Sunshine Enemies

Mario Balzic Detective Mystery #9

by K.C. Constantine

The novel opens with a Lutheran minister complaining about a pornography ship that recently opened at the edge of town. Next a brutal knife murder happens in the shop's parking lot. All of this prompts Balzic the police chief to work the case, digging up reluctant witnesses and asking questions.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime

176 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Carl Constantine Kosak is an American mystery author known for his work as K.C. Constantine. Little is known about Kosak, as he prefers anonymity and has given only a few interviews. He was born in 1934 and served in the Marines in the early 1950s. He lives in Greensburg PA with wife Linda.



http://www.badattitudes.com/KCCintvw....

Reviews

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each Mario Balzic novel shows Balzic, a small town police chief in southwestern Pennsylvania, working on a police case, of course, but also coping with some other real life problem. In “Sunshine Enemies,” Balzic has a devastating personal problem. On the very day that a mutilated body turns up, his beloved mother has a stroke. Balzic’s struggle is balancing these two compelling events. (Balancing work and personal life? Hmmm. Constantine may be onto a real life topic here.)

While I read these books to enjoy Balzic’s feisty and grumbling relationships, in “Sunshine Enemies” the unsolved case itself is also compelling, perhaps because the real villain is not the actual murderer. In truth, the cases in Constantine’s Balzic series are not so different from the ones I read about in my local paper, the ones that are so sad they make me put my face in my hands. The “Sunshine Enemies” case is one of those. Balzic can barely go home to his frantic family, the case is so gripping.

At the same time poor Balzic is watching his mother die. He is not quite in touch with the earth. He’s floating somewhere, disbelieving. When she dies, Balzic learns how much she is loved in the community.

This is a brilliant depiction of grief, but also of community and family affirmation. The contrast with the crime could not be more stark.

This may be Constantine’s best Balzic novel.

[John Marr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mario's lament: "My mother's dead, my wife's not speaking to me, some faggot got himself stuck about 30 times, some woman thinks her son did the sticking but she's too scared to talk about it, some goddamned defrocked preacher is running around bitchin' about pornography, and my house is full of women whisperin'." Constantine at his best.

[Jeremy Lenzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just solid Constantine - 3.5

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

#9 in the Rocksburg, PA / Mario Balzic series.

Mario Balzic, police chief of Rocksburg, PA, deals with the death of his mother while attempting to solve the stabbing death of a homosexual behind a porno shop. A battered wife indicates she may have information about the murder. Mario has an excellent dialogue with lawyer friend, Mo Valcanas, about the effects of pornography.

[Hans · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series gets better with every book. Just as Mario is overwhelmed by the loss of his mother, the story line of the case slowly disappears as the focus shifts to Mario and his family moving into a new reality.

[Omar Sallam · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's about the writer style there are too much abusing words and you feel like it's a public form of talking like we're in the streets I don't know it;s just an opinion you can go and read it to figure out by yourself

[Troy Stoops · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kc Constantine is always a pleasure, but this one was simply brilliant. From the friendship between his wife and mother, to the incredible dialogue, this is like reading George v Higgins with heart.