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Candyland
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...
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
16 people are currently reading
453 people want to read
About the author
Ed McBain
715 books671 followers"Ed McBain" is one of the pen names of American author and screenwriter Salvatore Albert Lombino (1926-2005), who legally adopted the name
Evan Hunter
in 1952.
While successful and well known as Evan Hunter, he was even better known as Ed McBain, a name he used for most of his crime fiction, beginning in 1956.
He also used the pen names John Abbott, Curt Cannon, Hunt Collins, Ezra Hannon, Dean Hudson, Evan Hunter, and Richard Marsten.
While successful and well known as Evan Hunter, he was even better known as Ed McBain, a name he used for most of his crime fiction, beginning in 1956.
He also used the pen names John Abbott, Curt Cannon, Hunt Collins, Ezra Hannon, Dean Hudson, Evan Hunter, and Richard Marsten.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
August 5, 2021
Reads as two separate stories tied together by a circumstantial crime. Really enjoyed the distinct styles and clever blending of stories and character. Highly recommend.
August 31, 2018
Another wonderful, tense murder-police procedural story by a fantastic writer: Evan Hunter, who is also known as Ed McBain. I've read several books by this talented author and never been disappointed by the reality of his dialogues, the descriptions of his characters and the strength and realism created by his stories. This is truly a winner.
And its written with an unexpected twist: the first half that lays out the story of a traveling architect out for sex before flying home is written by Hunter, the author of The Blackboard Jungle, which knocked me off my socks. But also children's books, screenplays like "The Birds" and teleplays including "The Chisholms." Did I say how talented he was?
The second half, about a murder of a prostitute and the two cops that are conducting the investigation, is written by McBain, who has authored two major series - The 87th Precinct and the lawyer Matthew Hope — books that captured my imagination and excitement for years. I have read both series avidly and while they are quite different from each other, they are also different from those books he wrote as Evan Hunter.
Together, the two different viewpoints show the breath and depth of this author's creativity. It doesn't feel jarring, but there is a slight feel to both. And it is masterful -- right down to the final twist, the solution to the crime. You won't want to miss it.
And its written with an unexpected twist: the first half that lays out the story of a traveling architect out for sex before flying home is written by Hunter, the author of The Blackboard Jungle, which knocked me off my socks. But also children's books, screenplays like "The Birds" and teleplays including "The Chisholms." Did I say how talented he was?
The second half, about a murder of a prostitute and the two cops that are conducting the investigation, is written by McBain, who has authored two major series - The 87th Precinct and the lawyer Matthew Hope — books that captured my imagination and excitement for years. I have read both series avidly and while they are quite different from each other, they are also different from those books he wrote as Evan Hunter.
Together, the two different viewpoints show the breath and depth of this author's creativity. It doesn't feel jarring, but there is a slight feel to both. And it is masterful -- right down to the final twist, the solution to the crime. You won't want to miss it.
April 15, 2009
A friend lent me this so I'll do things better the next time I write a McBain homage. (To be honest, I don't like rewalking paths I've trod before, so The City in These Pages (GRATUITOUS PLUG) is going to be it for the McBain homages . . . unless, of course, someone waves a fat cheque . . .) The book's conceit is obvious: this is the first and only collaboration between Sal Lombino's two major noms de plume. In its first half, written by Hunter, sex-addicted LA architect is on the loose overnight in NYC after a business meeting, and during his trawling of the sexual underworld as he attempts to get laid he puts himself in just the right places at just the right times to be regarded by the cops, as they investigate a homicide the following day, as Suspect #1. Of course, he's back in LA by now and unaware of any of this . . . unless, of course, he actually did kill the dead prostitute (it says a lot for McBain/Hunter's skill that this is always a possibility). In the second half of the book, written by McBain in something approaching 87th Precinct style, Emma Boyle of the NYPD's Special Victims Unit is called in to help with the homicide investigation and unravels the crime.
A real page-turner, as you'd expect. Pretty damn' raunchy in places, too.
