Saving Room for Dessert (A Rocksburg Novel) [Import] [Paperback]

K.C. Constantine (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Time Warner International; Reprint edition (October 31, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446691690
• ISBN-13: 978-0446691697
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,681,814 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars gourmet feast for the police procedural crowd, August 17, 2002

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Saving Room for Dessert (Hardcover)

In Rocksburg, Pennsylvania, no police officer likes working the Flats, a dangerous part of the city that can go from a quiet neighborhood into a war zone in nanoseconds. Things may seem serene for the moment, but any veteran cop knows that in the Flats a moment is all it takes to get killed.

Working the Flats this evening are the Rocksburg Police Department's only African-American William Rayford, giant Robert "BooBoo" Canoza, and Nam vet James Reseta. Each has personal problems they bring to the job, but all three dedicated men know they must not allow their troubles to interfere with the beat if they want to live another day. Quickly the three officers are going to learn first hand how the Flats is different from any other neighborhood in town because the incident seems trivial, but the aftermath explosion proves dangerous and life threatening.

Once series fans understand that Mario is not making a comeback and Rugs is not the headliner, the readers will quickly comprehend that SAVING ROOM FOR DESSERT is a gourmet feast for the police procedural crowd. The story line follows the three officers on routine patrols that turns nasty. The story line focuses more on the trio than on what they face as each has their moment of introspection involving their personal woes as much as their professional troubles. K.C. Constantine changes direction with this tale in which the crime activity is interesting, but the up front look at the three stars is fascinating and fabulous.

Harriet Klausner

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars To Serve and Protect, August 8, 2003

By 

lvkleydorff - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saving Room for Dessert (Hardcover)

In a small town in Pennsylvania there is a small-town police department serving a small-town population. The main figure is Sargent William Milton Rayford, the only person of color within sight. We have James Resata, who went through his year in Viet Nam the hard way, and the gigantic Robert "Booboo" Canoza.

The play within the town of Rocksburg is also limited mostly to three neighboring families who are at each other throats almost daily. Once it is dog poop smeared on the neighbors door knob. Then it is threatening the neighbor with a knife.

The war in Nam is described in chilling detail. The neighborhood fights, however, develop into satire. That does not mean that they are not dangerous. But it means that the police officers have to summon all the accumulated wisdom of their many years on the force to keep the situations from exploding.

Mr. Constantine has everything under control.He gives us a picture - sometimes funny, and then brutally direct - of the cosmos of life in a small town. He has written a wonderful book that celebrates the simple cop on the beat.

To serve and protect - and they live by it.

5.0 out of 5 stars Transcends The Genre, July 23, 2005

By 

Shnooky - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saving Room for Dessert (Hardcover)

I admit that I'm a long-time fan of KC Constantine's Rocksburg novels. Saving Room for Dessert is a continuation of Constantine's usual strengths: pitch-perfect dialogue, REAL characters, indelible sense of time and place, subtle social commentary, etc. If you're looking for a police procedural in the vein of, say, Ed McBain or Wambaugh (both of whom are outstanding), you'll probably be disappointed. However, Constantine's work truly transcends the genre, and Saving Room is as wonderful as the rest of the Rocksburg novels.