按月存檔：八月 2021

古董局中局 1 2021#69

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Tuesday, August 31, 2021

評分：2 分，滿分為 5。

馬伯庸

奇幻基地

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“「鑒古易，鑒人難」——
　　在每一件仿冒品背後，都是機關算盡的機巧和匪夷所思的圈套。

　　半本家傳鑑寶書、一堆散碎不全的照片、兩個心懷叵測的伙伴，許願要如何一步一步解讀古董之謎，揪除藏於贗品中的真正仇家、消弭中日古董界的大亂？

　　鑒寶，不光鑒真偽，也鑒人心「明眼梅花」五脈掌了古董界的眼，定了鑑寶圈的心，只為去偽存真。他們的尊嚴與祖訓，乃絕不容許自家人沾手仿品交易。無奈當中有人利益薰心，致使如今的五脈品德不存，逐漸凋零。唯有少數人還堅持本心，卻不再見容於世……

　　金石玉器、書畫、青銅明器、瓷器、木器…… 每一件古董背後，都是深厚的歷史積澱和文化傳承。然而幾千年來，許許多多的人造假、作偽，偷天換日、欺騙世人，牟取不法暴利，　　甚至，拋棄國家尊嚴於不顧。

　　許願，北京城琉璃廠四悔齋小古董舖主，三十歲，靠著家傳半本鑒寶書混飯吃。已過世的爺爺是五脈掌門族長，精通五門且雄才大略，在古董界裡地位甚高。一天，突來的訪客一句「你爺爺，是個漢奸！」把他帶進一個做夢都想不到的陰謀中—— 一件坊間傳說的稀世珍寶「武則天明堂玉佛頭」竟和自己有千絲萬縷的聯繫。一個六十幾年前做的局，將許願置入其中，他必須使出渾身解數，置身於生死之間，辨真偽、知善惡、探真相…… 靠著一堆散碎不全的照片線索破解玉佛頭之謎，和蟄伏了幾十年的各方神聖鬥智鬥勇，和古董江湖裡造假做局的各種奇技淫巧一一遭遇……

　　翻開本書，瞭解古董行當裡的文化傳承與江湖險惡……"

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一開始, 我以為我在看的是南派三叔的盜墓筆記. 大概因為都是中國那一邊的作者, 口氣很像.

如果不是我有 “給作者第二個機會" 的習慣, 我應該會看完這本就放棄整個系列. 那個排場, 那個鬥心機, 那個門派, 好受不了. 最後還來個好朋友的叛變. 不知道我如果開始看金庸的小說, 會不會也被門派呀, 勾心鬥角啊的, 又棄?

鬥來鬥去的, 我真的不行!!

Scrublands (Martin Scarsden 1) 2021#68

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Monday, August 30, 2021

評分：2 分，滿分為 5。

Chris Hammer

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“In an isolated country town brought to its knees by endless drought, a charismatic and dedicated young priest calmly opens fire on his congregation, killing five parishioners before being shot dead himself.

A year later, troubled journalist Martin Scarsden arrives in Riversend to write a feature on the anniversary of the tragedy. But the stories he hears from the locals about the priest and incidents leaping up to the shooting don’t fit with the accepted version of events his own newspaper reported in an award-winning investigation. Martin can’t ignore his doubts, not the urgings of some locals to unearth the real reason behind the priest’s deadly rampage.

Just as Martin believes he is making headway, a shocking new development rocks the town, which becomes the biggest story in Australia. The media descends on Riversend, and Martin is now the one in the spotlight. His reasons for investigating the shooting have suddenly become very personal.

Wrestling with his own demons, Martin finds himself risking everything to discover a truth that becomes darker and more complex with every twist. But there are powerful forces determined to stop him, and he has no idea how far they will go to make sure the town’s secrets stay buried."

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At first, I felt like I was reading The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend again. A little town at the end of a road where people were leaving for a better place to live. Or The Dry. The Australia where people were suffering from the drought and struggling to live.

But I found it far less interesting while reading. Everything was so dry, just like the drought.

Keeper of the Bride 2021#65

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Saturday, August 21, 2021

評分：3 分，滿分為 5。

Tess Gerritsen

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“If Nina Cormier’s wedding had taken place, she would be dead. But after the bride was left at the altar, the church stood empty when the bomb exploded. It wasn’t until a stranger tried to run her off the road that Nina realized someone actually wanted to kill her.

But who?

That’s what Detective Sam Navarro has to find out … fast. With a nightmare all around them, Sam and Nina must try to decipher the terrifying truth: they are at the mercy of a brilliant madman, one who is playing for keeps …"

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I was planning to go somewhere by train. I’ve been stayed home for almost three months after the Covid crisis in May. But I decided, again not to go out due to the weather. So, I stayed home to finish this book.

I have finished all the Rizzoli & Isles series, up to the latest I Knew A Secret. So I think it’s time I can focus on Gerritsen’s standalone books. And this was not the first standalone book of her I’ve read, either.

If you ask me what category I think this book falls into, I’ll say it’s more a romance than a detective novel. Not very impressive. It’s a romance novel, so you could guess that the bride and the detective eventually would have a happy life ever after. The person, whose crimes brought Nina and Sam together, was a bomber. So you could know there would be a bomb in the end to threaten their lives. And it would definitely be at the last second, not minute, when the bomb was disarmed. Such a cliche.

