English Summary/英文概要： With 13 ½, Nevada Barr, New York Times bestselling author of the award-winning Anna Pigeon novels, has written a taut and terrifying psychological thriller. It carries the reader from the horrifying 1970s murder spree of a child— dubbed “Butcher Boy” by a shocked public—in Rochester, Minnesota, to Polly, the abused daughter of Mississippi “trailer trash,” to post-Katrina New Orleans.

In Jackson Square in the French Quarter a tarot card reader told Polly Deschamps she would be a success. Thirty years later, Polly is a respected professor of literature with good friends and her own home—a safe life for her and her two daughters.

Butcher Boy, released on his seventeenth birthday, shook the snow from his boots and headed south.

New Orleans, a Mecca for runaways then and now, offers sanctuary but never forgiveness.

When Polly falls in love with Marshall Marchand, a restoration architect who is helping to rebuild her adopted city, shadows of the past rise out of the poisoned ground of New Orleans as thick and deadly as the toxic waters of the flood.

Like history, some crimes are doomed to repeat themselves. Evil stays the same, only the victims’ names change. As two broken pasts collide in an uncertain present, Polly is determined that her children’s names will never be on that list.

Chinese Summary/中文概要： 1971年的明尼蘇達州，一個一家子被殘忍滅門的事件，一時之間全國的報紙媒體都被此事佔據了頭版，其中主角就是轟動一時的『屠夫男孩』，然而犯下此罪的11歲男孩卻完全對此事毫無記憶。
多年過後，如今此事件的另一位人物，Polly突然間憶起，自己過去一段人生經歷，那段經歷是一樁悲劇，Polly在15歲那年就逃離了自己不愉快的童年，離開了在密西西比的家。她孤單的日子直到遇見Marshall 才結束。Polly發現他有吸引力，魅力四射，且非常有才能，她幾乎對他一見鍾情。但Marshall 卻是個單身主義者，他幾乎所有的時間都花在弟弟身上。於是當Polly帶著兩個小女兒和Marshall 結婚，準備開始一段全新的生活時，她漸漸的發現了丈夫越來越多的黑暗情緒，並開始擔憂Marshall的弟弟能以一種她無法理解的方式在影響著自己的丈夫。
沒多久，Polly意外在塔羅牌占卜師口中，聽到不詳的預兆，宣告Polly會謀殺自己的丈夫。
還有Marshall兄弟與惡名昭著的『屠夫男孩』有著多重謀殺案的關聯。
Marshall 和他古怪的弟弟是否對Polly隱瞞了一個黑暗的秘密？而這秘密即將使Polly面臨從所未有的考驗……(赵衡 & Chris)

Awards/获奖情况： ★紐約時報暢銷作家
傑佛瑞．迪佛(Jeffery Deaver)、李查德(Lee Child)等，最推薦的心理懸疑小說

Reviews
"This book is a hands-down winner! Psychological terror at its best, 13 1/2 shines with authentic voices, high-amp tension, and Barr’s brilliant and unique style."---Jeffery Deaver, New York Times bestselling author of Roadside Crosses

"Stunning ... spellbinding psychological suspense with twists you won’t see coming ... an amazing, virtuoso piece of writing."---Lee Child, New York Times bestselling author

“Keep the lights on while reading this intense psychological thriller. The tension’s so tight you’ll be rethinking every motive and clue up to the finale. Much like Nancy Pickard in The Virgin of Small Plains, Barr forces us to look beyond the obvious to the hidden evils we may have overlooked.”---Library Journal

“...terrifying...page-turning....”---Delta Magazine

“...a hair-raising thriller.... packs a powerful punch.”---Romantic Times, 4 stars

“Barr process adept at both pulsing horror and sweet romance.... [for] readers who like dark psychological thrillers.”---Booklist

Barr skillfully shows her affinity for delving into her characters’ souls in 13 ½. Barr keeps the psychological terror elevated in 13 ½ by realistically showing how people can be manipulated - by others and by the juvenile justice system.”---Sun-Sentinel (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)