- Paperback: 368 pages
- Publisher: Orion; New Ed edition (6 Dec 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0752844105
- ISBN-13: 978-0752844107
- Product Dimensions: 17.4 x 11.2 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,104,496 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Benjamin Thorpe is married, a father, a successful Los Angeles architect - and a man obsessed. Alone in New York City on business, he spends the empty hours of the night in a compulsive search for female companionship. His dizzying descent leads to an early morning confrontation in a mid-town brothel, and a subsequent searing self-revelation. Cathy Frese - aka Heidi the 'teenage' hooker - finishes up for the night and walks back to her studio apartment. But she never arrives. Her strangled, used and mutilated body is found in an alleyway the next morning. These two lost souls had crossed briefly in the night, and as the foggy events of the night before come into sharper focus, Benjamin Thorpe becomes an ever more possible suspect...
About the Author
Ed McBain (1926-2005) was born Salvatore Lambino in New York. He changed his name to Evan Hunter and under that name is known as the author of The Blackboard Jungle and as the writer of the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. The 87th Precinct series numbers over fifty novels. McBain was a Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America and was one of three American writers to be awarded the CWA Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement. Evan Hunter was born in New York City in 1926. He was widely recognised as one of America's most popular novelists, as well as a successful writer for television and cinema whose credits include the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. As Ed McBain, Evan became one of the most illustrious names in crime fiction. He was a holder of the Mystery Writers of America's coveted Grand Master Award. Evan died in June 2005 at the age of 79.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Two for One Special Offer,
By A Customer
This review is from: Candyland (Hardcover)
If, by some completely implausible fluke, there is still someone in the world who has read a novel by Evan Hunter and not been aware of the fact that he also writes under an AKA, or someone else who has read a novel by Ed McBain and ditto, then when those two someones come across Candyland this unlikely state of affairs will come to an end, because the dust jacket doesn't mince its words. Evan is Ed, and always has been. Well, since the early sixties, anyway. Before that they were both someone with an Italian name. The first part of this novel is by Evan, the second part by Ed. This means that the first part is the thoughtful and issue-raising bit and the second is the crime-solving bit. The subject under the microscope is sex addiction, and if Michael Douglas had to receive treatment for it and Nigel Benn nearly topped himself because of it, we have to accept that it can be a problem for some men. Benjamin Thorpe is one of them. His activities in New York while away from his wife on a business trip highlight what happens to an ordinary man when the only thing on his mind is sex. It is riveting stuff. What he gets up to between the conclusion of his business as an architect, and his flight back to L.A. at 8.30 the next morning, may or may not link him to the rape and murder of a prostitute whose specialty is the little girl look - baby doll nightie, shaved pudenda and so on. Investigating the crime is Emma, a divorcee in her thirties who, because she is a dedicated cop who works long hours, has been forced to cede custody of her young daughter to her former husband's mother. Because Emma is a cop who works in the Special Crimes Unit and therefore deals with rape and rape victims, it's not difficult to understand why she's not exactly mad about the male of the species. McBain fans may be initially disappointed that this isn't a case for the 87th, but fear not, once the investigation is under way is doesn't matter that Carella and company are busy in another part of the city. Whereas Ed hardly ever fails, Evan has written one or two weak books - think The Chisholms or Streets of Gold - but in Candyland he's on the sort of form he was on in the two Conversation novels. All in all, it's a cracking read and when you get to the end there, on the jacket back flap, for the first time, are Evan and Ed standing next to each other in the same photograph. Maybe they are two different writers after all.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's a book of two halfs Jim,
By
This review is from: Candyland (Hardcover)
Brilliant. I've been a keen follower of Ed McBain/Evan Hunter for many years, the concept of this book is great, and the way he gets his two differant styles to come out is amazing. The sleezy world is really brought to life. Not one for the faint hearted but if you like your books gritty and real there is nothing better.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ace,
This review is from: Candyland (Paperback)
The whole idea of a novel in two parts using the different McBain/ Hunter personae seemed a little contrived to me especially since I'm not too keen on McBain's Matthew Hope novels. However, thankfully I was wrong. The first part paints a haunting portrait of an obsessed man torn between escape from his own demons and the pleasures he finds in red light districts. It's really fascinating to observe how someone who thinks he is in control loses all control over his life. The second part is pure McBain, police procedural. Well written, though it's not too hard to guess who really murdered the prostitute. But again that's not vital, the insight into the muderer's mind is far more fascinating. A book you cannot put down (though I still don't understand how the muderer got one particular phone number).
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