CANDYLAND

An unusual collaboration, Candyland is written by two men who are the same person. Evan Hunter writes the first half, read in this abridgment by Mark Blum, as a straight novel about a sex-obsessed architect on business in New York. The second half is a police procedural written by Hunter’s alter ego, Ed McBain, and read by Linda Emond. The two stories intersect as Benjamin Thorpe, the lead character of part one, becomes the suspect in the murder of a prostitute in part two. Linda Emond’s narration of the second half, told from the perspective of Special Victims Detective Emma Boyle, is flawless and fascinating. Mark Blum gives a whiny edge to Benjamin Thorpe’s character in the first half, making it no less fascinating and even more human. S.E.S. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 01]