Guardian Angel 2021#64

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Monday, August 16, 2021

評分：3 分，滿分為 5。

Sara Paretsky

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“Underneath V. I. Warshawski’s wisecracking P.I. exterior lies a real pushover. When elderly neighbor Mr. Contreras asks her to look into a fellow union retiree’s sudden disappearance, she says “yes” from her heart, not her head. And when a crotchety eighty-year-old dog owner starts wrangling with a Yuppie-Come-Lately couple on their blue-collar street, again, it’s V.I. to the rescue.
 
Only it all goes to hell in a handbasket when Mr. Yuppie turns out to be a lawyer in V.I.’s ex-husband’s law firm, and the missing retiree turns up floating facedown in a canal. And now V.I.’s strapping on her shoulder holster to snoop into Chicago’s labor unions and politicos, because being on the side of the angels won’t win her any halos… but it’s the perfect place for an encounter with violent death."

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According to the library card, the previous check-out of this book was exactly one year ago. Wow!

I kind of liked it, sometimes, and disliked it, some other times, while I was reading this book. V. I. Warshawski was a tough female detective. For probably the first half of the book, she underwent all sorts of difficulties, which seemed to just make her tougher, but they made me suffer by going through them with her.

I still can’t decide whether I like this book. However, I can’t find any of her books here in any of the libraries. Which sort of helps me solve the do-I-want-to-read-another-Paretsky’s-book problem.

再見, 德布西 (岬洋介 No.1) 2021#62

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Wednesday, August 4, 2021

評分：2 分，滿分為 5。

中山七里

翻譯 王華懋

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“為了露西亞，為了自己，
　　我一定要用這個被火紋身的身體彈出完美的旋律！

　　加油吧！不可以輸給不幸，不可以輸給世上的惡意。大部分的事情，只要堅持下去，總有一天一定能夠戰勝的。不，就算是無法獲勝，也絕對不會輸。只有放棄對抗的時候才會輸，也就是輸給了想要放棄對抗的自己。

　　生長於富裕家庭的十五歲少女香月遙，與因南亞大海嘯而下落不明的表姊妹片桐露西亞情同姊妹，兩人同樣熱愛鋼琴，也同樣的努力想成為鋼琴家。某個夜晚，一場突然的無情大火，露西亞與祖父葬身火海，小遙雖然全身遭受到嚴重的灼傷，但卻奇蹟般地生還，並接受了全身皮膚移植與整形手術，幾乎完整的恢復小遙的模樣。她念念不忘兩人共同的約定，決心朝著成為鋼琴家的目標繼續前進，一面忍受著嚴苛痛苦的復健，一面為表姊妹努力練習鋼琴。然而祖父所留下來高達十二億日圓的遺產，似乎默默的掀起了一些暗藏在眾人心中的波瀾……

　　在新生代鋼琴家岬洋介的指導下，身體還飽受皮膚移植手術後遺症影響的她重新開始了她的鋼琴課程，在經過一番不懈的努力，並在學校有意製造話題的情形下，得以代表學校參加一項重要的鋼琴大賽。同時，她和家人卻發生了一連串的意外，讓她感到極度的不安。在這個時候，帥氣的新生代天才鋼琴家岬洋介為了讓她安心，竟承諾要幫她找出兇手以及一切的原因，只為了要她專心練琴。

　　究竟兇手究竟是誰呢？目的又是什麼？自告奮勇要找出這一切原因的岬洋介又會發現什麼不可告人的秘密呢？"

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也是有人大推, 我開始找中山七里的書看. (還以為中山七里是女生, 哈哈). 這本只給兩顆星, 因為我超不喜歡替身的人設.

岬洋介第二本已在路上了.

王與馬戲團 (太刀洗萬智 #3) 2021#61

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Monday, August 2, 2021

評分：2 分，滿分為 5。

米澤穗信

翻譯 黃涓芳

尖端

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“二〇〇一年，剛辭去報社工作的太刀洗萬智接受熟識的雜誌編輯委託，準備編寫海外旅行特集。她為了進行事前採訪而遠赴尼泊爾，請了在當地認識的男孩擔任導遊，正準備享受平靜的時光，卻遇到了王宮凶殺事件──包括國王在內的眾多王室成員遭到殺害。身為新聞工作者的太刀洗立刻開始進行採訪。但彷彿在嘲弄她一般，預定接受訪問的軍官居然也成為一具屍體……「這個男人是不是因為我而被殺？或者……」在疑問與苦惱當中，太刀洗得到什麼樣的冷酷真相？

　　書中巧妙結合二〇〇一年實際發生的尼泊爾的王儲謀殺事件，
　　格局宏大，堪稱米澤推理小說的傑作里程碑！" (書背簡介)

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好吧. 我不喜歡太刀洗萬智的系列. 說是系列, 也就只有兩本, 我也就剛好都看了, 哈哈. 我其實還算喜歡太刀洗這個角色, 一開始, 太刀洗在尼泊爾的漫遊探索, 也算抓住了我的閱讀興趣, 一時以為我在讀的是旅遊文學. 但漸漸地, 我不太喜歡故事的走向. 然後, 結局太沉重了. 我真的不喜歡這種 heavy ending.

(拍照時, 阿貓不肯離開, 一起入鏡囉, 哈哈)