Product Description
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
From Publishers Weekly
At the onset of Vachss's fourth street-smart novel featuring unlicensed New York private eye Burke, word is out that the ex-con PI has become a gun-for-hire. Besides coping with this crazy rumor, Burke contends with two figures from his youth who suddenly turn up. One of them, Candy, now a miniskirted call girl fond of whips and leashes, wants Burke to rescue her teenaged daughter from a cult in Brooklyn; the other, Wesley, an Uzi-toting hit man, already has the cult's leader, Train, in his sights. When Burke learns that the cult safehouse is a baby-breeding operation, vigilante-style justice ensues. Burke's turf--the sleazy underbelly of New York, a world of street kids, drug pushers, mafiosi and crooked lawyers--springs to life in cinematic scenes. Fans of Vachss's previous hard-core crime fiction ( Flood ; Bluebelle ) will find familiar characters, among them Michelle, the transsexual hooker; Max the Silent, a mute Tibetan martial arts strongman; and electronics whiz Mole, who lives in a bunker under a Bronx junkyard. 40,000 first printing.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From the Inside Flap
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's signature narrative overdrive--and his unnerving familiarity with the sub-basement of American crime--Hard Candy is vintage Burke.
From the Back Cover
"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
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
About the Author