Grievance

Rating:
Summary: A beautifully writen and very affecting book
Review: Constantine captures the sadness of forgotten towns and their citizens like no one I have ever read. America has thousands of these places, old industrial towns like this one, almost closed down farming communities and so on. There are no real villains here--just victims, and their problems, so wrenchingly written about and described in their own words, will break your heart. This book is allegedly a mystery, but that only forms a rough scaffolding for his social commentary which is the real point of the book. A beautifully written, gritty book.

Rating:
Summary: trying too hard
Review: constantine simply tries too hard at the dialogue
lacks the intellectual vigor to pull it off
annoying, distracting, and boring

i will finish the book only as a personal challange

Rating:
Summary: A Horrendous Disappointment
Review: While searching for authors who are in the same elite class as Parker and Sandford, I decided to give Constantine a try. I selected "Grievance" based upon its seemingly interesting content and favorable reviews. "Rugs", the detective featured in the book, as well as the other characters, are boring and the dialogue is extremely distracting. I find Constantine's attempts at capturing "real" language both stilted and juvenile. Through their "working class" dialect (as it's been described), the characters are portrayed as incompetent, ignorant buffoons. Members of the correctional services, as well as social services, should be offended. I cannot discuss the plot, because after almost 150 pages, it didn't really materialize. This is one of the few books that I will not finish. It is, almost without a doubt, the worst book I've ever read.