THE BOOKMAN’S PROMISE

Book ID/图书代码： 06000007B18711

English Summary/英文概要： Cliff Janeway is back! The Bookman’s Promise marks the eagerly awaited return of Denver bookman-author John Dunning and the award-winning crime novel series that helped to turn the nation on to first-edition book collecting.

First, it was Booked to Die, then The Bookman’s Wake. Now John Dunning fans, old and new, will rejoice in The Bookman’s Promise, a richly nuanced new Janeway novel that juxtaposes past and present as Denver ex-cop and bookman Cliff Janeway searches for a book and a killer.

The quest begins when an old woman, Josephine Gallant, learns that Janeway has recently bought at auction a signed first edition by the legendary nineteenth-century explorer Richard Francis Burton. The book is a true classic, telling of Burton’s journey (disguised as a Muslim) to the forbidden holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The Boston auction house was a distinguished and trustworthy firm, but provenance is sometimes murky and Josephine says the book is rightfully hers.

She believes that her grandfather, who was living in Baltimore more than eighty years ago, had a fabulous collection of Burton material, including a handwritten journal allegedly detailing Burton’s undercover trip deep into the troubled American South in 1860. Josephine remembers the books from her childhood, but everything mysteriously disappeared shortly after her grandfather’s death.

With little time left in her own life, Josephine begs for Janeway’s promise: he must find her grandfather’s collection. It’s a virtually impossible task, Janeway suspects, as the books will no doubt have been sold and separated over the years, but how can he say no to a dying woman?

It seems that her grandfather, Charlie Warren, traveled south with Burton in the spring of 1860, just before the Civil War began. Was Burton a spy for Britain? What happened during the three months in Burton’s travels for which there are no records? How did Charlie acquire his unique collection of Burton books? What will the journal, if it exists, reveal?

When a friend is murdered, possibly because of a Burton book, Janeway knows he must find the answers. Someone today is willing to kill to keep the secrets of the past, and Janeway’s search will lead him east: To Baltimore, to a Pulitzer Prize-winning author with a very stuffed shirt, and to a pair of unorthodox booksellers. It reaches a fiery conclusion at Fort Sumter off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina.

What’s more, a young lawyer, Erin d’Angelo, and ex-librarian Koko Bujak, have their own reasons for wanting to find the journal. But can Janeway trust them?

Rich with the insider’s information on rare and collectible books that has made John Dunning famous, and with meticulously researched detail about a mesmerizing figure who may have played an unrecognized role in our Civil War, The Bookman’s Promise is riveting entertainment from an extraordinarily gifted author who is as unique and special as the books he so clearly loves.

Chinese Summary/中文概要： 理查•法蘭西斯•伯頓，19世紀富有傳奇色彩的探險家，他曾喬裝成穆斯林在東方世界旅行並多次被人誤作虔誠的當地教徒。1853年他動身前往開羅，隨即採用不同的偽裝策略，進入聖城麥加與麥迪那，歷經千難萬險回國後，他根據自己在聖地的親身經歷，創作了兩卷長達近千頁的鴻篇巨制《走向聖城》（Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al- Madinah and Meccah，1855～1856），栩栩如生地描述了古老而神秘東方的風物人情。
Janeway在一次拍賣會上購得了這位傳奇探險家的第一版簽名本。老婦人約瑟芬得知後找到了他，表示她才是這本書的真正主人。這本傳世經典之作究竟屬於誰？富麗堂皇的波士頓拍賣行背後有著怎樣的秘密？
據約瑟芬稱，她的祖父曾珍藏了大量理查的手稿和作品，甚至包括他的日記，其中記錄了理查在1860年戰爭期間的臥底生活。約瑟芬回憶道，她在兒時就見過這些文稿，而祖父去世後，一切都不翼而飛。約瑟芬祈求Janeway幫助她找回應屬於他祖父的所有文稿。這個任務聽起來比登天還難，那些文稿早已遺失多年，可Janeway實在無法拒絕一位時日不久的老人的請求。
Janeway在調查中發現，約瑟芬的祖父查利•沃倫曾在1860年與理查同行，此時恰逢一戰前夕。疑問接踵而來，理查是不是英國間諜？在沒有任何記錄的3個月的旅行中，究竟發生了什麼？查理如何獲得了理查的全部手稿？這一切的一切背後又有著怎樣的關聯？
在一名好友被謀殺後，Janeway明白，這場殺戳是為了抹去一些過往，而隨著調查的深入，越來越多謎一樣的人物開始介入……(Ruby)

Awards/获奖情况：In Nero Wolfe Award winner Dunning’s third literate entry in his Cliff Janeway series (after Booked to Die and The Bookman’s Wake), 90-ish Josephine Gallant persuades the former Denver cop turned antiquarian bookseller to try to recover a rare collection of the works of Richard Burton, "the explorer, not the actor," that once belonged to her grandfather, a faithful traveling companion of Burton. Eager to fulfill his pledge to Ms. Gallant, who expires soon after their meeting, Janeway begins an investigation that takes him to a seedy used bookshop and other strange haunts in Baltimore, where he runs into a shady writer and a gang of thugs who are obviously looking for the same literary treasures. Midway through the often rambling narrative, a flashback to 1860 steps up the pace when Burton undertakes a possible espionage mission to the South for the British prime minister and encounters Captain Abner Doubleday, who solicits his advice on the defense of Fort Sumter. Two well-intentioned women join Janeway for the final search through historic Charleston, with the inevitable romantic interludes. Too many extraneous characters and some tedious dialogue slow the action, but the book-collecting background is sure to appeal to a wide range of mystery readers.---From Publishers Weekly

About the Author/作者介绍： JOHN DUNNING is the author of two Cliff Janeway mysteries:BOOKED TO DIE,which won the prestigious Nero Wolfe award,and The Bookman’s Wake,which was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.His other novels include the Edgar Award-nominated Deadline as well as The Holland Suggestions,all of which are available from Pocket Books.A full-time writer and book dealer,he owned the Old Algonquin Bookstore in Denver for ten years. John Dunning is also a radio historian and a former radio show host.His enthusiasm for the world of radio informs his latest Scribner hardcover,Two O’Clock, Eastern Wartime.He lives in Denver with his family.
約翰•頓寧在他的Cliff Janeway探案系列中，揭露了許多珍書收藏的驚人秘密。他的這個系列屢獲殊榮。Booked to Die獲尼祿沃爾夫獎；The Bookman’s Wake為1995年紐約時報好書推薦；另外的3本The Bookman’s Promise, The Sign of the Book, The Bookwoman’s Last Fling也都暢銷紐約時報排行榜。約翰•頓寧的其他作品包括The Holland Suggestions(愛德格獎提名), Two O’Clock, Eastern Wartime。他是珍本書的收藏專家，多年來在丹佛經營著Old Algonquin Bookstore書店。同時，約翰也是美國無線電史的專家，著有On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio一書。

Format:MASS MARKET TRADE PAPERBACK

Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：AVAILABLE(到期可授)

Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：AVAILABLE(到期可授)

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