Candyland : A Novel In Two Parts [Hardcover]

Ed McBain (Author), Evan Hunter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 3, 2001

Evan Hunter is known for his powerful novels and screenplays. Ed McBain is known for portraying the soul of the cop. They have distinct narrative voices, but both are bestselling storytellers who have received worldwide acclaim. Now, in "Candyland," they join for the first time to write a single story -- a powerful novel of obsession.

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 midtown bordello and a searing self-revelation. Part I of "Candyland" is a fever-pitched search for identity, seen through Benjamin's obsessed eyes and told in classic Evan Hunter style.

Part II opens in Ed McBain territory. Three detectives are discussing a homicide. The victim is a young prostitute whose path crossed Benjamin Thorpe's the night before. Emma Boyle of the Special Victims Unit is assigned to the case. As the foggy events of the previous night come into sharper focus, Thorpe becomes an ever more possible suspect. The detailed police investigation and excruciating suspense are classic Ed McBain.

Shocking, bold, and compulsively readable, "Candyland" is a groundbreaking literary event.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Two of the best mystery writers in America team up in this interesting Law and Order-type experiment. In the first half of the book, a sexually voracious architect prowls the dark corners of New York looking for some action before he heads back to his frigid L.A. wife. In the second half, a prostitute's grisly rape-murder engages the attention of the guys (and girl) in blue. What's the connection between the murdered woman and the obsession-ridden architect? A string of coincidences that make the reader expect a surprise ending, of course. But it doesn't happen, which makes one wonder why the two authors (who happen to be the same person) bothered with the gimmick. Still, both Ed McBain (author of the 87th Precinct novels) and Evan Hunter (his more literary and much sexier incarnation) are old pros, so the pacing, character development, and thorough knowledge of police procedure and human nature that mark this tidy little mystery make it a pleasant enough diversion. A new McBain or Hunter is always cause for celebration, and Candyland, which is a lot grittier than most police procedurals, will titillate their many fans until either (or both) comes through with a new thriller. The distinct narrative voices of the multitalented writer are on view here; although the writing styles aren't different enough to make it more than a parlor trick, the result is still twice as good as most of the season's new offerings. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly

Hunter (The Blackboard Jungle; etc.) and McBain (the 87th Precinct novels) are the same man, of course, although all the evidence in this superb crime novel, other than a brief confession tucked within the jacket copy, says otherwise. The photo on the back of the jacket, for instance, depicts two men standing together--Hunter in a dark suit and McBain in more casual jeans, sunglasses and cap. Most notably, the writing styles employed in the novel's first part, "The Rain May Never Fall Till After Sundown..." by Hunter, and in the (equally long) second part, McBain's "By Eight, the Morning Fog Must Disappear..." are as alike as sauerkraut and cookies. The first is a cuttingly incisive character study of L.A. architect Ben Thorpe, married and in his late 40s. He spends his final night of a Manhattan business trip drinking and frantically chasing women--a pickup in a bar, an old girlfriend for phone sex and finally two prostitutes in a brothel, where Thorpe insults a third whore and is beaten by the bouncer, only to be rescued by a kindly streetwalker who takes him to her home. The pages flow with the speed and intense detail of a fever dream as Hunter captures the insatiable drive and lavish self-excusing of the sex addict. The section closes with Ben standing in late-night Manhattan rain, then leaps ahead to the next day and McBain's world of Special Victims detective Emma Boyle and her fellow cops, assigned to the murder of a prostitute--the one whom Thorpe insulted. Fashioned in tougher, more clipped, yet just as insightful prose as what came before, this material digs deep into the damaged private lives of the cops even as they hunt the killer--who may be Thorpe--as doggedly as Thorpe pursues women. Each part of the novel works beautifully alone but also in tandem, adding up to a multifaceted, psychologically astute portrait of crime and punishment that has "Edgar nominee" written all over it. Agent, Jane Gelfman.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1ST edition (January 3, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743213165
• ISBN-13: 978-0743213165
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,552,733 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Two Times The Crime!, December 25, 2000

By 

Eustacia Vye "Eusatcia Vye" (Encino, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Candyland : A Novel In Two Parts (Hardcover)

I thought nothing could be better than a new Ed McBain book, but I was wrong...a new book by Ed McBain AND Evan Hunter! They share the same body and the same mind but the two writers have differing styles. Both are fantastic! I applaud them both and so will you when you finish Candyland. Like Law & Order, the book is a cleanly divided story and like Law & Order, things are not always what they appear. Buy it, read it and thank heavens for Ed and Evan.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Powerful Story in the Hands of a Master, December 17, 2000

By 

Roz Levine - See all my reviews

This review is from: Candyland : A Novel In Two Parts (Hardcover)

Candlyland, is a story told in two parts by Evan Hunter and Ed McBain. In Part I, Benjamin Thorpe, a married father and grandfather and successful Los Angeles architect is in New York City overnight on business. What his family and associates don't know, is that he is a sex addict. Now alone and at loose ends in Manhattan, he seeks female companionship, first in the hotel bar, then on the phone and finally at a "massage parlor". His trip to the bordello ends badly and we last see him, beaten and bloody, hailing a taxi. As Part II opens, we find police detectives working on the homicide of a call girl, found beaten, strangled and brutally raped. As they begin gathering information, they find she had some trouble last night with a John and that John turns out to be Benjamin Thorpe....As many know and as the jacket flap reveals, Evan Hunter and Ed McBain are the same author. In Candyland, he begins Part I as Evan Hunter, drawing you into the story and building the suspense. Then he smoothly turns the plot over to Ed McBain in Part II, as the case is investigated and the tension increases. Together, these two voices create a compelling, riveting novel, full of strong characters, powerful scenes and a shocking, unexpected twist at the end. His writing is crisp, spare and gritty, with an unrivaled ear for dialogue. Candyland is Evan Hunter and Ed McBain at their very best. This is a well written, tense page turner, easily read in one sitting and a book mystery/suspense thriller fans shouldn't miss.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars My expectations were not met - disappointed, January 30, 2001

By 

Steven Honeyman (Santa Monica, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Candyland : A Novel In Two Parts (Hardcover)

As a new reader of mysteries and thrillers, I looked forward to reading this book with much anticipation. Friends had highly recommended books by Evan Hunter and Ed McBain. This combination novel (same author-different styles)was truly different. Believing that Part one was going to be the crime and Part two the solution, I was sadly mistaken. Part one has absolutely no crime or mystery. The entire section is devoted to the escapades of a sex-starved architect. We are certainly not at a loss for his lust and the author's development of his cravings. Part two at least gives us a look into the investigative work of the police trying to solve a homicide. They weave the Part one character into the story but superficially at best. The crime is easily solved without much thinking. If this book is indicitive of the styles of these two? authors, I think I'll head in a different direction.