The Root of All Evil

There's a good book here...but this isn't it.

This is the first Roberto Costantin novel I have read and I really wasn't prepared for just how long it is. And boy is it long. That wouldn't be a problem if it kept your interest and contained a story which merited such length. I have read books as long as this and not noticed the length. Unfortunately with this I did and that ain't ever a good thing.

The Root of All Evil is a novel of two half's. The first half, the protagonist's back story of growing up Italian in pre-Gaddafi Libya is enjoyable enough. And really Constantin should have left it there. If he had written a literally novel about a boy's upbringing in Libya I might really have sang the books praises.

But then he writes another half. This time the protagonist has all grown up and is a jaded cop in Italy. There are three problems with the latter half. The first is that it comes  after an already weighty first half. The second is that it's also long winded. The third is that it just isn't very good.

Twists are thrown at you out of the blue. Characters fall under suspicion right out of nowhere, with no warning, no build up. The plot itself just doesn't make much sense.

All in all I can only say that I was thankful when it was over and won't be reading another novel from this writer.

I award it two stars and even that is just for the first half.