Hard Candy (Burke Series #4)

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.

Publishers Weekly

Vachss's fourth street-smart novel featuring an unlicensed, ex-con private eye known as Burke has the shamus trying to rescue an old flame's daughter from a cult in Brooklyn, while coping with the rumor that he has become a gun for hire. ``Burke's turf--the sleazy underbelly of New York--springs to life in cinematic scenes,'' wrote PW. (Aug.)

Andrew Vachss is a lawyer who represents children and youths exclusively. His many novels and two collections of short stories have been translated into twenty languages, and his work has appeared in Parade, Esquire, Playboy, and The New York Times, among other publications. A native New Yorker, he divides his time between the city of his birth and the Pacific Northwest.