Past Perfect

出版者:Pocket Star

作者:Susan Isaacs

页数:432

出版时间:2009-4-28

价格:USD 7.99

装帧:Mass Market Paperback

isbn号码:9780743463140

具体描述

In "Past Perfect, " Susan Isaacs gives us one of her most glorious characters ever: bright, buoyant, and borderline luscious Katie Schottland. Katie seems to have the ideal life: a great husband, a precocious and winning ten-year-old son, and a dream job -- writer for the long-running TV series "Spy Guys." But all is not as splendid as it should be because writing about the espionage business isn't nearly as satisfying as working in it.Fifteen years earlier, Katie was in the CIA. She loved her job (to say nothing of her boss, the mysterious Benton Mattingly). Yet just as she was sensing she was in line for a promotion, she was fired -- escorted off the premises by two extremely hulking security types. Why? No one would tell her: when you're expelled from the Agency, warm friends immediately become icy ex-colleagues who won't risk their security clearances by talking to you.Until that day, Katie was where she wanted to be. Coming from a family of Manhattan superachievers, she too had a job she not only adored but a job that made her, in the family tradition, a Someone. Fifteen years later, Katie is still stuck on her firing. Was she set up? Or did she make some terrible mistake that cost lives? She believes that if she could discover why they threw her out, she might be at peace.On the day she's rushing to get her son off to summer camp, Katie gets a surprise call from former Agency colleague Lisa Golding. "A matter of national importance," says Lisa, who promises to reveal the truth about the firing -- "if" Katie will help her. Lisa was never very good at truth-telling, though she swears she's changed her ways. Katie agrees to speak with her, but before she can, Lisa vanishes.Maturity and common sense should keep Katie in the bright, normal world of her present life, away from the dark intrigues of the past. But she needs to know. As she takes just a few steps to find out, one ex-spy who might have the answers dies under suspicious circumstances. Another former agent is murdered. Could it be there's a list? If so, is Katie now on it? And who will be the next to go?

用户评价

我最欣赏这本书的一点，在于其对“道德灰色地带”的毫不妥协的描绘。书中几乎没有纯粹的英雄或彻底的恶棍，每个人物都被赋予了复杂而矛盾的动机。那些在故事初期看起来毫无瑕疵的“正面角色”，在关键时刻会为了某种自认为正义的目标而做出令人不齿的行为；反之，那些被社会排斥的边缘人物，却可能展现出最坚韧的人性光辉和令人动容的牺牲精神。这种对二元对立的彻底颠覆，让整个故事的张力提升到了哲学层面。它不是在讲述“好人与坏人”的故事，而是在探讨“人性在极端压力下会如何变形与重塑”。读者在阅读过程中会不断地审视自己的价值观，被迫站在不同角色的立场上去为他们的选择进行辩护或谴责。这种阅读体验是极具挑战性的，因为它剥夺了我们寻求简单答案的舒适区，迫使我们直面人性的复杂性与内在的悖论。

我必须承认，这本书的语言风格，尤其是对话部分，初读时带给我一种强烈的“疏离感”。角色的表达方式似乎总是绕着弯子，充满了隐晦的暗示和未尽之言，仿佛他们每个人都生活在一个只有自己能完全理解的内部代码系统中。我花了很长时间才适应这种“话里有话”的交流模式，甚至需要时不时地停下来，对照前文的背景信息，去重新解读某句看似平淡的对话。这种写作手法极大地增强了故事的悬疑和神秘色彩，但对于习惯了直白叙事的读者来说，无疑是一个巨大的门槛。特别是两位核心人物之间的交流，简直像是在进行一场高智商的“文字躲避球”，你以为抓住了重点，下一秒它又滑向了另一个意想不到的角度。这种处理方式带来的好处是，你作为读者，必须主动参与到意义的构建中去，而不是被动接受。它迫使你去关注角色的肢体语言、语气的微小变化，甚至是他/她没有选择说什么。这种互动性，使得阅读过程更像是一场侦探工作，而非简单的故事消费。

这本书的叙事节奏简直是教科书级别的慢热，起初我还有些不耐烦，感觉作者似乎在刻意铺陈一些与主线关系不大的枝节，大量的环境描写和人物内心独白占据了前三分之一的篇幅。我记得有一个章节专门描述了主人公在一家老旧咖啡馆里，如何观察窗外雨水的流动和街对面建筑的阴影变化，那种细致入微的观察力让人惊叹，但也确实拖慢了情节推进的速度。我一度怀疑自己是否拿错了一本哲学散文集而非小说。然而，正是这种看似冗余的铺垫，为后半部分的爆发做了最扎实的情感和氛围基础。当真正的冲突浮现时，你会发现之前所有的等待和沉闷都得到了极好的回报。比如，一个仅仅在开篇被提及的小物件，在关键时刻的作用被放大到令人心悸的程度，这种对细节的掌控力，让整个故事的结构感异常坚固。读完后回想，那种如同被缓慢拉伸的橡皮筋，最终猛地弹开的力量感，是很多现代快节奏小说难以企及的深度体验。它要求读者付出耐心，但回报是丰厚的，它考验的不仅仅是故事，更是读者沉浸式的阅读能力。

这本书在世界观的构建上展现出一种令人称奇的“非线性美学”。它没有提供一张清晰的世界地图，也没有用大段的文字来解释这个虚构社会的运行规则或历史背景。相反，作者似乎采取了一种“碎片化输入”的策略，所有的信息都是通过人物的经历、遗留的文物描述，或是偶尔闪回的片段散落出来的。我感觉自己像是在一片迷雾中摸索，每找到一小块清晰的视野，都伴随着巨大的满足感。这种不完整性反而激发了读者强大的想象力和求知欲。你会在脑海中不断地拼凑图景，试图将那些看似无关的线索串联起来，形成一个属于你自己的、独一无二的理解。这种处理方式使得该书的“再读性”极高，因为你清楚地知道，第一次阅读时必然有所遗漏。我甚至建议读者在看完一遍后，立刻进行第二次阅读，你会惊讶地发现，那些第一次被你忽略的场景，其实埋藏着构建整个宏大叙事框架的关键砖块。

如果用一种感官来形容这本书的整体氛围，我会说它充满了“冷峻的金属质感”。无论是情感的表达，还是场景的描绘，都有一种克制到近乎冰冷的美感。情绪的表达常常是通过环境的寒冷、物件的坚硬，或是角色沉默的肢体语言来传达的，而非直接的情感倾泻。例如，描写悲伤的场景时，作者着重刻画的是物体表面结霜的纹理，或者是墙壁上光线的锐利角度，而非人物的泪水。这种高度风格化的、几乎是禁欲的叙事手法，让作品自带一种疏离的艺术距离，反而更有效地聚焦了故事核心的悲剧性内核。这种“去情感化”的描述方式，反而让读者内心深处的共鸣被激发出来，因为读者必须主动填补这段冰冷外壳下的情感空洞。它不是一部让人热泪盈眶的作品，而是一部会让你在合上书页后，长时间保持沉默，并感到内心深处某种坚硬之物被轻轻敲击的作品。