charmedrose's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
allerkins's review against another edition
4.0
This was my first audiobook experience in a long time and I must say it got me quite hooked. It was also my first Sara Paretsky novel, and it far surpassed my expectations!
I love the character of V. I. Warshawski. She is so tough and intelligent and so real too. I thought the plot was really fascinating, and there were so many twists and turns and sub plots, but I was able to follow along and I think Paretsky did a wonderful job making sure it all tied together. I loved the strong woman/feminist messages in the book. I thought that was really cool. It left me really wanting to read more of her books. I thought it was great that I could pick this one up and understand it without any problem, even though I haven't read any of the previous books.
My one complaint with the book was how Paretsky portrayed the younger characters, especially Petra. It seemed like she stereotyped young people a bit and found them all annoying and petulant and silly. Maybe that's just Warshawski's view and not the authors, but as a young person myself, I found the descriptions of the personalities of young people in the book a little harsh. Maybe all older women really see us youngsters that way, I don't know.
This was a great read, very thought-provoking, fast-paced and fun. Paretsky is a very skilled author and I can't wait to read more of her books!
I love the character of V. I. Warshawski. She is so tough and intelligent and so real too. I thought the plot was really fascinating, and there were so many twists and turns and sub plots, but I was able to follow along and I think Paretsky did a wonderful job making sure it all tied together. I loved the strong woman/feminist messages in the book. I thought that was really cool. It left me really wanting to read more of her books. I thought it was great that I could pick this one up and understand it without any problem, even though I haven't read any of the previous books.
My one complaint with the book was how Paretsky portrayed the younger characters, especially Petra. It seemed like she stereotyped young people a bit and found them all annoying and petulant and silly. Maybe that's just Warshawski's view and not the authors, but as a young person myself, I found the descriptions of the personalities of young people in the book a little harsh. Maybe all older women really see us youngsters that way, I don't know.
This was a great read, very thought-provoking, fast-paced and fun. Paretsky is a very skilled author and I can't wait to read more of her books!
nocto's review against another edition
4.0
I happily spent the weekend holed up with my old friend VI Warshawski. I'm not going to pretend I can write anything objective about any of the books in this series. VI is aging well, getting beaten up less, still getting involved in things that end up with her taking down big businesses. In many ways it the same old thing as always, but personally I think there is plenty of life in it yet.
happy_hiker's review against another edition
4.0
I have long been a fan of the V.I Warshawski series. Although I had to check this book out twice (I didn’t finish the first time because I was too busy with work), I enjoyed the complex, intertwined story. I hope the vets that V.I. met in this book will return in future books. I hope her super-annoying cousin Petra does not.
plantbirdwoman's review against another edition
4.0
V.I. Warshawski, Sara Paretsky's Chicago private detective, is one tough woman. Those bad guys who try to intimidate her soon learn that such tactics only strengthen her resolve. She takes a licking and keeps on ticking, and she never, ever gives up on a client.
The opening of this latest book finds V.I. at a club in Chicago where a performance artist who bills herself as the Body Artist is doing her thing. Her "thing" involves appearing naked on stage and allowing members of the audience to draw or write on her body. Everything proceeds about as you would expect in the circumstances until a young woman who is obviously a talented artist starts to draw. What she draws is a woman's face surrounded by flames and by an enigmatic symbol. Her drawing seems to enrage a young Iraq War veteran in the audience who reacts violently before his friends can calm him. A few days later, the woman who drew the picture lies dying in the alley near the club, after having been shot. She is cradled in her dying moments by V.I. Warshawski.
Soon, the police go to arrest the young man who had been disturbed by the drawings. But when they get there, they find him unconscious with a gun that proves to be the murder weapon on his pillow. He remains unconsious and is taken to the hospital under police custody. Did he try to commit suicide or was he deliberately poisoned, causing his coma? And did he kill that woman or has he been framed? If the latter, why?
The man's parents believe he would have been incapable of shooting the woman and they hire V.I. to prove that. As she digs into the case, she finds that the woman who died had an older sister who died in Iraq while working for one of the contractors there. Was there a connection between this older sister and the suspect in the sister's murder?
