THE MASK OF RED DEATH
Book ID/图书代码： 01240004B06177
English Summary/英文概要： Suspense, intrigue, atmosphere, and vivid historical detail combine into a thrilling ride through nineteenth-century New York City in The Mask of Red Death. Harold Schechter delivers both a wonder-fully accurate portrait of a city in turmoil and an irresistibly accurate portrait of a city in turmoil and an irresistibly appealing depiction of his amateur sleuth Edgar Allan Poe, mirroring the master’s writing style with wit and acumen.
It is the sweltering summer of 1845, and the thriving metropolis has fallen victim to a creature of the most inhuman depravity. Found days apart, two girls have been brutally murdered, their throats slashed, viciously scalped, and—most shocking of all—missing their livers. Edgar Allan Poe, despite what the tenor of his own tales of terror might suggest about his constitution, is just as shaken and revolted by these horrendous crimes as the panic-stricken public. Suspicion of the scalper’s identity immediately swirls around the most famous “redskin” in New York, Chief Wolf Bear, one of the human attractions at P. T. Barnum’s American Museum. Certain that Chief Wolf Bear is innocent, Poe has deduced that the city is concealing a cannibal somewhere in its teeming masses, one with an ever-growing appetite for human prey.
Before he can investigate his theory further, Poe stumbles onto the scene of a third gruesome murder. Poe recently met William Wyatt when he agreed to look at a document for Wyatt to determine the authenticity of the purportedly famous handwriting on it. Now Poe finds Wyatt in a pool of blood, his scalp removed. How, Poe muses, are Wyatt and his document connected to the two slain girls?
As frenzied emotions over the murders reach a fevered pitch, Kit Carson makes an appearance. The famous scout has been tracking the “Liver Eater” since the man killed his wife months ago. Together, Carson and Poe make an odd sleuthing team, but their combined wits are formidable. The trail they uncover reveals a dark secret more powerful than anything they could have imagined—one that may reach the upper echelons of politics and privilege.
Chinese Summary/中文概要： Harold Schechter毫不諱言自己對艾倫坡的崇拜與追隨，甚至創作了一系列以艾倫坡為主角的懸疑推理小說，這是其中最經典的一本。內容描述艾倫坡在十九世紀中葉、騷動不安的紐約，讓一連串害人懸案水落石出。
悶熱的大都會夏天，各個黑暗的角落裡，藏著多少食人的惡魔？被謀殺的女孩們被血腥殘酷的割喉，並且肝臟都神秘的失蹤了，唯一的線索證人正要交出關鍵文件時，也被削下頭皮，含冤死去，睿智的神探艾倫坡，能夠精準擒兇嗎？（TT）
Awards/获奖情况：
About the Author/作者介绍： Harold Schechter is a professor of American literature and culture at Queens College, the City University of New York. He is widely celebrated for his both his fiction (MASK OF RED DEATH (Ballantine 2004), TELL-TALE CORPSE (Ballantine 2006)), and true-crime writing, including The Serial Killer Files (Ballantine 2003) and THE DEVIL’S GENTLEMAN (Ballantine 2007). He lives in Brooklyn and Mattituck, Long Island with his wife, the poet Kimiko Hahn. Rights to Schechter’s SERIAL KILLER FILES were sold to Sonzogno in Italy; De Fontein in Holland; and Human and Book Publishing in Korea. This book is being handled by Japan Uni in Japan and Shin Won Agency in Korea.
Harold Schechter是紐約巿立大學皇后學院(CUNY, Queens College)的美國文學與文化教授，以擁有與艾倫坡（Edgar Allan Poe）同樣特色的寫作方式著稱。他的作品領域一方面很廣，分為真實犯罪探討、推理小說、流行文化研究三大類，另一方面，這些不同文體的作品又環環相扣，讓讀者不知不覺為這位作家著迷。
他毫不諱言自己對艾倫坡的崇拜與追隨，甚至創作了一系列以艾倫坡為主角的懸疑推理小說，例如《The Mask of Red Death》。
Harold Schechter除了著迷於推理文壇的開山祖師艾倫坡，也對殺人狂的黑暗心靈深感興趣。他以美國第一個連續殺人魔H. H. Holmes的真實案例，寫下了《邪惡者》（Depraved）一書，這本作品被公認是描述H. H. Holmes心理最貼切的書，H. H. Holmes長相英俊，擁有醫學博士學位，在十九世紀中葉，被控冷血的謀殺了數百個受害者，因為許多被害案情證據不全，能定罪的案件不及數十分之一，因此形成了芝加哥地區空前絕後，最恐怖的可怕懸案，讓這位殺人魔的惡名極噪一時，也在犯罪歷史上留下不可抹滅的驚人紀錄。
Harold Schechter描述H. H. Holme他自認變成惡魔的過程：「我的樣貌被認為是很明顯撒旦似的長相……我的腦袋和臉一般認為屬於拉長型。我有相當的理由相信，我像一個惡魔——幾乎是一模一樣。事實上，我過於沉迷於這種想法，以至於堅信在我身上找不到一點點人類的特徵。」
另一個讓Harold Schechter提筆的，是一九五０年代另一個美國殺人魔Eddie Gein，Eddie Gein被逮捕後終其一生在精神病院度過，包括希區考克的《驚魂記》、《德州殺人狂》、《沉默的羔羊》…等知名驚悚片，幾乎都是根據Eddie Gein的凶案所改編，或是受到Eddie Gein的原型刺激，才創造出劇情與電影裡連續殺人狂的形象。Harold Schechter在《變態者》（Deviant）一書裡，寫出深受控制慾強烈的母親所苦惱的Eddie Gein，殺人時是因為「不想失去唯一的朋友和真愛」、他「感覺自己在這世界上是全然孤單的」。
Harold Schechter同時也寫精闢的文化研究，例如《野蠻的消遣：暴力娛樂文化史》（Savage Pastimes A Cultural History of Violent Entertainment）。Harold Schechter認為：「人類屬於一種天賦暴力的物種。暴力娛樂之所以流行，是因為它本來就符合人類對於禁忌幻想的自然天性。」並且詳細解析暴力電影、恐怖小說和暴力遊戲的文化密碼。不過，Harold Schechter也安慰讀者：「與我們嗜殺成性的祖先相比，今天的人類已經相當溫柔、慈善和拘謹了，儘管血液裡暴力的基因仍在流竄。」
Harold Schechter目前跟他的日裔詩人妻子Kimiko Hahn居住在紐約。
Format:HARDCOVER
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
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