THE CHILD THIEF
Book ID/图书代码： 10010012B59266
English Summary/英文概要： December 1930, Western Ukraine. Luka is a veteran of the First World War and the Russian Civil War. All he wants now is a quiet life with his wife, twin sons and young daughter. Their small village has, so far, managed to remain hidden from the advancing Soviet brutality and labour camp deportations.
But everything changes the day the stranger arrives, pulling a sled bearing the bodies of two children. In a fervour, the villagers lynch the stranger, despite Luka’s protests. But when calm is restored, the mob leader, Dimitri, discovers his daughter has vanished. Luka is the only man with the skills to find who could have stolen a child in these frozen white wastelands - and besides, the missing girl is best friends with Luka’s daughter Lara, and he promises her that he will find her friend and bring her home.
Together with his sons and Dimitri, Luka sets out in pursuit across lands ravaged by war and gripped by treachery. Soon they realise that the man they are tracking is a no ordinary criminal, but a skilful hunter with the kidnapped child as the bait in his violent game.
It will take all of Luka’s strength to battle the harshest of conditions, and all of his wit to stay a step ahead of Soviet authorities. And though his toughest enemy is the man he tracks, his strongest bond is a whispered promise to his family back at home.
Chinese Summary/中文概要：
1930年12月 烏克蘭西部
Luka是一名退伍軍人，現在只想和妻子在鄉間過過平淡的日子。雖然蘇聯的暴政酷行正在烏克蘭肆虐，但Luka的村莊隱藏得還算好，沒有遭到任何傷害。直到有一天，一個陌生人拖著一車駭人的貨物來到村莊，他們的生活就此被改變。
當村民們由恐懼轉成驚駭時，他們自以為會得救，但他們的怒氣變成了詛咒。當一切平靜下來時，一個小女孩失蹤了。Luka作為退役軍人，是村裡唯一又能裡在這個冰天雪地尋找失蹤女孩的人。更何況，失蹤的女孩是他好朋友的女兒，因此，他發誓要找到她。
Lucas和他的兒子就此出發尋找女孩，穿越被戰爭摧殘的國土和被背叛的人們。不久，他們就發覺他們追蹤的人不只是一個普通的罪犯，而且老謀深算，拿孩子最為誘餌跟Luca玩起了“捉迷藏”。Luca用盡全力抗擊著嚴峻的生存環境，竭盡自己的智慧才能搶在蘇聯前面行動。雖然要面對勁敵和艱險，他與家人的堅強紐帶還牢固地支持著他。(Celia)
Awards/获奖情况：“史密斯的成功之處是他能將人物同時置於歷史事件和扣人心弦的驚悚小說中。”——《星期日泰晤士報》
“這是對驚悚小說最高境界的衝刺，讓人們想起了經典驚悚小說Geoffrey Household的‘Rogue Male’。”——《愛爾蘭獨立報》
“真是一本在創新背景下的傑出小說。本書可以是一本驚悚小說，讀者將能和Luca一起面對綁架孩子的綁匪；也是一本歷史小說，講述了一個掙扎在歷史大背景下，而非與心理罪犯的爭鬥的故事。”——《BBC 歷史雜誌》
“在這本書中，形勢嚴峻的烏克蘭成為了這場貓鼠遊戲的另一個主角。故事結構精巧，還配合了史密斯的生動文筆。”——《周日商報》
Smith succeeds in creating a narrative that is both an engrossing thriller and the story of a man struggling in the grip of historical events that he only partially understands. (Nick Rennison THE SUNDAY TIMES 20120429)
This is a pursuit thriller of the highest quality, reminiscent of the classic of the genre, Geoffrey Household’s Rogue Male. (Myles McWeeney IRISH INDEPENDENT 20120602)
A terrific book with an original setting ... [it] works both as a compelling thriller, in which readers are drawn into Luka’s confrontation with the mysterious child thief, and as the story of one man entangled in historical events larger than his personal battle against a psychopathic murderer (BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE 20120701)
Smith is a talented writer who incorporates the forbidding landscape of Ukraine as a central character in the cat-and-mouse chase ... the well-constructed plot is nicely complemented by Smith’s adept turn of phrase (SUNDAY BUSINESS POST 20120617) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
About the Author/作者介绍： 1970年出生的Dan Smith在各地生活過，包括塞拉里昂、蘇門答臘、巴西北部和中部地區、西班牙，甚至蘇聯。他現在和妻兒生活在英國紐卡斯爾。
Dan可以說是一位體驗過各種生活的作家。曾經洗過盤子、做過反欺詐案的社工、也在辦公室做過普通的文職工作。雖然工作不同，生活的地方不同，唯一相同的是他一直在寫作。
2008年，他將自己的頭兩部作品通過Orion出版公司出版。首部小說《Dry Season》入圍2011年作家俱樂部最佳新人獎決選名單，獲得國際英語文學最高文學價值都柏林獎（IMPAC Dublin Literary Award）；第二本小說《DARK HORIZONS》和第三本小說《THE CHILD THIEF》現已出版。2013年將出版第四本作品。
Dan Smith grew up following his parents across the world to Africa, Indonesia and Brazil. He has been writing short stories for as long as he can remember and has been published in the anthology MATTER 4, shortlisted for the Royal Literary Fund mentor scheme, the Northern Writers Awards, the 2010 Brit Writers Published Author of the Year award and the Authors’ Club First Novel award. He lives in Newcastle with his family. Find out more at www.dansmithsbooks.com.
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