Obedience

From博客來簡介

如果無法解開教授設計的作業 這門課不僅將以死當收場 還要賠上一條陌生女孩的性命！  ★處女作即登紐約時報小說類排行榜32名 ★美國亞馬遜網站2008年2月主打書  　　新的學期即將展開，溫徹斯特大學的學生們陸續上網選課，在各式各樣的學科課目中，「邏輯與理性」這門選修課顯得相當與眾不同──沒有課程大綱、沒有講義也沒有課本，連授課的威廉斯教授也同樣神祕兮兮，網路上不見他的研究教學成果甚至個人照。這究竟會是艱澀難懂的一門課，還是所謂的營養學分呢？  　　第一堂課裡，威廉斯教授只花了十分鐘說明，這學期他只出一道習題、一件發生在未來的謀殺案──有個名叫波麗的女孩，高中歡送晚會結束後回到家，隔天便不見人影。波麗究竟跑哪去了？  　　在接下來的課程當中，學生們要好好運用威廉斯教授在課堂上或email寄送的各種線索提示，查出波麗的下落，如果沒有在學期結束前找到她的話，不僅這堂課會被當，波麗也將遭到殺害！  　　學生們在調查的過程中發現，這似乎並非一道虛擬的邏輯習題，為何教授給的線索竟與二十年前小鎮上發生過的綁架案如此相似？這與威廉斯教授不為人知的過去是否有關？這門邏輯課最後會不會走向無法收拾的失控狀態？  這究竟只是一堂單純的邏輯課，還是一場玩命遊戲？  作者簡介  威爾．拉凡德 Will Lavender  　　在肯塔基州的路易斯威爾當地一間地區學院任教，教授文學與寫作。他擁有巴爾德大學的創意寫作碩士，曾在許多小型刊物上發表短篇小說。 《失控的邏輯課》是他的第一部長篇作品。  譯者簡介　  吳宜潔  　　台大外文系畢業，英國瑞汀大學兒童文學碩士。曾任美國紐伯瑞金獎作家Linda Sue Park訪台期間隨行口譯、台北國際書展兒童館策展助理、基隆市文化局英語繪本講師。最喜歡寫字、拍照、閱讀周圍的人。現為自由譯者，譯有《聰明的波麗與大野狼》、《生存遊戲》，《閱讀兒童文學的樂趣》（合譯）。  曉陽  小說嗜讀者，現任職出版界。

名人推薦

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王比利（小摺達人）
林書宇（電影《九降風》導演）
莎莎（電視節目《食尚玩家》主持人）
黑人（台啤行銷總監）

紐約時報、書單雜誌、出版人週刊、華爾街日報、科克斯書評  好看推薦！

◆【林書宇（電影《九降風》導演）】在閱讀的過程中，我如同《失控的邏輯課》小說裡的學生一樣，面對老師的假設題，雖知一切都是虛構，卻還是深深地入迷，仔細地觀察每一個細節，推敲每一條線索，迫不及待，想在謎底揭曉前，解答出一切的真相。
◆【譚光磊（版權經紀人）】《失控的邏輯課》謎中有謎、虛實難辨，堪稱是一場心理驚悚的精湛演出，也替「峰迴路轉」一詞重新下了定義。
◆【紐約時報】假如能不先偷翻看最後一章而破解這門邏輯課，理所當然該給你一個A！
◆【書單雜誌】拉凡德在《失控的邏輯課》中設下處處陷阱，每一頁都滿溢著懸疑的趣味。
◆【科克斯書評】憑藉著高度的自信，拉凡德將心理驚悚題材精巧地放進學術研究領域中，編織出一面出色的謊言之網。
◆【華爾街日報】本書等於是一個懸疑大師哈蘭．科本，再加上一個後現代大師保羅．奧斯特……就算翻完最後一頁，小說終章揭示的真相與弦外之音，仍持續在讀者的心中激盪不已。
◆【布萊恩．費里曼　小說《剝奪》作者】一部擁有惡魔般天才的處女作小說，讀來像身處掛滿鏡子的屋宅，每樣東西都無法眼見為憑，直到帶來爆炸性結局的終章。
◆【彼得．亞伯拉罕　小說《故事結尾》作者】一個極為駭人的故事，背景設定在最讓人提心吊膽的善惡交界之處──學術殿堂。緊張刺激、不斷翻轉、原創性十足：小說像是自己有了生命一樣，領你一頁頁往下讀去。

詳細資料

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·                  叢書系列：臉譜小說選 

·                  規格：平裝 / 320頁 / 14.8*21cm / 普級 / 單色印刷 / 初版 

·                  出版地：台灣 

From Amazon online shop

The students of Winchester University’s class on Logic and Reasoning are given a strange assignment by the creepy Professor Williams, to follow a series of clues to find a missing girl who will be murdered if she has not been found by the end of the term, but as they pursue their goal, three students discover that the line between fiction and reality has started to blur.

