Customer Reviews

Carlucci's Edge

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was the first Richard Paul Russo novel I read and so remains something of a favorite. I haven't been able to add anything substantive to the excellent reviews already here, so have refrained from posting a "me too" review.

But there's an angle which perhaps deserves to be mentioned, and that is Russo's use of the "backstory." All of his Carlucci novels IMPLY much of what has happened to society without really explaining it, and describe new technologies and fads almost in passing. The comparisons to "Blade Runner" refer to this fully-created future world of which our story concerns just a small corner.

For this reason, I found reading the novels out of order was not really that much of a detriment. The backstory of "Carlucci's Edge" was largely explained by "Destroying Angel," and the backstory of "Carlucci's Heart" was explained by "Carlucci's Edge," but these details are such a small part of this wholly-created new world that your bewilderment quickly settles into a willing suspension of disbelief anyway.

So don't be afraid to read them out of order. Once you've read one, you'll want them all anyway.

I've wanted to let Richard know for some time that I think this series of books is one of the best all around reading experiences I've had. The story touched me on every level and was possibly the most perfect blend of the dark and light aspects of human nature I've ever read. The story is dark, but it's clear that Richard Russo believes in the nobility of the human spirit, regardless of what the human mind and body are forced to endure. A memorable book, vivid and thick with atmosphere.

Thank you, Richard!

Richard Paul Russo's superior series combines the best of the Science Fiction and Mystery genres into one package. Detective Frank Carlucci is an honest cop and a good detective in the hopeless corrupt world of the mid-21st century. He is determined to do the right thing despite the potentially negative consequences. The real strength of the book is the vivid desciptions of the streets of San Francisco that leave you feeling that it is inevitable that the world will turn out this way. Any of the books in this series, which include "Destroying Angel," and "Carlucci's Heart," are well worth owning.

While not as strong as Destroying Angel, I found Carlucci's Edge to be an intense ride. It takes the reader through the near future tecno-streets of San Francisco and is a hell of a lot of fun. The story is good and has a strong plot. I like the gritty background and I hope to see many more novels by Mr. Russo in the future.

Richard Paul Russo's book is a dark, sinister look into the future of SanFran, its bordered neighborhoods, and the cyberenhanced people within. Alternately reminiscent of the movies Bladerunner and Seven, Carlucci's Edge is the new mystery noir taken to intense extremes.

Russo not only keeps the reader locked into each disturbing (and disturbed) tennant of the Tenderloin, but is able to show the stifling conditions they are inevitably bound to.

Russo has brought a great series to the reader. All three books (Destroying Angel, Carlucci's Edge, Carlucci's Heart) are highly reccomended.

I bought this book to take with me on a trip just recently. It started off promising but ended up being very sub-par. It felt rushed at the end, it was very predictable - after the first 1/3rd of the book it was easy enough to figure out exactly what was the driving crime behind this whole thing.

Some of the plot and character actiosn just felt childish and contrived.

I would not recommend this book at all.

I was given this book by my friend as one of three that he thought were better than The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. I don't know what bone my friend had to pick with that book - I didn't think it was perfect either, but I enjoyed it immensely anyway - but it must be pretty serious if he thinks this book is better than Stieg Larsson's book.

The book is about Carlucci investigating a murder of a musician. The musician's girlfriend is also investigating his murder. They travel around, they meet people who probably know why the murder was commissioned. The murderer is never caught, but the people behind the murder are exposed. It's really hard to care, because the freakshow world that the people inhabit is not interesting or appealing, other than for the similarity it bears to to the New York of "Liquid Sky".

To be fair, Carlucci is the character of several books, so this book might be more interesting to people who've read more than one of his adventures. But it is still very, very, very hard to care about any of the characters in the book, or to understand what they do except get caught, deer-like, in the headlights of an onrushing truck.

Russo's writing reads like a candid conversion at the bar and very real. Carlucci is less of the rehashed hard-boiled detective and seems more like a character from NBC's Law and Order or NYPD Blue. Very believable.