STAG (WORKING TITLE)
Book ID/图书代码： 05430009B31785
English Summary/英文概要： This is a first-person narrative about a break-in to an isolated Mill House and the ordeal that follows when ten adults and an eight-year-old boy are held hostage for twenty-four hours by five intruders armed with knives. The leader of the gang is the self-styled ‘Stag’ who exercises control through terror, torture and threats.
The story unfolds through the police investigation that follows, descriptive flashbacks to specific events and the relationship that develops between Stag and one of the hostages – Julia Branscombe – a senior lecturer in criminology at the LSE and adviser on youth crime to the Metropolitan Police. Despite the gang’s attempts to mask their faces and voices, she recognises that most of them are juveniles and that their reason for being there is revenge rather than theft.
An unlikely respect grows between Julia and Stag, based on a mutual refusal to compromise. Stag never explains what he wants from Bradley Copeland, the owner of the property, but when Bradley dies of a stab wound to the heart some time during the early hours of the morning, Julia’s inclined to believe that it’s not the open and shut case that the Copeland family and the police would like it to be.
Faced with the fact that Julia’s story differs markedly from those of Bradley’s wife and his grown-up children from his first marriage, the police suspect she’s suffering from Stockholm syndrome – a bond of attachment that develops between a captor and captive. A perception that’s heightened when the Copeland family accuse her of receiving special treatment, and her own admission that she made promises to Stag.
The question for everyone, including Julia herself, is how reliable is any victim’s memory in the aftermath of violent crime?
Chinese Summary/中文概要： 本书以第一人称的叙事方式，向大家讲述了一个惊险丛丛的持刀绑架故事。十个成年人和八岁大的孩子，被一帮抢劫者作为人质绑架长达一天一夜，抢劫团伙的头目是一个自诩为“牡鹿”的人。 故事沿着警方调查的脉络缓缓展开，以倒叙的手法讲述了详尽事件以及“牡鹿”团伙与人质茱莉亚.布里斯科姆之间的关系发展。茱莉亚是伦敦政经学院犯罪学资深讲师，同时还是伦敦大都会警局(Metropolitan Police)青少年犯罪顾问。虽然这一团伙极力掩饰自己的面孔和声音，但茱莉亚还是嗅出了他们的年幼无知，而且此次绑架是因为报复而非盗窃。
基于相互之间拒绝妥协，不可思议得，茱莉亚和“牡鹿”之间竟产生了彼此尊重的情意。“牡鹿”从未解释过他想从财产所有人布拉德利.科普兰那里得到什么，但是当清晨时分布拉德利在被刺中心脏而死时，茱莉亚意识到，这桩案件绝对不像科普兰家族和警方想象得那么一目了然…(CLaire)
Awards/获奖情况：
About the Author/作者介绍： 米尔特.沃尔特(Minette Walters) 1949年出生于英国，从小喜欢阅读社会新闻，37岁时开始写作罪案小说。著有十二部长篇小说，两部中篇小说以及很多短篇故事，作品被翻译成二十多种文字，出版于三十五个国家，并陆续被BBC改编成一系列电视影集。获得的重要奖项有两项英国犯罪作家协会（Crime Writers’ Association）银匕首奖（Gold Daggers），美国推理作家协会（Mystery Writers of America）埃德加爱伦坡奖（Edgar Allan Poe Award）和麦卡维帝奖，囊括了大西洋两岸象征罪案小说最高荣誉的所有可能奖项，是当之无愧的“罪案小说女王”。
Format:HARDCOVER
Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：AVAILABLE
Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：AVAILABLE
Sales in other countries/其他国家销售情况：
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