July 20, 2019
I'm not quite sure what the idea was with this book. Some kind of gimmick, I guess. It bills itself as "a novel in two parts," one written by Evan Hunter and the other by Ed McBain. Of course, these are the same guy, and there is even a picture of "them" on the back dressed differently. Maybe in 2001 when this was published, not everyone realized they were the same. Or maybe it was just a gag. Anyway, the first part of the book is by "Hunter" and details the degradation of a respected architect as he sinks deeper and deeper into a quagmire of sexual desire. The second part involves a murder of a prostitute and the architect from the first part becomes a suspect, although I never really believed he was the killer. The second part involves police work and some mystery and is quite good, although the main protagonist, a police detective named Emma Boyle is pretty damaged herself and sees everything as rape, even phone sex. It kept me turning the pages and wondering though. The first part, however, was way too long for what it needed to accomplish. Twenty pages could have probably covered the territory to set the architect up as a suspect. So, basically, the first half gets 2 stars and the second half gets four, which averages out to three.
September 7, 2014
Evan Hunter and Ed McBain are the same person and I wondered why they should work together on this particular novel. Whichever one you like he can really write. This was a very difficult subject and hard to recommend. I appreciated it more that enjoying it and I am always looking for another Ed McBain novel that I have not read. His dialogue is so good you want to grab someone and have them sit with you and read the dialogue out loud.
September 12, 2021
Late review.
I remember this as a book with two stories tied into one crime.
Good plot. Unique and well-written.
I remember this as a book with two stories tied into one crime.
Good plot. Unique and well-written.
March 2, 2018
Fist half was 5 stars. 2nd half lost me because it had a totally different tone. I didn't care enough to finish the 2nd half. I was busy mourning the loss of the first "voice".
September 25, 2012
The first half (writing as Hunter) is a disturbing, pornographic descent into the insatiable appetite of a middle aged sex addict, out on the town, and searching, hit and miss, for anything that might feed the beast inside for the night. It reads almost in real time as the events of one night unravel into an ultimately dangerous and later deadly conclusion. Part Two is much more lively and entertaining, with all the machine-gun dialog and step-by-agonizing-step police work the Ed McBain name is legendary for. Together, the book is a mixed bag. Two stars, first half; four stars, second half.
July 1, 2013
The second part really picks up. The first part could have been established in 100 fewer pages.
July 10, 2019
I have always loved Ed McBain’s writing and, by extension, Evan Hunter’s because, as most mystery readers know, they were the same person. To my mind, he’s one of the greatest writers ever. However, if this had been my first exposure to him, I’d never read another book by him as either McBain or Hunter.
The Evan Hunter section: In most of these 150 pages, nothing happened except Ben Thorpe, the main character, had long, dull conversations, tried to pick up a woman to sleep with, and mused endlessly about his life. He couldn’t even answer a simple question without mulling its implications first. Making these musings even worse was they rambled, roaming all over the place but going nowhere. And to make sure we, the reader, got what Ben was thinking, Hunter told them over and over and over in his thoughts and conversations. Around page 120, something finally happened but, a few pages later we’re back to dull conversations and endless musings.
The Ed McBain section: This part had the same pointless introspection, rambling conversations, and no action (although this is more acceptable here since slow progress is often the norm in police work) as the Evan Hunter section. And to keep the tedium going, McBain even repeated passages from that section verbatim. He also writes as if none of his readers have ever read a police procedural or seen an episode of ‘Law & Order’ or ‘Hill Street Blues.’
What this book needed (to steal a line from a Toby Keith song) was ‘A little less talk and a lot more action.’ Actually, it really needed ‘A lot less talk and a lot more action.’
Sadly, there was no story here. No tension. No engagement. Nothing to capture the reader’s interest. Nothing the writing style in either half to tell one from the other. The book could have listed McBain or Hunter as the only author and nobody would know any different.
And 1 final note: If you’re into eye rolls, there are enough in this book to give every man, woman, and child in the country one of their own.
I never thought I’d come close to quitting an Ed McBain book before I finished it or giving it a 1-star rating. But I came close to both with this terrible effort. Almost every Ed McBain book I’ve read I had a hard time putting down. This one I had a hard time picking up. As a result, the most generous I can be is 1½ stars – disappointing. Make that 1¼ stars - very disappointing.
The Evan Hunter section: In most of these 150 pages, nothing happened except Ben Thorpe, the main character, had long, dull conversations, tried to pick up a woman to sleep with, and mused endlessly about his life. He couldn’t even answer a simple question without mulling its implications first. Making these musings even worse was they rambled, roaming all over the place but going nowhere. And to make sure we, the reader, got what Ben was thinking, Hunter told them over and over and over in his thoughts and conversations. Around page 120, something finally happened but, a few pages later we’re back to dull conversations and endless musings.
