放血尖端 (2013)

《放血尖端》（英语：Bleeding Edge）是美国作家托马斯·品钦的第8部长篇小说，于2013年9月由企鹅出版集团出版。这是一部以九一一袭击事件之前的纽约为背景的侦探小说。

情节概要

2001年，在网络泡沫破灭，而尚不知九一一将要到来的纽约，两个孩子的母亲 Maxine Tarnow 经营着一家小小的欺诈调查事务所。和一位三流纪录片导演 Reg Despard 一起，她开始调查一位电脑安全公司 CEO、亿万富翁 Gabriel Ice 的财务状况。在 Gabriel 的公司 hashslingrz 的账本中，Maxine 发现各种异常，例如资金被支付给不复存在的公司。后来的调查中，她发现 hashslingrz 与政府和外国人都有联系，而几个线人先后遇害。Maxine 要揭开真相，更重要的是让自己的生活恢复正常。

主要角色

Maxine Tarnow：犹太人女性，两个孩子的母亲和经认证的诈骗调查员。

Gabriel Ice：逃过了网络泡沫崩溃的企业家。创立了 hashslingrz，以大胆的招聘和收购策略闻名。

Bleeding Edge is a novel by the American author Thomas Pynchon, published by Penguin Press on September 17, 2013. The novel is a detective story, with its major themes being the September 11 attacks in New York City and the transformation of the world by the Internet.

Plot summary

The often surreal and dream-like plot of the novel opens on the first day of spring 2001, with Maxine Tarnow walking her two sons to school before going to work.

Maxine, a former certified fraud examiner, is approached by Reg Despard regarding suspicious goings-on at hashslingrz, a computer security firm run by Gabriel Ice. She finds much of their financial numbers fail basic plausibility statistics, and notices large payments going to a now defunct website. She talks to an ex-temp for that site, learns they have strong Arab connections and move large sums of money through hawala, and notices she is being tailed afterwards. She talks to Rocky Slagiatt, VC investor behind some of Gabriel's start-ups, who is nervous about where they may be going. Meanwhile, mysterious government heavyweight Nicholas Windust puts pressure on Maxine, asking her to pump her Israeli brother-in-law for information regarding Mossad hacking methods.

Maxine's friend March Kelleher is suspicious about the activities of Gabriel Ice, her son-in-law, and asks Maxine to informally interview her daughter Tallis, Gabriel's wife. Tallis does admit to having concerns, but is unwilling to allow any auditing. Rocky introduces Maxine to Igor Dashkov, who asks her about Madoff Securities. A quick scan reveals to Maxine that the numbers are obviously too good to be true. Maxine pays a visit to Darklinear Solutions, another mystery vendor found associated with hashslingrz. She sees Tallis exiting the building, walking a bit; then someone else exiting, proceeding in the opposite direction, getting in a go-go mobile and picking up Tallis, so Maxine trails them.

The next morning, Maxine has an unexpected pre-dawn visit from Russian heavy Igor and March. Igor is very thankful, realizing he got out of Madoff Securities in time, and rewards her with illegally unhealthy ice cream. March and Maxine deliver some money to March's ex-husband, Sid, who takes them on his boat for a short drop off, but he is approached by patrol boats and races down the Hudson River, only shaking off his pursuit when he reaches New Jersey near the landfill islands.

Maxine receives a videotape which directs her to a Montauk house that suspect Vip Epperdew is known to visit. Epperdew is involved with zapper fraud. While trying to find the exact house, she's informed by a local that the house burned down a few weeks previously. The local sneaks her into the mansion Gabriel Ice is building, where he has her help him steal vintage wines. She finds a mysterious code-locked door that she breaks into, and finds it leads to a baffling underground complex. The sudden appearance of a strange, short, human-like creature sends her into a panic and she flees in a hurry.

Maxine, in following the hashslingrz money, finds some of it is being diverted into Lester Traipse's account. She confronts him, and he is terrified, and intends to return the money, and asks Maxine to arrange terms. She agrees, but next day he is found dead, an apparent suicide. With the help of Conkling Speedwell, a man with a superhuman forensic sense of smell, she learns there is a peculiar mystery scent at the scene of Lester's death. This scent is identified as "9:30 Cologne" and is soon connected with Windust. The smell also horrifies a friend of Conkling's with a supernatural sense of "foresmell" who has been smelling not-yet-existent great fires in New York for some time now.