Candy from Strangers (August Riordan) [Hardcover]

Mark Coggins (Author)

Book Description

Series: August Riordan | Publication Date: October 2006

Caroline Stockwell has a secret: she and her best friend Monica are "cam girls." Soliciting cash donations and gifts via Amazon.com wish lists from anonymous admirers, the young women have put up a web site featuring still photographs, video and web diaries (aka blogs) to help pay their way through art college. But when Caroline goes missing and her mother Ellen engages jazz bass-playing PI August Riordan to find her, Riordan discovers her secret and it appears to everyone that someone she met through the web site is responsible for her disappearance.

Set against the real-world backdrop of Internet predators using social networking sites like MySpace.com to find and ensnare their victims, Candy from Strangers is the first novel to explore the phenomenon of teenagers and young adults displaying themselves online in exchange for material favors--often without their parents' knowledge--which some are calling the newest form of prostitution.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The third gripping Augustus Riordan hard-boiled exploit (after 2002's Vulture Capital) launches the very human hero into action when he stumbles on the fresh corpse of a teenage girl in a San Francisco alley after helping his cross-dressing friend and assistant, Chris Duckworth, avoid a beating. The plot thickens when Riordan, a jazz bassist and veteran PI, fields a request from a distraught Ellen Stockwell, wife of an East Palo Alto police lieutenant and mother of an 18-year-old art school student, Caroline, who has been missing for three weeks. With Lieutenant Stockwell on administrative leave, Mrs. Stockwell says Riordan is her last hope. The gumshoe's search for Caroline leads him to further gruesome discoveries and forces him into the sordid world of Internet sexual predators. Riordan's street smarts and witty asides will make him a familiar—and welcome—figure to fans of Robert Parker's Boston PI, Spenser. (Oct.)
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Review

"Coggins makes human and real what is to many just a story in the news. And he does it with humor, skill and depth." -- Crimespree Magazine

"Crackling and whip smart." -- Mystery Scene Magazine

"For those of you looking for the writer you may have missed, here's a third chance to discover Coggins." -- Bookaholic

"Sourpuss secretaries, predatory professors, greedy gurus, sanctimonious shrinks ... [a] well-crafted cast of characters, led by [a] smart-stepping shamus." -- Kirkus Reviews

Candy From Strangers is an inventive novel in the classic San Francisco private-eye tradition. -- Marcia Muller, 2005 MWA Grand Master and author of the Sharon McCone Mysteries

Candy... is a fun, enjoyable, droll and snappy page-turner... This little gem of a book has a very human heart. -- David Corbett, author of the Anthony-nominated The Devil's Redhead and Done for a Dime

By turns tender, brutal, intricate, transparent, challenging, [this book] is a hell of a read. -- Joe Gores, Edgar-winning author of A Time of Predators

Coggins has delivered here with Candy From Strangers. It's original, it's smart and it was good to the last page. -- Michael Connelly, author of the Harry Bosch Novels

[A] volume that fits comfortably alongside those of Hammett and Chandler. Heartily recommended." -- Library Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Bleak House Books (October 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932557164
• ISBN-13: 978-1932557169
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,888,071 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mark Coggins studied creative writing with Tobias Wolff and Ron Hansen at Stanford University and wrote the first story featuring his series character August Riordan in a class taught by Hansen. This story, "There's No Such Thing as Private Eyes," was later published in The New Black Mask, a revival of Black Mask, the famous pulp magazine that thrived in the 30s and 40s.

His books have been nominated for the Shamus and the Barry crime fiction awards and have been selected for best of the year lists compiled by the San Francisco Chronicle, the Detroit Free Press and Amazon.com, among others.

Two of his novels have been translated for foreign markets. RUNOFF won the Next Generation Indie Book Award in the Mystery/Suspense category, THE BIG WAKE-UP won the Independent Publisher Book Award in the Mystery/Suspense/Thriller category and THE IMMORTAL GAME was optioned for a film. His work has been collected for the California History Room by the California State Library and the San Francisco History Center by the San Francisco Public Library.

Mark lives in San Francisco with his wife Linda and their cat Taki.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Coggins' Best Yet, November 19, 2006

By 

Laurence Berger (San Francicsco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Candy from Strangers (August Riordan) (Hardcover)

Coggins is firing on all cylinders (unlike his lead character's Galaxie 500) with this latest August Riordan series mystery. Are you a mystery fan? Coggins' credentials are top-notch and he delivers all you could ask for--just look at the raves in the blurbs from other top mystery authors. Not really a mystery devotee? (I'm not, actually.) Have no fear--you'll be hooked right from the first chapter (a doozy) by the thoughtful and often brilliant writing, the taut and highly entertaining story, the vivid cast of characters, and the persistently witty, funny dialog and narration (I laughed out loud numerous times--something I seldom do when reading, especially in public). Already familiar with August Riordan's world? This is everything you've been waiting for, and more.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Riordan is Back!, November 20, 2006

By 

Martin R. Cagan "martyc55" (Saratoga, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Candy from Strangers (August Riordan) (Hardcover)

I was a huge fan of The Immortal Game, and while I did like Vulture Capital, I am very happy to see August back front-and-center. I consider Candy from Strangers to be Coggins' best work yet. Pure fun; I couldn't put the book down. Especially with all the attention that MySpace has been getting, this book couldn't have been more timely. And I love the locales and trivia from the San Francisco Bay Area. Tell me when I can pre-order the next installment!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars August Riordan: what an attitude!, February 27, 2008

By 

Russ - See all my reviews

This review is from: Candy from Strangers (August Riordan Mysteries) (Paperback)

"Candy from Strangers" is a fast-paced, enjoyable read. I particularly liked the snarky attitude of private-eye August Riordan, who never, EVER passes up an opportunity to dish out a caustic one-liner. Mark Coggins is a talented mystery writer.