Hard Candy (Signet) [Paperback]

Andrew Vachss (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 7, 1990 | Series: Signet

In this mercilessly compelling thriller, Burke — the private eye, sting artist, and occasional hit man who metes out a cruelly ingenious vengeance on those who victimize children — is up against a soft-spoken messiah who may be rescuing runaways or recruiting them for his own hideous purposes. But in doing so Burke becomes a target for an entire Mafia family, a whore with a heart of cyanide, and a contract killer as implacable as a heat-seeking missile. Written with Vachss' signature narrative overdrive — and with his unnerving familiarity with the sub-basement of American crime — Hard Candy is vintage Burke. “Burke fills a void. . . . With his soiled white hat, this Lone Ranger. . . asks difficult questions while shining light into the darkest recesses.” — Chicago Tribune “There’s no way to put a [Vachss book] down once you’ve begun. . . . The plot hooks are engaging and the one-liners pierce like bullets.” — Detroit Free Press

--This text refers to the MP3 CD edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Vachss's fourth street-smart novel featuring an unlicensed, ex-con private eye known as Burke has the shamus trying to rescue an old flame's daughter from a cult in Brooklyn, while coping with the rumor that he has become a gun for hire. "Burke's turf--the sleazy underbelly of New York--springs to life in cinematic scenes," wrote PW.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"The characters and events are as sharply defined as if they were etched in steel. The prose is short and choppy, like the ticking of a time bomb about to explode." —Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"Torrid, gritty, frightening, compelling." —The Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Burke fills a void.... With his soiled white hat, this Lone Ranger...asks difficult questions while shining light into the darkest recesses." —Chicago Tribune

"There's no way to put a [Vachss book] down once you've begun.... The plot hooks are engaging and the one-liners pierce like bullets." —Detroit Free Press


From the Trade Paperback edition. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 1 pages
• Publisher: Signet (August 7, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451166906
• ISBN-13: 978-0451166906
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,527,006 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Andrew Vachss has been a federal investigator in sexually transmitted diseases, a social-services caseworker, a labor organizer, and has directed a maximum-security prison for "aggressive-violent" youth. Now a lawyer in private practice, he represents children and youth exclusively. He is the author of numerous novels, including the Burke series, two collections of short stories, and a wide variety of other material including song lyrics, graphic novels, essays, and a "children's book for adults." His books have been translated into twenty languages, and his work has appeared in Parade, Antaeus, Esquire, Playboy, The New York Times, and many other forums. His books have been awarded the Grand Prix de Littérature Policiére, the Falcon Award, Deutschen Krimi Preis, Die Jury des Bochumer Krimi Archivs and the Raymond Chandler Award (per Giurìa a Noir in Festival, Courmayeur, Italy). Andrew Vachss' latest books include Heart Transplant (Dark Horse Books, October 2010), a collaboration with Frank Caruso that attempts to reset the cultural software as it pertains to bullying, and The Weight (Pantheon, November 2010), a crime novel. The dedicated Web site for Vachss and his work is vachss.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vachss at his darkest, May 15, 2000

By 

Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hard Candy (Paperback)

The most compelling character in the Burke "detective" series, the assassain Wesley, is the star of "Hard Candy," one of the best books in the Burke series. Wesley is a killing machine, and no one can stop him, not even the mob. When the mob takes Wesley on, he plays cat and mouse with them...and litters the streets with bodies. The book also features Candy, a woman from Burke's childhood and through her Vachss provides more insight into his title charachter's psyche. Because it relys so heavily on the reader's knowledge of the background of the charachters, this is not the Burke novel to start with. But it is quite a satisfying read for the initiated.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best in the series . . ., December 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Hard Candy (Paperback)

Andrew Vachss has done it again. Picking up where "Blue Bell" left off, Burke is now a depressed recluse due to loss of his love. To make matters worse, an old flame named Candy reappears in his life. Candy had broken his heart and she now wants him to reclaim her daughter. Also reappearing in Burke's life is the psychotic assassin Wesley and the red-haired witch Strega. The book begins strong and then seems to become undone. However, Vachss masterfully pulls the strings together for an explosive (literally) ending to a satisfying piece of literature.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard Candy Is Hard-Boiled!, November 7, 2001

By 

Mark A. Schreiber "scribe23" (Birmingham, AL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hard Candy (Paperback)

This is the fourth in the Burke series. I have been reading the series in order and so far, this is my favorite, along with "Strega." I do recommend reading the series in order, and I particularly suggest you don't start with "Hard Candy" as prior understanding of the characters is essential.

As a great fan of noir, I am devouring the Burke series. These books are so grim, so gritty. But in "Hard Candy" Burke is depressed and withdrawn from the events of the last book, so there is a whole new level of despair. As if Burke weren't already a hard case!

If you like Ellroy, if you enjoy minimalist prose that hits hard, if you like a hard-boiled noir that's ultra-bleak and smoky, Andrew Vachss is for you. And while you'll enjoy all of the first four books of the Burke series, you'll derive a special dark pleasure from sucking on "Hard Candy."