The Man Who Liked Slow Tomatoes, by K. C. Constantine
Well-crafted, but dreary (three stars)
(Review posted 25 Feb 2003 12:12:12)

(Originally posted elsewhere.)

The writing here is good, very good, and the characters are subtly and richly drawn. The setting and dialog are convincing, and the emotions will stay with you. Which is perhaps the problem!

There is no redemption here. The mood and events are dark, the deaths pointless. There is no brain-teasing mystery, no real lesson about human nature beyond that it can be ugly and destructive. I don't normally wonder about the point of books, but I have to admit that after this one I did. What was the point of all that? Did I need to be reminded that life can be painful? Maybe I did. In retrospect I think it was worth the time to read, but I can't say I _enjoyed_ it.

There are a very few technical flaws (the drug-dealer side-plot seemed entirely unnecessary, and the sudden solving of the "mystery" at the end was abrupt and not entirely convincing), but my complaint about this book is not with the execution, but rather with the nature of the project. A single beam of light would, I think, have made this a more worthwhile work.