Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)"Carlucci" is often lumped in with cyberpunk, but it really has nothing to do with virtual reality or artificial intelligence or any of the computer and network focus that resides at the heart of that genre. "Carlucci" in truth is three hard-boiled detective yarns set in a down-and-really-out mid-21st century San Francisco.
As another reviewer mentions, the first tale isn't actually about Carlucci, but the story does set the stage for the SF police detective's starring role in the second two tales. The three stories are distinct and complete, not linked other than by the occassional re-appearance of minor characters.
The plots were involved enough to hold my interest, but not so convoluted that I lost track of what was happening. But Russo's real strength is in his descriptive power and ability to elicit our empathy for many of the scumbags that lurk in his gritty world. "Stark" might be the best word to describe how Russo describes the chaos and tensions of a Bay Area polarized into a gleaming Financial District and the Tenderloin, a teeming zone of danger and opportunity for outcasts, thugs and perverts. I found myself aching at times with the poignancy with which these novels are drawn.
"Carlucci" always fascinates. The strange and bizarre constantly crawl across the page. There is little in the way of flashy technology, gadgets and science. Instead, the book's weirdness is rooted firmly in its main characters and supporting cast. Russo envisions a segment of society for whom all taboo and restriction has broken down. Mutilated "spikeheads", insane "head cages", Inquisitor-like "saints", ultra-intelligent but bloated "slugs", the fervently religious "screamers" with their mouths surgically sewn shut... Russo keeps the parade of pervsion coming hard and fast.
And in the middle of it all is Carlucci, a career detective with a normal family, a fondess for the jazz trumpet, and a dependence on black coffee that is as relentless as his pursuit of whatever scraps of justice he can scavenge from a corrupt system. Another reviewer felt Carlucci's basic goodness made him less interesting, but I found it actually heightened the sense of peril as you so desperately want things to turn out well at least for this one poor guy. There are plenty of morally suspect and flawed characters present to impart a sense of hazard. And believe me, you won't forget the baddies, either. Russo rarely relies on a Stephen King-like shock factor, eschewing graphic violence and gore in favor of mood, suspense and dialogue.
One caveat. These are relentlessly sad stories. There are some lighthearted moments, but the overall atmosphere is dark and gritty and depressing. Carlucci is one guy making his way in a rotten system. All victories are Pyrrhic. Main characters die, with zero regard for age, gender or moral fortitude. Like Carlucci and the rest of his society, you'll just have to live with that.
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Collected together for the first time in one volume-this is Richard Paul Russo's critically-acclaimed science fiction trilogy featuring police Lt. Frank Carlucci investigating high-tech crime and corruption in a near-future San Francisco.
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