Candyland: (Murder Room)

From the author who wrote the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's THE BIRDS For the first time Evan Hunter and Ed McBain, two extraordinary and diverse talents, fuse to form a brilliant and powerful novel of two halves 'That it works so superbly is a tribute to the skills of this great storyteller' NEW YORK TIMES 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...

About the Author :
Ed McBain (1926-2005) was born Salvatore Lambino in New York. He changed his name to Evan Hunter and under that name is known as the author of The Blackboard Jungle and as the writer of the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. The 87th Precinct series numbers over fifty novels. McBain was a Grand Master of the Mystery Writers of America and was one of three American writers to be awarded the CWA Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement. Evan Hunter was born in New York City in 1926. He was widely recognised as one of America s most popular novelists, as well as a successful writer for television and cinema whose credits include the screenplay for Alfred Hitchcock s The Birds. As Ed McBain, Evan became one of the most illustrious names in crime fiction. He was a holder of the Mystery Writers of America s coveted Grand Master Award. Evan died in June 2005 at the age of 79.

Review :
McBain is so good that he ought to be arrested ... Each part of the novel works beautifully alone but also in tandem, adding up to a multifaceted, psychologically astute portrait of crime and punishment The first half of this novel is written in Hunter's style and the second half in McBain's. In Hunter's telling, it's a dark, Kafka-esque journey focusing on a tortured soul who doesn't realize the depth of his obsession until it nearly kills him. When McBain, who virtually invented the modern police procedural with his 87th Precinct series, takes over, the focus naturally switches to the investigation, and the tortured soul becomes objectified as the possible perp. This is a fascinating study of how point of view affects the story being told, but beyond that, no matter who's writing, it's a frightening, suspenseful foray into the darkest recesses of the city and the human heart That it works so superbly is a tribute to the skills of this great storyteller