The Ed McBain section: This part had the same pointless introspection, rambling conversations, and no action (although this is more acceptable here since slow progress is often the norm in police work) as the Evan Hunter section. And to keep the tedium going, McBain even repeated passages from that section verbatim. He also writes as if none of his readers have ever read a police procedural or seen an episode of ‘Law & Order’ or ‘Hill Street Blues.’
What this book needed (to steal a line from a Toby Keith song) was ‘A little less talk and a lot more action.’ Actually, it really needed ‘A lot less talk and a lot more action.’
Sadly, there was no story here. No tension. No engagement. Nothing to capture the reader’s interest. Nothing the writing style in either half to tell one from the other. The book could have listed McBain or Hunter as the only author and nobody would know any different.
And 1 final note: If you’re into eye rolls, there are enough in this book to give every man, woman, and child in the country one of their own.
I never thought I’d come close to quitting an Ed McBain book before I finished it or giving it a 1-star rating. But I came close to both with this terrible effort. Almost every Ed McBain book I’ve read I had a hard time putting down. This one I had a hard time picking up. As a result, the most generous I can be is 1½ stars – disappointing. Make that 1¼ stars - very disappointing.
January 22, 2019
“I got my candy, you got yours.” Don’t we all?
Evan Hunter wrote the first half, Ed McBain the second (even though they are one in the same person!) Evan's half is about a man who really wants to have sex and goes to great lengths to get it. Ed's half is about the investigation into the homicide of a sex worker who may, or may not, have run into the man from Evan's half! It's a strange set up, but it totally works, and both parts are pretty good. The first half is all about sex, the second half is more about police procedure. And there's a good twist at the end! And I really liked the phone call at the end, end! Good read!
Evan Hunter wrote the first half, Ed McBain the second (even though they are one in the same person!) Evan's half is about a man who really wants to have sex and goes to great lengths to get it. Ed's half is about the investigation into the homicide of a sex worker who may, or may not, have run into the man from Evan's half! It's a strange set up, but it totally works, and both parts are pretty good. The first half is all about sex, the second half is more about police procedure. And there's a good twist at the end! And I really liked the phone call at the end, end! Good read!
February 3, 2021
The first part of the book was almost repulsive to me. The graphic sex was too over the top for my taste. However the second half made up for it. It has been my experience with Evan Hunter that his focus is on graphic (and at times seemingly gratuitous) sex. But when the author writes as Ed McBain the focus is procedure and the storyline.
December 3, 2017
The first half of this rates only one star. The second half is a solid three star.
November 30, 2018
Interesting because it is told in two different writing styles.
January 4, 2019
The "Evan Hunter" half of this book was better than the "Ed McBain" half.
October 13, 2021
McBain/Hunter: 2 distinctive writing styles in one brain. Brilliant. Incisive display of addiction.
March 18, 2022
Two for the price of one, Ed McBain and Evan Hunter. What a great deal. Recommended.
June 3, 2024
Huge disappointment.
June 5, 2024
Was just ok
December 28, 2025
( e mezzo +?)
non lo so... secondo me la prima parte è stata più lunga del necessario. Non ho mai pensato che fosse Ben, tuttavia il plot twist finale mi è piaciuto dai.
non lo so... secondo me la prima parte è stata più lunga del necessario. Non ho mai pensato che fosse Ben, tuttavia il plot twist finale mi è piaciuto dai.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 30, 2008
Evan Hunter (The Blackboard Jungle) and Ed McBain (The 87th Precinct police procedurals) are one and the same, so it’s perhaps unusual that the two would collaborate on this compulsive novel of obsession. Writing as Hunter (his real name) the first part follows Benjamin Thorpe, a successful Los Angeles architect in New York for an opening. Thorpe has a problem. He’s obsessed with sex (a warning to those who can’t handle it – the novel gets graphic — now that remark should raise our circulation stats 50%), and he is determined to indulge his fantasies before he returns home to his wife in California. His usual contacts don’t pan out, nor does a woman he meets in the hotel bar, so he ends up in a massage parlor, where because of his drunkenness he can’t perform as he’d like, so when his time is up and he hasn’t been “completely satisfied,” he gets angry demanding more time. The manager throws him out and down the stairs where he is then mugged and robbed by two men on the street. McBain then takes over in the second part and we follow the investigation of Detective Emma Boyle of the Special Victims (read Rape) unit and her investigation partner from Homicide into the murder and rape of a young prostitute from the massage parlor where Ben Thorpe had spent the evening before catching his flight back to L.A. McBain/Hunter is a master at vividly conveying the ups and downs of a routine investigation – his series with Detective Steve Carpella of the 87th squad in a fictitious city called Insula, but clearly meant to be New York, are classics. The evidence begins to point to Ben Thorpe as the culprit. Every character in the book seems to have some sort of sexual hangup, but until the last couple of chapters when Emma finds some laundry back from the dry cleaners, the identity of the is murderer unclear. It’s an excellent read.
