她愛他,
這點他曉得,
他也從來不曾懷疑。
但她也求他殺了她。
十八年來,哈特和戈德兩家比鄰而居,分享生活中一切大小事物,兩家的兒女打從出生就緊緊相伴、共同成長,克里斯和艾蜜麗之間有著愛情、友情和親情,濃得化不開的緣分羨煞旁人,但深夜的一記槍聲打碎他們的美好人生,十七歲的艾蜜麗頭部中槍身亡,克里斯成了唯一的嫌疑犯。
「我們打算一起自殺。」克里斯吐出這句供詞,他這麼愛她,怎麼可能殺了她?但眾人不解的是他們這麼相愛、人生如此順遂,怎麼可能相約自殺?各方的猜想及臆測紛紛湧現,但不管艾蜜麗的死是自殺還是謀殺,眼前兩個美滿家庭已經崩解,在這個駭人的時刻,哈特和戈德兩家必須面對所有家長最深切的恐懼:我們真的了解自己的孩子嗎?
本書特色
★茱迪.皮考特最感人的「愛情故事」,出版以來好評不斷!
★原著改編成電視影集,佳評如潮!
★本書中文版《死亡約定》由台灣商務出版
Until the phone calls came at three o'clock on a November morning, the Golds and their neighbors, the Hartes, had been inseparable. It was no surprise to anyone when their teenage children, Chris and Emily, began showing signs that their relationship was moving beyond that of lifelong friends. But now seventeen-year-old Emily is dead—shot with a gun her beloved and devoted Chris pilfered from his father's cabinet as part of an apparent suicide pact—leaving two devastated families stranded in the dark and dense predawn, desperate for answers about an unthinkable act and the children they never really knew.
From New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult—one of the most powerful writers in contemporary fiction—comes a riveting, timely, heartbreaking, and terrifying novel of families in anguish and friendships ripped apart by inconceivable violence.
作者簡介
茱迪.皮考特(Jodi Picoult)
1967年生於紐約長島。普林斯頓大學創意寫作學士,哈佛教育碩士。
1992年第一本小說Songs of the Humpback Whale甫出版便造成轟動,目前已出版十餘本備受好評的著作: Harvesting the Heart (1994)、Picture Perfect(1995)、 Mercy (1996)、《死亡約定》(1998)、 Keeping Faith(1999)、 Plain Truth(2000)、 Salem Falls(2001)、 Perfect Match(2002)、 Second Glance(2003)、《姊姊的守護者》(My Sister’s Keeper, 2004)、Vanishing Acts(2005)、《第十層地獄》(The Tenth Circle, 2006)、《事發的19分鐘》(Nineteen Minutes, 2007)、《換心》(Change of Heart, 2008)、Handle with Care(2009)。2007年她還為DC漫畫出版社寫了幾期的《神力女超人》(Wonder Woman)。皮考特眾多著作中的《死亡約定》、Plain Truth已被改編成電視電影集,而《姊姊的守護者》電影版則將於2009年7月上映,由好萊塢女星卡麥蓉狄亞領銜主演。
皮考特擅於寫作充滿道德爭議的小說。她的作品已經被翻譯成三十多種語言,並在四十餘個國家發行銷售。其在2003年獲得美國新英格蘭最佳小說獎,並榮登《紐約時報》暢銷作家之列,多部作品皆一出版便盤據《紐約時報》暢銷書排行榜第一名數週之久。《華盛頓郵報》更將皮考特譽為大師級作家。目前皮考特和丈夫及三個子女住在新罕布夏州。網址: www.jodipicoult.com。
Jodi Picoult is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of sixteen novels, including Keeping Faith, Vanishing Acts, The Tenth Circle, Nineteen Minutes, Change of Heart, and Handle with Care. She received the 2003 New England Book Award for fiction and was the recipient of the ALA's Alex Award for her novel My Sister's Keeper. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and three children.