Rating: 
Summary: Two Stories, One Murder
Review: "Candyland" is not so much a novel as a concept piece, the idea of two authors, both the same man, writing separate novellas that intersect at a specific event. Evan Hunter wrote "The Blackboard Jungle," the screenplay for Hitchcock's "The Birds," and a slew of serious novels. Ed McBain, Hunter's best-known pseudonym, is the author of the 87th Precinct crime novels. "Candyland" is a McBain crime novel, too, about the murder of a hooker. But it is also a Hunter portrait, of a man suspected of killing her.Ed McBain novels are especially interesting when they stray from the 87th Precinct. "Downtown," a dark comedy of a man lost in the big bad city a la "After Hours" but with a body count and better jokes, was up there with Elmore Leonard's finest. "The Sentries" was a bizarre Cold War paranoia tale with a remarkably downbeat and unpleasant tone for airport fiction. "Candyland" is a brilliant and clever detour from the fictional environs of the 87th Precinct's Isola to the reality of New York City, and one of his best crime stories yet. The tone is the same as in the 87th Precinct novels, dark and funny and acutely sensitive to how police officers operate. In the second half of the novel, the criminal investigation part written by "McBain," two detectives have a problem questioning a witness. The guy turns to the woman after they are done: " 'We ought to arrange some signals we can use. If we are going to be working together any amount of time. Like if I touch my nose, for example, it'll mean you're Good Cop, I'm Bad Cop. Or if I call you Em instead of Emma...' " 'I told you I don't like being called Em.' " 'That's just what I'm saying. If I call you Em in front of somebody we're questioning, that'll mean Don't go there. Same as if you call me James. Don't go there, leave it be, shift the topic to something else.'" The female detective here, Emma Boyle, is an interesting creation. She's not the typical gorgeous McBain dame with a positive mental outlook on life and love, but somewhat squirrelly and resentful. She's had a hard time with her brother officers, and she's having a hard time with her ex-husband, a rich philanderer keeping her child from her on a shabby pretext. She blames him for "raping" her during the last two years of their marriage, because his affair meant their marriage sex took place under false pretenses. Sex is what it's about for these vice cops, and that's what the initial half of the novel, or the first novella, written by Hunter, is all about, too; a profile of a day in the life of a man with a problem he is unwilling to control. This is Benjamin Thorpe, successful architect who becomes a murder suspect in the second half of the book. Again, the writing here is subtle, detailing in matter-of-fact prose just how far gone this forty-something architect named Benjamin Thorpe has gone in pursuit of orgasms. Some reviewers here say Hunter's descriptions of Thorpe's activities cross the line into porn. It is certainly intense writing, but more cautionary than erotic, more ugly than graphic, designed to make Thorpe's desires read as the sickness-inspired impulses rather than vicariously thrilling to the reader. Some people claim they knew how this was going to turn out, but I was fooled. Does the dual nature of "Candyland" work? Better than expected. The two-novella conjunction plays off very well, the two-author format even more so. The different approaches of the writer (just-the-facts McBain versus the deeper and more psychological territory of Hunter) dovetail nicely. In the end, you have a story with but one central character, that being Eros Unbound, and what it does to distend the mind and distort the character. It's dark and heavy, but never dull, and the story stays with you after it's over.
Rating: 
Summary: some readers missed the point on this one
Review: 'Candyland' is *not* intended as a Law & Order type episode, where a crime is committed and solved in the first half and then tried in court in the second half. 'Candyland' is written by a single author who brings his two literary personas together to explore the different elements of the same story. The first half, by literary author Evan Hunter (his real name), is a character study of a sex addict, named Ben Thorpe, and his struggle to feed that addiction. This is not a 'male sex fantasy' or the writing of a 'dirty old man' as some readers have charged: this is more of a study of a dangerous pathology that damages so many, many women and children. Sex addiction is just like drug or alcohol addiction: it increases in intensity, it leads to destruction, it is often steeped in great personal pain (a sex addict was often molested in childhood). Ben's night careens through encounters with various women, all of whom are damaged themselves, and ends in violence and self-revelation. The question is, does that self-revelation come in time to save him from himself, to save other women from him? This question drives the second half. Part 2 shifts into detective/mystery genre, which Hunter writes under his pen name (more famous than his real name) Ed McBain. McBain picks up on the theme of addiction and the damage and violence it can wreak: a prostitute is found raped and murdered, and Ben Thorpe is one of the suspects. Whether or not Ben is actually guilty, McBain makes it very, very clear that the prostitute's brutal death is a direct result of the kind of untreated sex addiction explored in Ben's story, and that men like Ben need help -- fast -- before their obsession destroys them and the unfortunate people caught in their wake. Hunter is a worldly, intelligent, and very skilful writer. He shows sensitivity and insight into the psychology of rape and rape victims, and both the book's protagonists -- Ben Thorpe and detective Emma Boyle -- are strong, well-rounded characters. The book's descriptions of sexual acts are backlit by pain and desperation and loneliness. Those looking for a sexy, straight-forward, plot-driven thriller should probably look elsewhere; those game for something a little more challenging will find this a fast, gripping, full-bodied read.
