Wed 23 Feb 2022
An Archived Review by Barry Gardner: K. C. CONSTANTINE – Good Sons.
Posted by Steve under Reviews[2] Comments
K. C. CONSTANTINE – Good Sons. Rocksburg [not Mario Balzic] #12. Mysterious Press, hardcover, 1996; paperback, 1997.
I had heard Constantine was calling it quits, but not so. Not only do we have this, but a Reliable Source tells me that there will be another Balzic to follow it. I also thought Constantine had said everything he had to say (and repeated a damned good portion of it), but I guess not-either that, or he needed the money.
Detective Sergeant Ruggiero (“Ruggs”) Carlucci is more or less in charge of the Rocksburg, Pennsylvania police department since the retirement of Mario Balzic, and he thinks/is afraid that he may be in line for the Chief’s job. He’s got a lot of internal and external problems, and isn’t sure he wants it. His mind gets focused on another set of problems when a woman is found at a local business, horribly raped and mortally battered. The case will tell him a lot about himself, and what he can and wants to do and be.
First, let me say that this is more of a mystery/crime novel than either of his last two books have been, not that it would take much more than a bigtime case of jaywalking to make that true. Carlucci isn’t as appealing a character to me as Balzac; I guess his problems don’t match up well enough with my own for me to relate well to his.
I really don’t relate to Constantine at all any more, though on the basis of his earlier work I’m more than willing to concede that he’s earned his reputation. He preaches and speeches too much for me now, and though his blue-collar Everymen-and-women may be realistic, they just don’t interest me that much.
February 23rd, 2022 at 8:57 pm
I found Constantine revelatory at first, then he either ran out of steam or it just didn’t wear as well as it should have. I don’t know if he needed to go more mainstream or more genre, but increasingly the satisfaction level was growing smaller.
February 23rd, 2022 at 9:43 pm
I was pretty much uninterested in police procedurals when the series started, so I never even jumped on board when it did. I think that your reaction, though, was pretty much universal. I know that books got talked about less and less as time went on.
Opinions to the contrary welcome!