★紐約時報暢銷小說《魔幻馬戲團》(The Night Circles)作者推薦！
★《書單》評選2012年十大最佳犯罪小說！


這是一部饒富趣味的動作間諜驚悚小說，巧妙地將逞兇鬥狠幫派的黑暗和咆哮荒謬主義的喜感串連起來，述說一位黑幫暴徒的兒子與退休隱居的女間諜聯手拯救世界的歡鬧故事。

小說故事描寫：修理鐘錶師傅喬伊最渴望的事情就是過著安靜平凡的生活。他三十多歲孤家一人，每天勤勞修理鐘錶，獨自住在倫敦某個潮濕角落的鐘錶修理商家樓上，僅靠微薄修理費根本入不敷出，可是他又沒有遠大志向讓自己賺更多錢。他至少告訴自己不能步上黑幫暴徒親馬修的後塵。

在這個城市裡，還有一位與喬伊一樣過著不受人打擾的平靜生活。一位將近90歲的伊迪(Edie)，過去曾是一位優秀的女間諜，退休後隱姓埋名居住，是喬伊的客戶。

某天，喬伊修補一只神秘不尋常的機械物件後，意外引來殺身之禍，生活頓時跌落地獄般。這究竟是個什麼該死的物件呢？原來它是一個1950年代的世界末日機器。喬伊在修理過程中，打開了它的啟動裝置，使得許多國家組織以及一名神秘的蒙面男子開始追捕他，甚至也招來伊迪的復仇。

這只世界末日的機器讓喬伊原本無風無雨的生活，開始湧入瘋狂的和尚、精神病的連環殺手、科學天才、穿著粉紅皮革的女孩等形形色色的人，以及發現它將可能威脅到宇宙的未來生活。這時候的喬伊無法再坐視不管，唯一拯救自己生命的辦法就是幫助伊迪繼續追查多年前她放棄的一項秘密任務，同時拿起父親的一把老手槍與來勢洶洶的凶神惡煞一決勝負。

在小說中，作者成功塑造男主角喬伊的兩種英雄形象。他原本宛如一只年久失修的機械，苟言殘喘地賴活著，最後被自己糊里糊塗地上緊發條(因為修理了的神秘機械)，讓他的黯淡生命開始塗抹上鮮明色彩，充滿著驚險刺激的冒險、生死遊戲的行動，甚至還有愛。

美國出版社Knopf出版的同時，製作一支超炫的新書預告片：

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxJn0Wp9nBc

 

Nick Harkaway was born in Cornwall in 1972. He studied philosophy, sociology, and politics at Clare College, Cambridge, and then worked in the film industry. He has trained in fencing, aikido, jujitsu and kickboxing, and is notably bad at all of them. Over the past ten years, his professional writing has included several film scripts, a brochure for a company making modular bottle-capping machinery, and website copy for an exclusive boutique selling glamorous designer lingerie. He lives in London with his wife, Clare, and his daughter, Clemency.

 

‘A joyful display of reckless, delightful invention... pure, unhinged delight. What a splendid ride’──Patrick Ness, Guardian

‘This brilliant, boundless mad genius of a book runs on its own frenetic energy, and bursts with infinite wit, inventive ambition and damn fine storytelling. You finish reading it in gape-mouthed awe and breathless admiration, having experienced something very special indeed’ ──Matt Haig, author of THE RADLEYS

‘A puzzle box of a novel as fascinating as the clockwork bees it contains, filled with intrigue, espionage and creative use of trains’ ──Erin Morgenstern, author of THE NIGHT CIRCUS

‘A joyously sprawling, elaborately plotted, endlessly entertaining novel filled with adventure, comedy, espionage, and romance, Angelmaker also deals with intriguing questions of free will and the nature of truth without stopping to take a breath. As if the book is made of clockwork, the pages turn themselves’ ──Dexter Palmer, author of THE DREAM OF PERPETUAL MOTION

‘It's an ambitious, crowded, restless caper, cleverly told and utterly immune to precis’ ──James Purdon, Observer

‘A gleefully postmodern book in its weaving together of genres with imagery from comic books, film and TV, and its richly imagined setting of a London with underground passages and secret markets’ ──Susan Mansfield, Scotsman

‘A wonderfully strange, rich piece of work — extremely entertaining and exciting — and has a wonderfully comic aspect to it as well’ ──William Gibson, author of ZERO HISTORY, The New York Times

‘Nick Harkaway’s mind is such an interesting, diverse place I wanted to savour every syllable... Angelmaker ended long before my appetite for it had’ ──Ani Johnson, The Bookbag

‘Endlessly inventive... Harkaway makes his novel great fun on every page’ ──Publishers Weekly (starred review)

‘Angelmaker has it all: action, tragedy, romance, philosophy, bees and a satisfyingly explosive ending. It’s highly recommended’ ──welovethisbook.com