GHOSTLINES
Book ID/图书代码： 11980508B22824
English Summary/英文概要： Ghostlines centres on Philip Trudeau, a once-respected investigative journalist who has stepped on the wrong toes. With his personal life and health deteriorating around him, Philip is consigned to a suburban newspaper where he writes ’filler’ local news articles to be slotted in among the real estate and restaurant advertisements. Sent to cover what appears to be a tragic yet routine death at a level crossing, Philip is drawn into a multilayered mystery that involves art theft, political intrigue, and business corruption.
A tragic accident at a local railway crossing sees him simply going through the motions, more intent on getting home and drinking himself to sleep to the strains of Coltrane’s saxophone. Somewhere between asking people how they felt about the accident and filing the story his usual numbness to the people affected begins to wear off and he finds that there may be more to the story than a simple level-crossing accident.
A Melbourne art group from the 1950s, the work of a noted local artist and the haunting image of a woman captured in a portrait found in the house of a lonely old man are the catalysts to a most intriguing mystery. Phillip Trudeau is the troubled protagonist in the story, a man who has had his share of hardships, paying for crossing the wrong powerful people in the past. He’s the down but not out type of underdog whom you hope will succeed, but it could go either way.
Ghostlines is a worthy winner of the 2007 VPLA, it’s a powerful novel that is not without its surprises. Definitely one to look out for and a strong contender for future awards down the track. Put Nick Gadd down as an author to follow for the future.
This novel seamlessly weaves aspects of Australian art history into an engrossing narrative that is part thriller, part psychological realism, and part ghost story.
Chinese Summary/中文概要： 一場意外的火車車禍卻讓原本備受推崇，而如今只在地方報導小新聞的記者，挖掘出有心人的政治陰謀詭計與商業利益的貪污腐敗。(CL)
Awards/获奖情况：2007 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript Kathy Hunt---’Ghostlines is rough cut, grainy and good … earthy and exciting, with a bluesy, wistful air.’
Seamus Bradley (Sunday Age, Read of the Week)---’With Ghostlines and the Trudeau character, Gadd has created an opportunity for a series of novels, perhaps even a rival for Shane Maloney’s wonderful and wonderfully funny Murray Whelan series.’
Gideon Haigh---’Nick has written a crisp, clever, economical, satisfyingly rounded crime thriller. And not just an effective thriller, but a good book … Nick writes in a lean, stripped-down prose, shorn of ornamentation and effect. He has written about a journalist; but he’s also written like a journalist, at least an old-fashioned one before real estate became such an important consideration.’
Frank Walker (Sun Herald)---’This is an atmospheric, intriguing and spooky debut by a Melbourne writer who won last year’s Victorian Premier’s Literary Award.’
(Bookseller & Publisher)---’Trudeau is a marvellously flawed hero, driven by the ghosts of this past and mired in a world where everything is falling apart around him ... Crime fans will enjoy the compelling narrative, the succinct writing and the pleasing lack of blood, gore and psychopathic behaviour that mars most contemporary crime stories. I suspect and hope that this isn’t the last we see of Trudeau. FOUR STARS’
Judges, Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards---Ghostlines ’packs a very strong narrative punch as it tells the story of a one-time respected investigative journalist who has stepped on the wrong toes ... Strong dialogue, a tight structure, and an exceptional narrative voice take the reader on a journey to a provocative conclusion.’
About the Author/作者介绍： Nick Gadd was born in 1964 and grew up in Yorkshire. He migrated to Australia in 1990 and has worked mainly in the adult education and arts sectors. Ghostlines is his first novel and was the winner of the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for an unpublished manuscript in 2007. He lives in the western suburbs of Melbourne with his wife and two daughters.
Format:
Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：AVAILABLE
Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：AVAILABLE
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