Nineteen Minutes

《紐約時報》暢銷書排行榜第一名
每個人都說我毀了他們的人生，可是當我的人生被毀的時候好像沒有人關心。

「希特勒的母親是個可怕的人嗎？」一個心碎母親最絕望的疑問。

誰都希望自己的小孩進哈佛，任何一對父母都盼望自己的小孩完美無瑕，沒有人會希望自己的小孩有天拿槍在校園裡對人群瘋狂掃射，更沒有人盼望只能隔著監獄圍欄含淚問小孩過得好不好，但所有不願面對的一切，都在短短的十九分鐘裡一一湧現。

斯特靈是新罕布夏州的一個平凡小鎮，從未發生過什麼大事，直到有一天，一項驚人的暴力行為粉碎了小鎮的平靜自滿，一場十九分鐘的槍擊案，改變這個樸實小鎮所有人的人生。長年在學校飽受同學欺凌的高中生彼得，選擇在二○○七年三月六日這天讓全世界都知道他的名字，他在校園中射殺他所遇見的所有老師、同學，他要用自己的雙手將多年來的仇恨一次解決：十九分鐘，你可以復仇。

究竟是有多深沉的怨懟，讓一個平凡無比的年輕人血洗校園，殘暴的雙手不僅砸毀自己的人生，也粉碎所有人的未來藍圖？究竟是什麼樣的父母，將天使般的嬰孩養成如此冷血殘酷的殺人兇手？《紐約時報》暢銷作家茱迪．皮考特以其特有的細膩筆法以及敘事角度，剖析青少年的自我認同障礙及扭曲的價值觀，文中不僅探討現存的親子關係及校園暴力問題，也點出人性深層的虛偽與悲哀。作者毫不留情地撕裂世俗的完美面具，揭露底層隱含的醜陋瘡疤，警醒世人謊言構築的世界終將崩毀。

　　In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn, color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold laundry for a family of five....In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world, or you can just jump off it. In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge.

　　Sterling is a small, ordinary New Hampshire town where nothing ever happens -- until the day its complacency is shattered by a shocking act of violence. In the aftermath, the town's residents must not only seek justice in order to begin healing but also come to terms with the role they played in the tragedy. For them, the lines between truth and fiction, right and wrong, insider and outsider have been obscured forever. Josie Cormier, the teenage daughter of the judge sitting on the case, could be the state's best witness, but she can't remember what happened in front of her own eyes. And as the trial progresses, fault lines between the high school and the adult community begin to show, destroying the closest of friendships and families.

　　Nineteen Minutes is New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult's most raw, honest, and important novel yet. Told with the straightforward style for which she has become known, it asks simple questions that have no easy answers: Can your own child become a mystery to you? What does it mean to be different in our society? Is it ever okay for a victim to strike back? And who -- if anyone -- has the right to judge someone else?