From Publishers Weekly
A complex conspiracy involving the writing of a book drives Lavender's compelling debut, a thriller that will strike some as a mix of John Fowles's The Magus and Stephen King's The Shining. At Indiana's Winchester University, three students—Brian House, Dennis Flaherty and Mary Butler—are taking Logic and Reasoning 204, taught by enigmatic Professor Williams. They quickly learn this is a course like no other. Their single assignment is to find a missing 18-year-old girl, Polly, in six weeks time—or else, Williams asserts, she will be murdered. Is this merely an academic exercise? As Williams produces clues, including photographs of Polly and her associates, the students begin to wonder where homework ends and actual homicide begins. Together with Brian and Dennis, Mary ventures off campus in search of Polly into a world of crumbling towns, decrepit trailers and hints at crimes old and new. A rapid-fire plot offsets thin characterization, though the conspiracy becomes so all-encompassing, so elaborate, that readers may feel a bit like Mary when baffled by her quest: This is what she felt like: led, played, not in control of anything she did. (Feb.)

Review
"Obedience is evidence that crime fiction is hardly a played-out genre …. [G]rafts the world-turned-upside-down suspense of a Harlan Coben thriller to the hall-of-mirrors vertigo of a novel by Paul Auster …. [I]ts ultimate implications continue to spin out in a reader’s mind after the final page is turned."
—Wall Street Journal

“Authentic puzzle mysteries are an endangered species in these hectic times, so it’s a genuine, if slightly perverse, kick to follow every byzantine clue in this bizarre game…. If you solve this one without peeking at the last chapter, it's an automatic A.”
—New York Times Book Review

"Obedience is a fiendishly clever thriller, debut or no, and Lavender exhibits deft control at the wheel."
—Bookgasm.com

"Obedience is quite a twisty little number …. the taunting nature of the challenge is irresistible….”
—New York Daily News

“[T]his is one of those high-concept thrillers with a final twist that upends all expectations, filled with characters who are not what they seem.”
—Entertainment Weekly

An inspired thriller about cognitive dissonance, conjectural misdirection and the conspicuous dichotomy between academia and the real world."
—Kirkus Reviews

“Will Lavender stuns with this compelling thriller…. The surreal but believable landscape fairly bursts from its confines, goading the reader into finishing just one more page.”
—Louisville Courier-Journal

“It’s a terrific book, part cat-and-mouse mystery and part psychological study of group behavior…. [A] wonderful book with a strong emotional punch at the end.”
—St. Petersburg Times

“Lavender’s first novel suggests he has a bright future. The novel is briskly plotted with deft narrative. Obedience builds to a swirling conclusion. It becomes a place where morality is blurred and intentions drift astray.”
—Tampa Tribune

“In his tautly strung debut novel, Obedience, literature professor Will Lavender tears a page of out Milgram’s notebooks and sets into motion a chain of events that escalates far beyond its intended intellectual exercise. . . . Mystery fans will be satisfied to hang on around the story’s hairpin turns as the list of suspects swells and narrows with the unearthing of each clue, but Lavender . . . is aiming at a broader target and posing deeper questions.”
—Bookpage

“First-time novelist Lavender has a knack for creepy characters and red herrings.”
—Library Journal

“First novelist Lavender has sprinkled his text with enough red herrings to feed the Biblical 5,000 but uses them to build page-turning suspense. . . . Lavender’s invocation of the notorious Milgram experiment conducted at Yale on obedience to authority adds an additional–and salutary–layer of psychological meaning to his elaborate plot.”
—Booklist

More Praise for Obedience:

“Obedience draws you in and never lets go — and what a ride!”
—David Baldacci

"In his dream-like and labyrinthine debut, Will Lavender delivers a clever, intricate page-turner that kept me guessing late into the night. Obedience is a house of mirrors where every corner we turn is a false reflection of the truth until the shocking final scene. A gripping exploration of human nature and all its foibles told in Lavender's fresh and original voice, Obedience is not to be missed."
—Lisa Unger

“Obedience is a very scary story set on the border where good meets evil, located in this case in that scariest of places, academia. Taut, twisty, and highly original: the pages turned themselves.”
—Peter Abrahams

"A taut and timely thriller that explores the dark side of academia, where classrooms are dangerous and paranoia abounds."
—Karin Slaughter

"A taut, clever puzzle, so artfully crafted and tightly wound that it springs open its trap when you least expect it to."
—Carol Goodman, author of The Sonnet Lover and The Ghost Orchid

"A devilishly inventive debut that reads like a house of mirrors. Nothing is what it seems, right up to the devastating finale."
—Brian Freeman, author of Stripped