The Guilty One

◎英國理察與茱蒂讀書俱樂部推薦選書！
◎2011年法蘭克福書展引發國際版權大戰，超過二十國出版社競價爭取版權！
◎媒體盛讚：一本已經可以貼上「排行榜冠軍」的小說處女作！

每個人心中都住著一只受傷的小野獸，
而你不知道何時將必須和牠面對面……

你是我的律師嗎？很高興認識你喔！
請叫我小瑟，剛滿十一歲，我真的沒有傷害任何人。
但是，大家都說我是「死亡天使」……
你覺得我會不會下地獄呢？

死亡天使！十一歲男童涉嫌殺人！死者班．史托克年僅八歲，遭磚塊毆打面部導致頭骨凹陷致死。線索指出案發時，該童曾和死者扭打，皇家檢控署建議以謀殺罪起訴該名男童……

當丹尼爾以辯護律師的身分踏進警局時，十一歲的瑟貝申抬起純真的綠色眼睛，活潑又禮貌地對他微笑。丹尼爾則不敢置信地望著眼前的小小「殺人犯」，深信這一切都是誤會罷了！

在警方不斷嚴厲的訊問下，小瑟瘦弱的身軀漸漸倚在丹尼爾的肩上，卻讓他記起了自己十一歲時也曾經向陌生人渴求關愛，希望有誰能夠倚靠。輾轉在寄養家庭的他，曾是個耍刀鬥狠的叛逆少年，只差一步就會被丟進感化院，最後是養母敏妮將他帶出了那個深淵。

但是，隨著法庭上檢方和辯方在罪證上的來回攻詰，媒體報章霸凌惡少的報導，瑟貝申的真實面貌，到底是個無辜的孩子還是有著天使面孔的惡魔？丹尼爾對小瑟的憐憫是否蒙蔽了案情的真相？而這一切隱藏在人心裡的秘密可有真正的答案？

就在此時，丹尼爾得知養母敏妮過世的消息，多年前兩人最後對話「我不想留在這兒，我只希望妳死了算了！」卻是如此決絕。到底敏妮隱瞞了什麼秘密，竟讓丹尼爾十五年來斷絕一切往來？今昔交錯的兩段人生，難解的奇妙共鳴，為了幫小瑟脫罪，丹尼爾最終被迫將必須回頭面對自己心中那只受傷的小野獸……

一條報紙聳動的謀殺標題下，掩藏的是無數關起家門不為人知的暴力，以及每個人成長歲月都經歷過的疼痛！新銳作家莉莎．芭蘭泰妮書寫著兩段交錯的殘酷人生，卻帶來了最溫暖的相遇和救贖。然後我們會明白無論有罪無罪，生命終將因為一絲深層的愛而全然改觀！

Deeply psychological and suspenseful, THE GUILTY ONE is already an international phenomenon and one of the most talked-about books of the year.

A little boy was found dead in a children's playground. . .

Daniel Hunter has spent years defending lost causes as a solicitor in London. But his life changes when he is introduced to Sebastian, an eleven-year-old accused of murdering an innocent young boy.

As he plunges into the muddy depths of Sebastian's troubled home life, Daniel thinks back to his own childhood in foster care - and to Minnie, the woman whose love saved him, until she, too, betrayed him so badly that he cut her out of his life.

But what crime did Minnie commit that made Daniel disregard her for fifteen years? And will Daniel's identification with a child on trial for murder make him question everything he ever believed in?

莉莎．芭蘭泰妮 Lisa Ballantyne

出生於蘇格蘭西洛錫安郡阿瑪戴爾（Armadale, West Lothian, Scotland），先後於阿瑪戴爾學院以及聖安德魯斯大學接受教育，畢業後遠赴中國工作數年，2002年重返英國進入高等教育體系服務。目前居住於格拉斯哥市，本書為其小說處女作。

Lisa Ballantyne was born in Armadale, West Lothian, Scotland and was educated at Armadale Academy and University of St Andrews. She spent most of her twenties working and living in China, before returning to the UK in 2002, to work in Higher Education. She lives in Glasgow; this is her first novel.