Rating: 
Summary: Candyland
Review: Although not really a fan of Ed McBain I have read a few of his 87 Precinct books. I thought since this wasn't a 87th book I'd give it a try. What a boring book. The first part was enough to put me to sleep. I only finished the second part, skimming the pages, just to find out how it ended. I don't think I'll ever waste my time reading another McBain/Hunter book.
Rating:
Summary: Candyland
Review: Although not really a fan of Ed McBain I have read a few of his 87 Precinct books. I thought since this wasn't a 87th book I'd give it a try. What a boring book. The first part was enough to put me to sleep. I only finished the second part, skimming the pages, just to find out how it ended. I don't think I'll ever waste my time reading another McBain/Hunter book.
Rating:
Summary: Not His Best
Review: As a long-time fan of McBain/Hunter, his approach here seems fairly schizophrenic. But this book is admittedly a page-turner that will delight fans of both mystery and psychological suspense. You may guess the denoument, but it's still a good read. Sexual obsession is the theme so the squeamish beware. Personally, I miss Matthew Hope.
Rating:
Summary: Loved the McBain/Hunter Contrast
Review: As a long-time fan of the 87th precinct novels by McBain, I was interested in seeing what the contrast would be like between McBain and Hunter. I really enjoyed this novel; surprisingly, I actually enjoyed the Hunter half at least as much as the McBain section. In fact, this novel led me to other Hunter books that I had been missing out on; I thoroughly enjoyed his "The Moment She Was Gone" novel, as well.
Rating:
Summary: Loved the McBain/Hunter Contrast
Review: As a long-time fan of the 87th precinct novels by McBain, I was interested in seeing what the contrast would be like between McBain and Hunter. I really enjoyed this novel; surprisingly, I actually enjoyed the Hunter half at least as much as the McBain section. In fact, this novel led me to other Hunter books that I had been missing out on; I thoroughly enjoyed his "The Moment She Was Gone" novel, as well.
Rating: 
Summary: My expectations were not met - disappointed
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: A Powerful Story in the Hands of a Master
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Pairing of two mystery masters is no gimmick
Review: Evan Hunter, author of Blackboard Jungle and the screenplay for The Birds, and Ed McBain, master of the police procedural through 50 novels in his 87th Precinct series, are together again for the first time. One in the same person, McBain is the alter ego of Hunter. Candyland: A Novel in Two Parts is the first collaborative effort of these two distinct literary voices. Hunter, in the first part of the novel, traces the ravenous sexual cravings of Benjamin Thorpe, a prestigious Los Angeles architect, in New York for one night. Thorpe is both narrator and actor in his search for sexual conquest. Unable to find a partner for phone sex, he shifts to the hotel bar to see who might be "working" there. Thorpe's essential architectural question is: "Does it work? Does it work both functionally and esthetically?" On the prowl for sex, his "essential question" is fundamentally the same, "Does she work?" From the bar, he moves to the XS Salon where "complete satisfaction" is guaranteed. When he makes advances to the baby doll nightie clad Heidi, he finds himself suddenly in the gutter, beaten and bleeding. McBain picks up with part two the morning after. Three NYPD detectives are discussing the strangulation and rape of Cathy Frese, a prostitute who works at the XS Salon and goes by the name of Heidi. Because the killing crosses boundaries, Emma Boyle of Special Victims is working with a cop from Homicide and one from Vice, both men. Roiling at the suggestion that the crime should be treated as "a-run-of-the-mill rape" Emma becomes a lone wolf in the investigation. Through Emma's persistence, intuition, and insight, one small clue leads to another, and to another, culminating in a shocking conclusion. All of McBain's police procedural skills are in evidence as is Hunter's adeptness at getting deep into the psychology of his characters.
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