Things get more and more complicated when Warshawski uncovers evidence that the death in Iraq may not have been what it first seemed and she finds that the dead sisters came from a dysfunctional family that has suffered multiple tragedies. Were they all somehow related?
This is a complicated story that seems ripped right out of today's headlines about the Iraq war and the role of contractors in it.
Paretsky and her alter ego Warshawski have a strong interest in and concern about issues related to women, especially violence against women, and that concern is woven through this story. Paretsky skillfully keeps the reader guessing until very near the end and then she brings all the disparate strands of the story together to create the complete picture.
The problem is that the bad guys here are very rich people and very rich people tend to buy their way out of trouble. In the end, Warshawski is able to serve her client well and bring about a kind of justice, but not enough. One is left not really wanting the book to end and wanting very much to know what Warshawski's next case will be.
The opening of this latest book finds V.I. at a club in Chicago where a performance artist who bills herself as the Body Artist is doing her thing. Her "thing" involves appearing naked on stage and allowing members of the audience to draw or write on her body. Everything proceeds about as you would expect in the circumstances until a young woman who is obviously a talented artist starts to draw. What she draws is a woman's face surrounded by flames and by an enigmatic symbol. Her drawing seems to enrage a young Iraq War veteran in the audience who reacts violently before his friends can calm him. A few days later, the woman who drew the picture lies dying in the alley near the club, after having been shot. She is cradled in her dying moments by V.I. Warshawski.
Soon, the police go to arrest the young man who had been disturbed by the drawings. But when they get there, they find him unconscious with a gun that proves to be the murder weapon on his pillow. He remains unconsious and is taken to the hospital under police custody. Did he try to commit suicide or was he deliberately poisoned, causing his coma? And did he kill that woman or has he been framed? If the latter, why?
The man's parents believe he would have been incapable of shooting the woman and they hire V.I. to prove that. As she digs into the case, she finds that the woman who died had an older sister who died in Iraq while working for one of the contractors there. Was there a connection between this older sister and the suspect in the sister's murder?
Things get more and more complicated when Warshawski uncovers evidence that the death in Iraq may not have been what it first seemed and she finds that the dead sisters came from a dysfunctional family that has suffered multiple tragedies. Were they all somehow related?
This is a complicated story that seems ripped right out of today's headlines about the Iraq war and the role of contractors in it.
Paretsky and her alter ego Warshawski have a strong interest in and concern about issues related to women, especially violence against women, and that concern is woven through this story. Paretsky skillfully keeps the reader guessing until very near the end and then she brings all the disparate strands of the story together to create the complete picture.
The problem is that the bad guys here are very rich people and very rich people tend to buy their way out of trouble. In the end, Warshawski is able to serve her client well and bring about a kind of justice, but not enough. One is left not really wanting the book to end and wanting very much to know what Warshawski's next case will be.
nutti72's review against another edition
3.0
Again Sara Paretsky weaves real life concerns into her intricate mysteries. This was no exception from an artsy club in Chicago all the way to Iraq. And back again.
tctimlin's review against another edition
3.0
I thought she did a very good job writing a suspenseful story that, while set in Chicago, dealt with the topic of the injuries we are doing to our soldiers and the huge contractor industry in Iraq and Afghanistan. This was not laugh out loud funny like Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series (I guess Chicago has less comic potential than Trenton), but there were some good funny moments to play off the suspense. I did get a kick out of the fact that one of the villains is named Scalia.
timsprincess's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
melanietownsend's review against another edition
4.0
This is classic Paretsky/Warshawski. If you've liked others, you'll like this one. I haven't read any in several years, but had an itch for a detective novel (inspired by the "Chief's Choice" book club in The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry). I did find it a little hard to keep up with all the characters a few times - Wait....Sal....who's that. I remember Lotty and Max and Mr. Contreras from previous books, but not the others. I saw part of the ending coming but not how, exactly, everything would come together. But Vic and the good guys prevailed.....mostly......
reignwater's review against another edition
Always like VI. Love the fact that she ages and it is part of the story.