●The hero of Christine Falls, Quirke, is a surly pathologist living in 1950s Dublin. One night, after having a few drinks at a party, he returns to the morgue to find his brother-in-law tampering with the records on a young woman’s corpse. The next morning, when his hangover has worn off, Quirke reluctantly begins looking into the woman’s history. He discovers a plot that spans two continents, implicates the Catholic Church, and may just involve members of his own family. He is warned--first subtly, then with violence--to lay off, but Quirke is a stubborn man. The first novel in the Quirke series brings all the vividness and psychological insight of John Banville’s writing to the dark, menacing atmosphere of a first-class thriller. ●《墮落的信徒》的主角奎克是一個脾氣暴躁的病理學醫生，1950年代他住在都柏林。某晚，他參加一場派對，幾杯黃湯下肚後，他離開派對，回到醫院陳屍間，卻發現他的姊夫正在竄改一具女屍的死亡證明。第二天早上，宿醉感逐漸消退後，奎克逼不得已開始調查這名女子生前的記錄，結果他發掘出一起橫跨兩大洲、牽連羅馬天主教會的陰謀，他的家人也可能涉入其中。有人開始暗中警告他，隨後並用暴力手段威脅要他別再插手，但是倔強的奎克可不想就此放手。本書是「孤獨奎克系列」的第一篇故事，讓讀者領略約翰‧班維爾（John Banville）筆下黑暗、充滿威脅感又生動的描述，是本一流的懸疑偵探小說。