★哈蘭．科本（Harlan Coben）盛讚

《清醒》（Lucidity）巧妙匯聚美國東西岸的二樁案件調查，是一部遊走夢境與現實，關於欺騙、謀殺、身份誤認的絕妙驚悚小說！

率先登場的是曼哈頓的「寫作醫師」傅瑞門，他專門為有志寫作者琢磨書稿，爭取出版機會。一天，紐約市警突然找上門來，告知他的客戶坎蒂絲在中央公園旁，遭人猛地從背後推到行進車輛前，撞擊後性命垂危。

坎蒂絲是傅瑞門最成功的客戶之一，出版過幾本暢銷電子書，日前才語焉不詳地透露，知道某個人做了非常壞的事，沒想到馬上遭到不測。傅瑞門雖然很快洗清自己的嫌疑，卻有人前來強索坎蒂絲的書稿隨身碟。傅瑞門忍不住追查坎蒂絲的背景，發現她與一個「清醒中心」（Lucidity Center）有所牽連，這個教人控制夢境/清醒做夢的機構，似乎暗藏見不得光的勾當。

時間倒退回四個月前。加州門羅帕克知名警探馬登，退休後過著一邊在五金行兼差，一邊苦思寫作回憶錄的日子。有天，一位未曾謀面的矽谷創業家，竟願意支付鉅額僱用馬登重新調查一樁二十年的懸案。

二十年前，正與丈夫協調離婚的加州女性史黛西，深夜回家後失蹤。儘管丈夫羅斯的車裡留有史黛西的毛髮與血跡，涉有重嫌，但因未曾尋獲史黛西的屍體，無法起訴。不久連羅斯都人間蒸發，不知去向。此案在一本調查報導書出版，提出新線索嚴重挑戰警方威信後越演越烈，線索最後竟指向越南，尋獲羅斯的一隻手臂骨骸與護照，此後再無進展。這對夫婦是生是死，誰可能是兇手，多年來始終眾說紛紜。

馬登找上當初寫書的作者，得知他其實是史黛西的情人，並曾接到可疑電話，開始往羅斯沒死，嫉妒起殺意的方向偵查。沒想到重啟調查之事消息走漏，又上了新聞，沸沸揚揚。此時馬登接到一通電話，對方聲稱找到了史黛西，馬登若想拿到酬勞，就得讓他分一杯羹，要馬登立刻飛去紐約……

打電話的正是傅瑞門。從昏迷中甦醒的坎蒂絲，彷彿變了一個人，看似說著胡話，仔細聽卻自稱是住在加州的史黛西，丈夫羅斯意圖謀害她……

東西二岸的案件以意想不到的奇妙方式連結起來，馬登與傅瑞門將聯手調查「清醒中心」背後的駭人黑幕，他們能及時揭開將二案相連的秘密嗎？或者他們只是在做夢？《清醒》遊走於夢與現實，凡事都不可輕信表象解讀，作者放入複雜的細節，但毫不拖沓明快的節奏及不時令人發噱的幽默筆調，聰明的劇情編排讓讀者欲罷不能，持續猜到最後教人吃驚但心滿意足的結局！

 

David Carnoy is an executive editor at CNET and is interviewed regularly on television as a tech expert, appearing on CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, The Huffington Post, and other media outlets. He lives in New York City with his wife and children.

 

“David Carnoy gets better with each book . . . Lucidity is a tour de force of a thriller that captures you from the very first page.”
—Harlan Coben

“Lucidity moves with speed and power, doubling back, accelerating, weaving details, blasting through, relentlessly pulling you in . . . A wild ride on both coasts at the same time . . . Detective thriller fiction at its best.”
—Terry McDonell, author of The Accidental Life

“With narrative finesse, Carnoy delivers his most powerful book to date. In Lucidity, Carnoy combines two equally engrossing story lines into one powerhouse of a novel.” —Allison Leotta, author of The Last Good Girl

“At the start of Carnoy’s spellbinding third thriller (after 2012’s The Big Exit), Max Fremmer, a book doctor who lives on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, learns from an NYPD cop that his client Candace Epstein, who recently told him that “she knew something bad about someone,” has been pushed in front of a car on Central Park West with fatal results. In his search for the truth behind Candace’s death, the wily Max gets involved with the Lucid Dreaming Center, an institute that helps people control their dreams. Flash back four months to California, where retired detective Hank Madden of the Menlo Park PD decides to look into the decades-old cold case of Stacy Walker, who disappeared—as did her husband, Ross, who was suspected of her murder. Hank gets busy digging up a backyard where Stacy might be buried. Max and Hank connect with amusing results as their two cases converge. Carnoy's sharp sense of humor and clever plotting—a character suffers a pair of setbacks involving a check he didn’t write and a text he didn’t send—make this novel a standout.” —Publishers Weekly, starred