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Constantine's earlier novels followed the exploits of police chief Mario Balzic and detective Rugs Carlucci of the Rocksburg police department; this one departs from the pattern by shadowing three beat cops: William Rayford, Robert Canoza, and James Reseta.
It is the seventeenth book in the 17-volume Rocksburg series.
"Sixteen of Constantine's Rocksburg novels feature two protagonists: a cop and the failed Pennsylvania steel town itself. For nearly two decades, the cop was Mario Balzic, a rumpled, shrewd, and decent chief of police. But Constantine retired Mario a few books ago and replaced him with the equally sympathetic Detective Ruggerio "Rugs" Carlucci. Now, in the seventeenth in the series, Constantine changes structure and focuses on three Rocksburg cops who patrol the Flats, an area of the city known for domestic disputes that often become deadly. Officer William Rayford prays for a thunderstorm that will keep the feuding Bucyks and Hornyaks, not to mention the certifiable Scavellis, indoors. His prayers aren't answered, however, and Rayford and fellow cops Reseta and Canozza all find themselves drawn into a lunatic situation that ends tragically. As in all the Rocksburg novels, there are few heroes and even fewer real villains--just ordinary people coping with inner demons, personal tragedies, and a bewildering world that has passed them by. One effect of the ensemble approach this time is that interior monologues of the three featured cops largely replace the achingly authentic dialogue that has driven the previous books. But rest assured that Constantine's monologues are every bit as effective as his superb dialogue. Another outstanding addition to a consistently top-level series".
First edition