《哈利波特》作者JK羅琳(JK Rowling)化名寫成一部偵探小說，但很快被英國媒體識破。
此次羅琳化名「羅伯特-加爾布雷斯」( Robert Galbraith)，以一名男性新手的形像出版了新書《杜鵑在呼喚》(The Cuckoo's Calling)，講述一名叫做斯德萊克(Cormoran Strike)的退役老兵變身為私人偵探的故事。
四月份出版的這部小說，已經售出1500冊。但亞馬遜網站報道說，周日正午12點後，該書的銷售量飆增，增速高達500000%。
羅琳苦心化名寫書的心機被英國《星期日泰晤士報》揭破。這位《哈利波特》作者隨後說：「我本想把這個秘密保守得再長一點點。」
羅琳透露說，能做一回新手「羅伯特-加爾布雷斯」，讓她「有一種如此解放的體驗」。
續集
羅琳在一份聲明中說：「能在沒有被炒作和外界期望值的情況下完成這本書的寫作，感覺十分暢快，並且用化名寫作而得到的反饋，也讓我感到愉悅。」
羅琳評價這部新書的編輯謝麗(David Shelley)，是「偵探小說作品真實的合作伙伴」。
她調侃說：「對那些還想看續集的讀者，『羅伯特-加爾布雷斯』鐵定是要接著寫這部書的，但這名作者說不好要拒絕出席任何公眾場合的活動了。」
曾有書評評價新書《杜鵑鳥在呼喚》是部「才華橫溢的處女作」，還有書評盛讚這名男性作者，能如此精湛地描述女性的服裝。
這位所謂的「加爾布雷斯」的經紀人和出版編輯居然和羅琳的一模一樣，最終讓媒體看出破綻。
出版這部書的「斯菲爾」出版社(Sphere)此前也是羅琳既《哈利波特》後，首部成人小說《臨時空缺》的出版商。
偵探小說作家詹姆斯(Peter James)在接受《星期日泰晤士報》的採訪時曾說：「我斷定這是一名很有經驗的作者寫的書，絕不像是出自新手。」
曾在該書出版前寫書評的偵探小說作家畢靈厄姆(Mark Billingham)表示，他在得知這部小說實際出自羅琳之手後，「大吃一驚」。
羅琳的這部化名出版的新書，也一時蒙蔽了很多其他業內人士。
拒絕
在「奧里昂圖書」(Orion Books)旗下工作的小說主編米爾斯(Kate Mills)承認，她就拒絕了這部偵探小說，並形容這部書「雖然寫得不賴，但太平淡了」。
她在自己的推特上說：「這麼看來，我當時拒絕的是羅琳的書。我確實讀了，然後對《杜鵑鳥在呼喚》說了no。還有誰願意和我一塊兒坦白嗎？」
在羅琳的身份被公開後，這部書的銷量飆升。
亞馬遜網站記錄每小時銷量的統計顯示，這部小說目前的銷量陡增507000%。
這位「神秘」的作者加爾布雷斯按說是個退役的前皇家憲兵便衣，他於2003年退役，並在安保領域工作。
此前，羅琳也曾透露過，她希望在完成《哈利波特》後，以化名的身份寫作。
目前，這部由「羅伯特-加爾布雷斯」寫的小說的續集正在進行中，據信將於明年出版。
（編譯/責編：孫晨）
14 July 2013
Last updated at 14:03 GMT
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Speaking in 2001, JK Rowling said she found the idea of writing under a pseudonym "appealing"
JK Rowling has secretly written a crime novel under the guise of male debut writer Robert Galbraith.
The Harry Potter author was acclaimed for The Cuckoo's
Calling, about a war veteran turned private investigator called Cormoran
Strike.
The book had sold 1,500 copies before the secret emerged in the
Sunday Times. Within hours, it rose more than 5,000 places to top Amazon's sales list.
Rowling said she had "hoped to keep this secret a little longer".
The author described "being Robert Galbraith" as a "such a liberating experience".
'Sequels plan'
"It has been wonderful to publish without hype or expectation,
and pure pleasure to get feedback under a different name," she said in a
statement.
Rowling said her editor, David Shelley, had been "a true partner in crime".
Continue reading the main story
Ed Lowther
BBC News
While the book has zoomed up the bestseller charts of online
outlets, Rowling enthusiasts keen to get their hands on a paper copy
immediately might struggle.
High Street booksellers appear to have been caught completely
unaware by the announcement, and are finding their meagre stocks are
unable to match demand.
"We had one copy, but we sold it last week," says lead
bookseller Holly Popple of Waterstones in Piccadilly, central London.
The few other copies scattered around sister branches have now also been
sold or reserved, she reports.
Hatchard's too, a nearby bookshop dating back to 1797, is
bereft of copies: the few they had trickled off the shelves in recent
weeks.
Meanwhile Brett, from Daunt Books in Marylebone High Street,
says: "We had one or two copies this morning, but they've all
disappeared by now.
"Everybody's after it."
"And to those who have asked for a
sequel, Robert fully intends to keep writing the series, although he
will probably continue to turn down personal appearances," she added.
One reviewer described The Cuckoo's Calling as a
"scintillating debut", while another praised the male author's ability
to describe women's clothes.
A clue that Rowling was behind the novel was that she and "Galbraith" shared an agent and editor.
The book was published by Sphere, part of Little, Brown Book
Group which published her foray into writing novels for adults, The
Casual Vacancy.
Crime writer Peter James told the Sunday Times: "I thought it was by a very mature writer, and not a first-timer."
While crime author Mark Billingham, who reviewed the book
ahead of its publication in April, said he was "gobsmacked" at the
revelation.
Rowling also caught out others with her new guise.
Turned down
Kate Mills, fiction editor at Orion Books, admitted she had
turned down the crime novel, which she described as "well-written but
quiet".
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
This is the best act of literary deception since Stephen King was outed as Richard Bachman back in the 1980s”
Waterstones spokesman
"So, I can now say that I turned down JK Rowling. I did read and say no to Cuckoo's Calling. Anyone else going to confess?"
she tweeted.
Sales of the novel have rocketed since the true identity of its author was revealed.
The "Movers and Shakers" section of Amazon, which charts gains in sales by the hour, says
sales of the book are currently up by more than 507,000%.
A spokesman for Waterstones booksellers said: "This is the
best act of literary deception since Stephen King was outed as Richard
Bachman back in the 1980s."
In a tweet, its Oxford Street branch joked: "SPECIAL OFFER: For today only, ALL of our books were written by JK Rowling!"
Others also took to Twitter to react to the news.
Comedian Michael Moran
posted:
"Idea for publishers: 1: Reveal that ALL books were written by JK
Rowling. 2: Sales of all books soar by 150,000%. 3: Industry saved."
Author Ian Rankin
wrote:
"So a debut novelist, garnering good quotes from famed authors for the
cover plus good reviews, can expect to sell only a few hundred copies."
Sales of the book are soaring at online outlets, while bricks-and-mortar booksellers replenish their stocks
While an account named Dumbledore's Beard TM
posted: "JK Rowling is a genius and proper badass."
And another named the Dark Lord
tweeted: "JK Rowling secretly wrote a book under a different name. How very Half-Blood Prince of her."
The fictitious Galbraith was supposed to have been a former
plain-clothes Royal Military Police investigator who had left the armed
forces in 2003 to work in the civilian security industry.
In previous interviews, Rowling has said she would prefer to write novels after Harry Potter under a pseudonym.
Another Cormoran Strike book by Robert Galbraith is in the pipeline, to be published next year.
