丹·西濛斯（Dan Simmons）

齣生於1948年，1971年在華盛頓大學獲得教育學碩士學位。1987年成為全職作傢。他是為數不多的創作領域跨越奇幻、科幻、恐怖、懸念、曆史小說、黑色犯罪小說、以及主流文學小說的作傢之一。他的書已經在29個國傢齣版。第一部長篇小說《迦梨之歌》是全世界首部獲得世界奇幻奬的處女作。他的首部科幻小說《海伯利安》則剛一齣版就獲得瞭世界科幻最高奬項之一的雨果奬。

《丹佛郵報》評價《海伯利安》的時候說：“西濛斯的天纔把太空歌劇變成瞭一種新型的史詩。”

可以說，作者用極富想象力的筆觸，描畫瞭一個具有“西濛斯”風格的宇宙。

Sometimes revenge is best paid in cold steel.

HARDCASE

Joe Kurtz has been wronged one too many times. So when he takes out the drugdealing thug who killed his girlfriend, the exPI gets to cool his heels for 11 years in Attica. It's there that he meets "Little Skag" Farino, the son of an aging Buffalo, New York, mob boss. In exchange for protecting the kid's manhood against any unwanted jailhouse affection, Kurtz gets an audience with Little Skag's father upon his release from prison.

Semiretired Don Byron Farino is still clinging to what dwindling power he holds on the New York organized crime scene. He enlists Kurtz's help to track down the Family's missing accountanta man with too much knowledge of Family business to have on the loose. But someone doesn't want the accountant found. As the story twists and turns and the body count rises, Kurtz no longer knows whom he can trust. Everyone seems to be after something, from the mob boss's sultry yet dangerous daughter, to a hit man named The Dane, an albino killer who is good with a knife, and a dwarf who is armed to the teeth and hellbent on revenge.

Bestselling author Dan Simmons expertly builds the tension as he springs one surprise after another, all the while daring the reader to take a ride with Kurtz through the cold, windy streets of Buffalo where one wrong move could mean a bellyfull of lead.