacy, etc. The fifth victim is local resident and international tycoon Robert E. Lee Battle. King and Maxwell have already been tangling with the gothic horror show of a dysfunctional Southern family that is the Battles, as they've been hired to help prove the innocence of a Battle handyman accused of stealing from the family. Then that handyman is murdered, and the duo (along with a clueless local sheriff and an obnoxious FBI agent) must race to figure out if the same killer is behind all the murders and, if so, why. There are terrific action sequences sprinkled throughout, and plenty of suspense, and the King/Maxwell relationship, while not romantic, emits sparks. It's Baldacci's portrayal of smalltown Southern life, however, and his sharp characterizations of the Battles, from the bombastic Bobby and his regal widow to his weird extended family, that give the novel texture and depth: this is Baldacci's most accomplished tale since his nonthriller Wish You Well, and it rivals that novel in its social commentary. Despite fair clues, few if any readers will ID the villain (villains?) before they're revealed, and a snappy surprise ending will have Baldacci's many fans remembering why they love this author so much. "
--Publishers Weekly
"Sean King and Michelle Maxwell, the former Secret Service agents from Baldacci's previous outing, Split Second (2003), are on the trail of a serial killer in this new novel. King and Maxwell have just gone into business together as private investigators when Michelle discovers the body of a young woman in the woods. The body was posed with awristwatchstopped at 1:00. Two high-school students are the next victims; both have watches on their wrists--the boy's reads 2:00, the girl's 3:01. King and Maxwell aid the police while working on their own case: a burglary in the house of Remmy Battle, a wealthy, toughSouthernerwhose husband, Bobby, lies in a coma at the local hospital. The prime suspect is Junior Deaver, whose fingerprints are found at the crime scene. But Junior swears he's innocent. The victim list keeps growing: a successful high-powered lawyer and then Bobby Battle himself. Soon King begins to suspect that the serial killer might not be choosing his victims at random, and he believes one of the murders is the work of a different killer. The plot doesn't hold together perfectly, even starting out a bit slow, but it recovers to build to an exciting finish. "
--Kristine Huntley
“Baldacci的最後一本書,一剎那,是一個相對薄弱的祭,沉沒這個暢銷書作家由一個卡通式的惡棍和荒謬的陰謀。但這並沒有向兩個Baldacci(絕對的權力等)最令人難忘的人物,前特勤局特工肖恩國王和米歇爾馬克斯韋爾,在商業一起在smalltown Wrightsburg私人調查員,梵諦岡。Baldacci回歸形式,國王和麥克斯韋重現在這個完全吸收,複雜的mystery-thriller旋轉以意想不到的方向。這部小說開始作為一個serial-killer驚悚片,因為有一個殺人犯在工作的Wrightsburg選擇的受害者,但他們的做法出現隨機的,同時由於冬自殺死殺生,模仿一個臭名昭著的串列killer-the工作黃道十二宮殺手約翰·韋恩Gacy等。第五受害者是當地居民及國際巨頭羅伯特。e。李的戰鬥。國王和麥克斯韋已經糾纏的哥德式恐怖表示一個不正常的家庭是南部戰鬥,因為他們已經被雇來幫助證明清白打雜的戰鬥中被指控偷這個家庭。那心靈手巧的人被殺死,哆(連同一個無能的地方治安官和一個令人討厭的聯邦調查局特工人員)必須種族判斷出同樣的殺手謀殺背後,如果是這樣,為什麼。有很棒的散布在動作場景,以及豐富的懸念,國王/馬克士威的關係,而不是浪漫的,能發出火花。這是Baldacci本片對smalltown南方的生活,然而,他精明的刻畫的戰役,從誇張的鮑比和他的高貴的寡婦他的古怪大家庭,即給予的小說結構和深度:這是最成功的故事的Baldacci自從他nonthriller希望你一切都好,和它的競爭對手,小說在其社會評論。儘管公平的線索,極少有讀者將身份證壞蛋(壞人?)才會被揭露的,一個響亮的驚訝的結尾會有Baldacci的許多球迷記住他們為什麼喜歡這個作家如此多。“
——出版商每周
“肖恩國王和米歇爾出版社,前者的特勤局特工從Baldacci之前的郊遊,一剎那(2003),是一位連環殺手的蹤跡在這部新小說。國王和麥克斯韋剛剛進入商業一起當米歇爾發現私人調查員的身體,一個年輕的女人在樹林裡。屍體被帶來了一個手錶停在一點。兩個高中生就是下一個受害者,而且在他們的手腕手錶——男孩讀兩點,女孩的3:01。國王和麥克斯韋援助警察工作的同時,在自己的案例:盜竊殿的Remmy戰役中,一個富有而又艱難的南方人,她的丈夫,鮑比,關鍵在於昏迷在當地的醫院。頭號嫌疑犯Deaver資歷比,其指紋都是犯罪現場的指紋相吻合。但初級發誓他是無辜的。受害人列表將會不斷地在增長:一個成功的高性能律師然後博比戰鬥自己。王就開始懷疑連環殺手可能不是隨機選擇他的受害者,他認為其中一個謀殺的工作不同的殺手。情節並不持有的完美,甚至開始慢了一點,但它恢復建立一場激動人心的完成。“
——Kristine亨特利
