The Godwulf Manuscript

最受時尚界喜愛的「帶槍聖者」

「冷硬派大師」錢德勒傳人的成名作

粗獷細膩又尖刻柔情，嘴巴很毒又內心純良！

頁邊的空白處著上鮮亮的紅色和金色，
彩繪出騎士、仕女、前腳舉起的獅子，
還有一隻如蛇般蜷繞的龍，
被騎著壯碩母馬的英雄刺殺......

　　一份珍貴的十四世紀彩繪手卷在校園中失竊了，校方接獲勒贖電話後，請來私家偵探史賓瑟協尋失竊手卷。在調查過程中，史賓瑟不僅要和難纏的激進極左派革命組織周旋，還必須深入校園追查真相。更糟糕的是，學生陸續被人謀殺、陷害，讓人文氣息濃厚的波士頓校園危機四伏。這回，言辭犀利、玩世不恭的史賓瑟該如何幫助學子，揪出幕後的共犯結構呢？該怎麼樣來看史賓瑟這位廣受讀者愛戴的偵探？也許我們應該把他放在美國犯罪小說的歷史脈絡來看。當美國犯罪小說革命的兩大健將雷蒙．錢德勒和達許．漢密特相繼去世以後，熱愛他們小說的讀者們莫不盼望找到一位足堪接任的後繼者，能把推理小說的美國「法統」薪火相傳下去......的確，史賓瑟極可能是後來小說角色中最得馬羅精髓的傳人，他既粗獷又細膩，既尖刻又柔情，嘴巴很壞卻又內心純良；他在殘酷大街上與壞人周旋，卻不失他自己簡單一致的信仰。這的確是硬漢偵探的優良傳統，也是美國革命的命脈所繫......

　　Spenser earned his degree in the school of hard knocks, so he is ready when a Boston university hires him to recover a rare, stolen manuscript. He is hardly surprised that his only clue is a radical student with four bullets in his chest.

　　The cops are ready to throw the book at the pretty blond coed whose prints are all over the murder weapon but Spenser knows there are no easy answers. He tackles some very heavy homework and knows that if he doesn't finish his assignment soon, he could end up marked "D" -- for dead.

　　"Spenser is Boston's answer to James Bond -- irreverent, witty, worldy. His first-person recital of his detective work makes for fast, amusing reading." (The Pittsburgh Press)