九歲以前,我殺死了三個小孩,只為了不想看見他們長大......
十七歲少年法蘭克的存在是個謎,因為官方並沒有他身分紀錄。據他自己說,他居住在蘇格蘭一座很小的島上,小島和英國本島之間只有一座橋相連,島上只住了他和瘸腿又有測量強迫症的父親。年幼時他母親就離家出走了,而哥哥艾瑞克則精神失常,被送到精神病院。
小說一開頭,是警察來通知他父親,艾瑞克逃出精神病院,並揚言要回家來報復他父親,而法蘭克一點也不驚訝,因為捕蜂器早就告訴他了。這個捕蜂器是法蘭克用一個巨大的廢棄時鐘改裝的,他把時鐘的十二個刻度,設計成十二道機關,每天早上,他會抓一隻黃蜂放進時鐘裡,根據黃蜂的死法,來占卜今日的運勢和吉凶。同時,法蘭克還在小島的四周布下結界和狩獵場,那是他的祕密基地,九歲以前,他曾在那裡殺死了三個小孩,包括親弟弟......
他的父親也有自己的祕密,關於兩任離家的妻子,關於艾瑞克,也關於法蘭克,如今艾瑞克要回來了,是否將會改變這一切......?
★本書中文版《捕蜂器》由遠流出版
Meet Frank Cauldhame. Just sixteen, and unconventional to say the least:
Two years after I killed Blyth I murdered my young brother Paul, for quite different and more fundamental reasons than I'd disposed of Blyth, and then a year after that I did for my young cousin Esmerelda, more or less on a whim.
That's my score to date. Three. I haven't killed anybody for years, and don't intend to ever again.
It was just a stage I was going through.
作者簡介
Iain Banks came to widespread and controversial public notice with the original publication of his first novel, The Wasp Factory, recently selected in a British poll as one of the top 100 novels of the century. Since then he has gained enormous popular and critical acclaim with further works of fiction and, as Iain M. Banks, science fiction. He lives in Scotland.