April 30, 2010
This is a book in two parts with two authors. The first part by Evan Hunter is awful and I wouldn't read another Evan Hunter novel. Ben Thorpe, a traveling architect, is a psychotic/neurotic (not sure which one) who is a raving sex fiend. In every city he travels to, he has a girl or two (or three) ready and willing to help him out and if not there are always prostitutes available. Most of the book is a stream of consciousness kinda like diarrhea of the brain. I found Ben and this part of the book to be incredibly boring and I had to fight just to keep listening to it.
Just started part two by Ed McBain (an author I really like) and so far I'm enjoying the mystery of the murdered prostitute. I really like the special victims detective (Emma Boyle). She has been on the job so long that she just "knows" things. Her instincts are dead on and intuitive. Her semi-partner from vice is Jimmy Morgan. There is something off with him as he's a little to comfortable with the whores and something seems to be going on behind the scenes. They, of course, immediately jump on to Ben's visit to the "massage" parlor where the dead prostitute worked. It's an interesting process tracking down a mysterious man using a false name. If I could have read the second part without the first I gladly would have. As stated, if you can get past part one, the rest is very well written and enjoyable.
Just started part two by Ed McBain (an author I really like) and so far I'm enjoying the mystery of the murdered prostitute. I really like the special victims detective (Emma Boyle). She has been on the job so long that she just "knows" things. Her instincts are dead on and intuitive. Her semi-partner from vice is Jimmy Morgan. There is something off with him as he's a little to comfortable with the whores and something seems to be going on behind the scenes. They, of course, immediately jump on to Ben's visit to the "massage" parlor where the dead prostitute worked. It's an interesting process tracking down a mysterious man using a false name. If I could have read the second part without the first I gladly would have. As stated, if you can get past part one, the rest is very well written and enjoyable.
November 8, 2011
book on tape.
I didn't know if this was a collaboration or a part 1 and part 2 until I just now rad the goodreads stuff.
I didn't enjoy the first half and I throughly enjoyed the second half.
I was surprised by the ending Good Job !!!!!!!!!!
I'll give 4 stars for the ending portion. It sounded, from another reader, that hunter/mcBain re ne and the same.
I've no idea why the first part didn't do anything for me and the second part was likable - maybe the expectations of a cop story.
What the experts said:
In Candyland, Hunter/McBain brings both modes of storytelling to bear on a cunningly constructed drama whose two separate sections enhance and illuminate each other.
Part One, written by Hunter, is a graphic account of sexual addiction seen from the perspective of Benjamin Thorpe, a successful, middle-aged architect about to embark on an orgiastic evening in New York City. During the course of that evening, Thorpe attempts, with increasing desperation, to hook up with a woman, any woman at all.
Part Two, the McBain segment, resumes early the next morning, as a trio of detectives begin their investigation into the hours-old murder of Cathy Frese, a 2
I didn't know if this was a collaboration or a part 1 and part 2 until I just now rad the goodreads stuff.
I didn't enjoy the first half and I throughly enjoyed the second half.
I was surprised by the ending Good Job !!!!!!!!!!
I'll give 4 stars for the ending portion. It sounded, from another reader, that hunter/mcBain re ne and the same.
I've no idea why the first part didn't do anything for me and the second part was likable - maybe the expectations of a cop story.
What the experts said:
In Candyland, Hunter/McBain brings both modes of storytelling to bear on a cunningly constructed drama whose two separate sections enhance and illuminate each other.
Part One, written by Hunter, is a graphic account of sexual addiction seen from the perspective of Benjamin Thorpe, a successful, middle-aged architect about to embark on an orgiastic evening in New York City. During the course of that evening, Thorpe attempts, with increasing desperation, to hook up with a woman, any woman at all.
Part Two, the McBain segment, resumes early the next morning, as a trio of detectives begin their investigation into the hours-old murder of Cathy Frese, a 2
May 11, 2013
I believe that "Candyland" is a tragic story that contains a strong plot line. Let me start first with a little summary. The story starts when a certain individual named Benjamin Thorpe who is on a business trip and looks for female companionship, despite being married. He gets involve in a "massage parlor" that offers "extra service". Later, the story shifts to Detective Emma Boyle of the NYPD's Special Victims Unit. She investigates a murder of a prostitute with detectives from Homicide Squad and Vice Squad. The night before there was violence before the murder and Ben Thorpe is a viable suspect. It later trails on how the investigation worked.
So, I felt uncomfortable with the Evan Hunter part because, as one reviewer said, it was too pornographic. I thought this guy as a married Barney Stinson. I very much anticipated for the Ed McBain part where the investigation happened.
This two part novel was written by the same person using pseudonyms. Like I said, it's tragic story but there was good story telling in it. Because there was some literary porn, I give a 3.5 but fell more on the 3 part.
So, I felt uncomfortable with the Evan Hunter part because, as one reviewer said, it was too pornographic. I thought this guy as a married Barney Stinson. I very much anticipated for the Ed McBain part where the investigation happened.
This two part novel was written by the same person using pseudonyms. Like I said, it's tragic story but there was good story telling in it. Because there was some literary porn, I give a 3.5 but fell more on the 3 part.
April 24, 2022
Ed McBain aka Evan Hunter is one of my all time favorite authors. I've met him twice at book signings and he was a great guy! This book is exceptional because in the hardback version there are two books in one. One cover is Evan Hunter - this is the story about a man who is a sex addict who gets involved with all sorts of sketchy people. There is a murder.
The back side (upside down) of the book is a police procedural by Ed McBain. This guy even dresses differently on each cover.
I read it a long time ago and will re-read sometime soon. If you like it, I recommend the other Evan Hunter books and the Ed McBain 87th Precinct books.
The back side (upside down) of the book is a police procedural by Ed McBain. This guy even dresses differently on each cover.
I read it a long time ago and will re-read sometime soon. If you like it, I recommend the other Evan Hunter books and the Ed McBain 87th Precinct books.
June 20, 2016
This is a strange story. Can't figure out who was the book was about. The main characters, the female detective, the architect and the male detective, each have issues in affecting them as a result of past sexual events. The title is fitting, as each is addicted in a different way to life problems resulting from these past events. In the case of the architect and the male detective, the sexula drive is their"candy"; in the case of the female detective, her former husband "candy" has disrupted their marriage. Read this via books on CD and the female narrator was outstanding. Could'nt figure out if I thought the book was just "ok" or "I liked it", so I went with the lower rating.
December 15, 2012
Probably the best McBain I've read...although any reader would leave with a bad taste in there mouth as far as NYC is concerned, the author is masterful in the transition between Hunter and the McBain procedural. Candyland is a noir like odyssey that captures the essence of the seedier side of the big city... and a genuine look into the mechanics of the NYPD. If you are not familiar with McBain, this book will provide a crash course on his terrific writing from plot development to procedural. Trust me you will become a fan.
January 11, 2015
I enjoyed this book; it held my interest. It was interesting that the author(s) divided the book in two parts. The first part a male character is featured; the second part a female character (for the most part) is featured.
I am wondering to what extent the author, Evan Hunter did his research or did he allow Ed McBain to take care of that end of it.
At my library I noticed that they have more books written by Ed McBain than Evan Hunter. I will be reading more of Ed McBains' novels. And yes the "secret" is safe with me. Lol!
I am wondering to what extent the author, Evan Hunter did his research or did he allow Ed McBain to take care of that end of it.
At my library I noticed that they have more books written by Ed McBain than Evan Hunter. I will be reading more of Ed McBains' novels. And yes the "secret" is safe with me. Lol!
November 20, 2010
I have finished the first part of this book: the Evan Hunter part. I have not read Evan Hunter before. It reminds me of The Catcher in the Rye - the way half the book takes place over a span of mere hours by describing every thought and action of a (slightly mad) person. It wasn't boring, though - I felt driven to read it more than anything I've read in a long time. I may have to look for more books by Evan Hunter.
July 3, 2012
It's been a long time since I have read a book by Evan Hunter. Or one by Ed McBain for that matter. I started reading his 87th precinct novels back in the 80's-90's. This book was a combination of both writing styles of the same writer. Great book! I thoroughly enjoyed it. Evan does a wonderful job developing Ben's character; a conceited & selfish sex addict. I saw those same attributes in Morgan. The ending was kind of a surprise but then again not. At any rate, it was a enjoyable read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews