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V.I. Warshawski #12
Fire Sale
Coaching the basketball team at her former South Chicago high school, V. I. Warshawski becomes involved in the disadvantaged lives of her teen players and investigates sabotage at the site of the area's largest employer, where an explosion has resulted in the death of the facility's owner and launched a dangerous family rivalry. By the author of Blacklist. 150,000 first printing.
402 pages, Hardcover
First published June 28, 2005
223 people are currently reading
1554 people want to read
About the author
Sara Paretsky
271 books2,370 followersSara Paretsky is a modern American author of detective fiction. Paretsky was raised in Kansas, and graduated from the state university with a degree in political science. She did community service work on the south side of Chicago in 1966 and returned in 1968 to work there. She ultimately completed a Ph.D. in history at the University of Chicago, entitled The Breakdown of Moral Philosophy in New England Before the Civil War, and finally earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. Married to a professor of physics at the University of Chicago, she has lived in Chicago since 1968.
The protagonist of all but two of Paretsky's novels is V.I. Warshawski, a female private investigator. Warshawski's eclectic personality defies easy categorization. She drinks Johnnie Walker Black Label, breaks into houses looking for clues, and can hold her own in a street fight, but also she pays attention to her clothes, sings opera along with the radio, and enjoys her sex life.
Paretsky is credited with transforming the role and image of women in the crime novel. The Winter 2007 issue of Clues: A Journal of Detection is devoted to her work.
Her two books that are non-Warshawski novels are : Ghost Country (1998) and Bleeding Kansas (2008).
The protagonist of all but two of Paretsky's novels is V.I. Warshawski, a female private investigator. Warshawski's eclectic personality defies easy categorization. She drinks Johnnie Walker Black Label, breaks into houses looking for clues, and can hold her own in a street fight, but also she pays attention to her clothes, sings opera along with the radio, and enjoys her sex life.
Paretsky is credited with transforming the role and image of women in the crime novel. The Winter 2007 issue of Clues: A Journal of Detection is devoted to her work.
Her two books that are non-Warshawski novels are : Ghost Country (1998) and Bleeding Kansas (2008).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 289 reviews
April 24, 2020
Book Review
3+ out of 5 stars for Fire Sale, the 12th book in the mystery and thriller "VI Warshawski" series, written in 2005 by Sara Paretsky. I really enjoy this series, and Paretsky's style is quite conducive to my reading habits and approach. I love the characters, the plot and the setting. The voice is strong. The mystery is always good, sometimes too complex. While I normally give most of her books a 4, this one was a little less for me -- purely because of the topic. Whenever a book involves school sports, I tend to find it a tad boring. I'm all for team spirit, and hope that the money falls in the right hands, but like with parts of the book Beartown, I struggled. That said, it's written well and will appeal to many people. VI is fantastic and I always root for her. I also enjoy when the bad guys/girls get their just desserts. Paretsky does an exemplary job covering yet another great social topic in this one -- big business, school sports, young guys approach to pressuring girls and what's really important in the school district? A definite read for fans.
About Me
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by.
3+ out of 5 stars for Fire Sale, the 12th book in the mystery and thriller "VI Warshawski" series, written in 2005 by Sara Paretsky. I really enjoy this series, and Paretsky's style is quite conducive to my reading habits and approach. I love the characters, the plot and the setting. The voice is strong. The mystery is always good, sometimes too complex. While I normally give most of her books a 4, this one was a little less for me -- purely because of the topic. Whenever a book involves school sports, I tend to find it a tad boring. I'm all for team spirit, and hope that the money falls in the right hands, but like with parts of the book Beartown, I struggled. That said, it's written well and will appeal to many people. VI is fantastic and I always root for her. I also enjoy when the bad guys/girls get their just desserts. Paretsky does an exemplary job covering yet another great social topic in this one -- big business, school sports, young guys approach to pressuring girls and what's really important in the school district? A definite read for fans.
About Me
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by.
May 23, 2017
Another very enjoyable outing with V.I.Warshawski, Mr.Contreras, Peppy and Mitch. Sara Paretsky knows how to write a good story with plenty of action and lots of really unlikable baddies. So unlikable that you have no problems when they get killed off or end up in prison.
I must admit that her books are very convoluted and sometimes the endings drag on a bit as every tiny mystery is solved. But that's a price I am willing to pay for an excellent, exciting read.
So I am very pleased to see I still have a good number of books left in the series to read - and that she has just published another one! Happy days:)
I must admit that her books are very convoluted and sometimes the endings drag on a bit as every tiny mystery is solved. But that's a price I am willing to pay for an excellent, exciting read.
So I am very pleased to see I still have a good number of books left in the series to read - and that she has just published another one! Happy days:)
July 10, 2019
I have been surveying some of my favorite series to see what I’ve missed along the way, and I came across Sara Paretsky’s twelfth V.I. Warshawski novel,
Fire Sale
. It has a promising enough premise. Our die-hard Polish-Italian detective from Chicago’s South Side reluctantly takes on a temporary coaching gig from her former high school basketball coach, who has been diagnosed with cancer. The job is voluntary, and the school cannot afford equipment, uniforms, or even decent facilities. The kids include gang members, unwed mothers, and even a few very good athletes. Victoria does her best to whip them into shape, physically and attitudinally.
There is an adage that sports imitate life, but in this case, life gets down and dirty, much more so than these girls do on the basketball court. When a factory owner dies in an early morning fire where the mother of one of her players works just as Warshawski was arriving to talk to him, things get hairy. And this is only the beginning.
I had to look twice to see when this book was published (2005) because much of the plot sounded like something out of the post-2012 era: anti-Hispanic sentiment, ultra-Conservative “Christian morality”, the super-rich oppressing the poor. It’s nothing new, and it has not gotten better.
We get much of the same kind of detective work that we often see in this series. War-shaw-ski, which is how “Billy the Kid” pronounces her name, dragged out so he can say it, unlike any of his very unlikable kin, follows her instincts and informs the cops – in this case, a former lover – after the fact. Her current lover, Morrell, in this case is recovering from injuries of his own, so the two make quite a pair as Vicky gets herself in and out of trouble more than you can shake a stick at. The old standbys – Mr. Contreras, Lotty, and the dogs are as steady and faithful as ever.
I enjoyed the challenges presented by the girls on the team and the parents, plus the return of Coach McFarlane into Warshawski’s life, but the By-Smart family events got tiresome. Young Billy Bysen and Josie Dorrado were gone a tad too long for my liking, and I think Ms Paretsky could have cut out one of the encounters with danger and injury to V.I. and still had a decent story. All in all, though, I found Fire Sale to be a pleasant, quick read. Perhaps it is not the best in a long series, but it’s always fun to see what kind of difficulty our heroine can get herself into and how she manages to wiggle out of it mostly in one piece.
3.5 stars rounded to 4
There is an adage that sports imitate life, but in this case, life gets down and dirty, much more so than these girls do on the basketball court. When a factory owner dies in an early morning fire where the mother of one of her players works just as Warshawski was arriving to talk to him, things get hairy. And this is only the beginning.
I had to look twice to see when this book was published (2005) because much of the plot sounded like something out of the post-2012 era: anti-Hispanic sentiment, ultra-Conservative “Christian morality”, the super-rich oppressing the poor. It’s nothing new, and it has not gotten better.
We get much of the same kind of detective work that we often see in this series. War-shaw-ski, which is how “Billy the Kid” pronounces her name, dragged out so he can say it, unlike any of his very unlikable kin, follows her instincts and informs the cops – in this case, a former lover – after the fact. Her current lover, Morrell, in this case is recovering from injuries of his own, so the two make quite a pair as Vicky gets herself in and out of trouble more than you can shake a stick at. The old standbys – Mr. Contreras, Lotty, and the dogs are as steady and faithful as ever.
I enjoyed the challenges presented by the girls on the team and the parents, plus the return of Coach McFarlane into Warshawski’s life, but the By-Smart family events got tiresome. Young Billy Bysen and Josie Dorrado were gone a tad too long for my liking, and I think Ms Paretsky could have cut out one of the encounters with danger and injury to V.I. and still had a decent story. All in all, though, I found Fire Sale to be a pleasant, quick read. Perhaps it is not the best in a long series, but it’s always fun to see what kind of difficulty our heroine can get herself into and how she manages to wiggle out of it mostly in one piece.
3.5 stars rounded to 4
May 25, 2023
Rich people get away with murder. A billionaire’s family who run Buy Smart or a Walmart empire. They are of course Christians but penny pinching ones. Low wages, shoddy benefits and racist in the bargain. However, Billy the grandson is an anomaly and becomes involved in a relationship with a young Mexican girl and helping the workers.
48 short chapters. Warshawski becomes involved in investigating a fire and death of the owner. She is coaching reluctantly girls from her childhood neighborhood in South Chicago. She becomes entangled with her girls lives and their parents. A murder takes place where Billy must face some unpleasant truths about his father William and their family.
What was realistic is that the murderer would be unlikely to spend a night in jail because his family was rich. A good story where Warshawski gets bruised and battered but comes up smelling of roses even though she spent two times at a rubbish dump.
48 short chapters. Warshawski becomes involved in investigating a fire and death of the owner. She is coaching reluctantly girls from her childhood neighborhood in South Chicago. She becomes entangled with her girls lives and their parents. A murder takes place where Billy must face some unpleasant truths about his father William and their family.
What was realistic is that the murderer would be unlikely to spend a night in jail because his family was rich. A good story where Warshawski gets bruised and battered but comes up smelling of roses even though she spent two times at a rubbish dump.
June 19, 2017
This one was pretty enjoyable.
We have VI dealing with being forced to volunteer (voluntold) as a basketball coach at her old high school.
Not only does she have to deal with girls who are in gangs and others who are trying to raise kids, she gets pulled into a family dispute among the rich when she goes looking for donations to help with equipment, uniforms, and other essentials for the team.
I also like how Paretsky works in VI's long term romance with her boyfriend Morello at this point. I liked we get to see VI making it work with someone and also becoming jealous when a colleague (female) from his times overseas comes to stay. We have a lot of interesting characters in this one and though I found some of the things that happened implausible (hence the 4 stars) I really did enjoy this one.
We have VI dealing with being forced to volunteer (voluntold) as a basketball coach at her old high school.
Not only does she have to deal with girls who are in gangs and others who are trying to raise kids, she gets pulled into a family dispute among the rich when she goes looking for donations to help with equipment, uniforms, and other essentials for the team.
I also like how Paretsky works in VI's long term romance with her boyfriend Morello at this point. I liked we get to see VI making it work with someone and also becoming jealous when a colleague (female) from his times overseas comes to stay. We have a lot of interesting characters in this one and though I found some of the things that happened implausible (hence the 4 stars) I really did enjoy this one.
September 6, 2025
As I continue my track through all of the books in this series in the Audible format in the year 2025, I have increased the star rating of this book more than in any other of the books. I have read so far. I thought this book was most interesting because of the detail that it provided about Life in South Chicago.. this is where VI grew up and she returns in this book both to work on the case that dominates this book but also to coach the girls basketball team in the high school that she attended and where she also played basketball.
____________
Victoria Iphigenia Warshawski. No wonder she goes by V.I.!
This is my first Warshawski. I expect there to be more because I have several more books bought simultaneously at a used book store – like new – and I damn well am going to read them since I’ve already paid for them! A good family friend told me about this spunky woman. V.I. is vying to be one of my new strong woman protagonists.
I still have the couple of new George Pelecanos books to read but it is his macho males that I am trying to escape. I have enjoyed his books for quite a few years and have managed to read them all except the two most recent ones that sit on my shelf waiting their turn. I am ready for the women in my mystery reading to be stronger and in more central roles. I am not looking for women with male macho characteristics. I am looking for women who reject being labeled “girl” and who refuse the role of sex object. And, today, that search has led me to Sara Paretsky.
If Wal-Mart is no friend of yours, you will appreciate their thinly disguised presence under the pseudonym By-Smart. They are in the camp of the bad guys. If you know something about South Side Chicago, this book will get some extra points. And the social issue in this book: poverty; big time, won’t quit, killer poverty. At the same time, and this was less to my interest or liking, we saw the other end of the spectrum: Life of the Rich and Famous, in the parlance of the day, the 1%. The extremely rich who serve weak coffee to Ms. Warshawski. For shame.
I found a lot to like about Fire Sale but I had very high expectations so was not satisfied with the total reading experience. I am giving it three stars (although it had a four star ending) and planning to check out more Paretsky books hoping to see more of the strong side of Private Investigator Warshawski. In the meantime, I also have Sue Grafton and Marcia Muller and Linda Barnes on my list to check out. If you have an additional suggestion of a woman mystery author who has created a strong woman protagonist, I would love to hear from you.
____________
Victoria Iphigenia Warshawski. No wonder she goes by V.I.!
This is my first Warshawski. I expect there to be more because I have several more books bought simultaneously at a used book store – like new – and I damn well am going to read them since I’ve already paid for them! A good family friend told me about this spunky woman. V.I. is vying to be one of my new strong woman protagonists.
I still have the couple of new George Pelecanos books to read but it is his macho males that I am trying to escape. I have enjoyed his books for quite a few years and have managed to read them all except the two most recent ones that sit on my shelf waiting their turn. I am ready for the women in my mystery reading to be stronger and in more central roles. I am not looking for women with male macho characteristics. I am looking for women who reject being labeled “girl” and who refuse the role of sex object. And, today, that search has led me to Sara Paretsky.
If Wal-Mart is no friend of yours, you will appreciate their thinly disguised presence under the pseudonym By-Smart. They are in the camp of the bad guys. If you know something about South Side Chicago, this book will get some extra points. And the social issue in this book: poverty; big time, won’t quit, killer poverty. At the same time, and this was less to my interest or liking, we saw the other end of the spectrum: Life of the Rich and Famous, in the parlance of the day, the 1%. The extremely rich who serve weak coffee to Ms. Warshawski. For shame.
I found a lot to like about Fire Sale but I had very high expectations so was not satisfied with the total reading experience. I am giving it three stars (although it had a four star ending) and planning to check out more Paretsky books hoping to see more of the strong side of Private Investigator Warshawski. In the meantime, I also have Sue Grafton and Marcia Muller and Linda Barnes on my list to check out. If you have an additional suggestion of a woman mystery author who has created a strong woman protagonist, I would love to hear from you.
July 4, 2010
VI loose in her old S. Chicago hood, chasing shadows...
We've read the entire prior dozen entries in Paretsky's Chicago leading lady, private investigator V.I. Warshawski series -- so we guess we're fans at least by default. We were definitely not fond of her just prior "Blacklist" which was so full of politics that the weak story tired us readers almost as much as VI herself. That VI never gets paid except for boring background checks that could hardly keep her going doesn't get in the way of her mostly unfocused romps about Chicago chasing down just about anything that crops up, whether meaningful or even just interesting or not.
Unfortunately, to us "Fire Sale" is yet another undistinguished addition to VI's ramblings. She is coerced into a daily substitute girl's basketball coaching job (for free of course) at her old high school in what is now little better than a ghetto in South Chicago. Next she's asked (by one of the mothers) to check on possible sabotage at a nearby low-brow flag-making company, one with tangential ties to a big, family-owned retail conglomerate called By-Smart, a Wal-Mart lookalike with no attempt to conceal the copycat story line. One of the founder's grandsons is a sensitive guy who has been working at one of their warehouses in (guess where) S. Chicago, and falls for one of the Latino basketball players. Then the flag company blows up, killing its manager -- but for some reason nobody but VI (including the police) is even interested in what surely must be an arson turned murder. And so the plot plods along for a few hundred pages, with plenty of unrelated visits to VI's boyfriend Morrell thrown in for sexual tension. In the end, another murder (as well as several injuries to our leading lady, none of which slow her down of course) finally leads to a few chapters of suspense as the grand unveiling of the whole scheme reveals who the bad guys were and for whom they were working - with few surprises.
This novel just doesn't give us much to care about. A hundred pages of scene setting with the girls basketball team is hardly entertaining, the 200 pages of By-Smart family bickering and grandstanding was nothing but hokey, and in the end, we just wanted it over. If we're being callous about the underlying socio-economic commentary, so be it - that's not why we read detective stories. What we'd really like to see is VI get a case with some mystery to it we would care about, get paid for being the professional investigator she is supposed to be, and stop walking into obvious injury traps without the slightest precaution. We guess we want a plot with more teeth, more plausible detecting on VI's part, and enough suspense to get us reading through her story in a few hours rather than a week or more. We'll conclude this time with the same thought we did last time - maybe VI's writer is getting as tired of her as we are.
We've read the entire prior dozen entries in Paretsky's Chicago leading lady, private investigator V.I. Warshawski series -- so we guess we're fans at least by default. We were definitely not fond of her just prior "Blacklist" which was so full of politics that the weak story tired us readers almost as much as VI herself. That VI never gets paid except for boring background checks that could hardly keep her going doesn't get in the way of her mostly unfocused romps about Chicago chasing down just about anything that crops up, whether meaningful or even just interesting or not.
Unfortunately, to us "Fire Sale" is yet another undistinguished addition to VI's ramblings. She is coerced into a daily substitute girl's basketball coaching job (for free of course) at her old high school in what is now little better than a ghetto in South Chicago. Next she's asked (by one of the mothers) to check on possible sabotage at a nearby low-brow flag-making company, one with tangential ties to a big, family-owned retail conglomerate called By-Smart, a Wal-Mart lookalike with no attempt to conceal the copycat story line. One of the founder's grandsons is a sensitive guy who has been working at one of their warehouses in (guess where) S. Chicago, and falls for one of the Latino basketball players. Then the flag company blows up, killing its manager -- but for some reason nobody but VI (including the police) is even interested in what surely must be an arson turned murder. And so the plot plods along for a few hundred pages, with plenty of unrelated visits to VI's boyfriend Morrell thrown in for sexual tension. In the end, another murder (as well as several injuries to our leading lady, none of which slow her down of course) finally leads to a few chapters of suspense as the grand unveiling of the whole scheme reveals who the bad guys were and for whom they were working - with few surprises.
This novel just doesn't give us much to care about. A hundred pages of scene setting with the girls basketball team is hardly entertaining, the 200 pages of By-Smart family bickering and grandstanding was nothing but hokey, and in the end, we just wanted it over. If we're being callous about the underlying socio-economic commentary, so be it - that's not why we read detective stories. What we'd really like to see is VI get a case with some mystery to it we would care about, get paid for being the professional investigator she is supposed to be, and stop walking into obvious injury traps without the slightest precaution. We guess we want a plot with more teeth, more plausible detecting on VI's part, and enough suspense to get us reading through her story in a few hours rather than a week or more. We'll conclude this time with the same thought we did last time - maybe VI's writer is getting as tired of her as we are.
July 22, 2013
Balancing social commentary with a riveting story can be a difficult challenge for some authors, but a few of them manage to succeed at it. Sara Paretsky, a grande dame of the private eye genre, is one of those authors who manages to do it well.
In her novel "Fire Sale", Paretsky's beloved private eye, V.I. Warshawski, encounters her toughest battle yet: class warfare.
Warshawski reluctantly agrees to coach a girl's basketball team in her old high school in south-side Chicago. Outdated facilities, budgetary cuts, and a neighborhood in which a majority of the kids live below the poverty line make sports an important part of these kids' lives, but they can barely pay for uniforms and equipment, let alone the costs and fees of keeping a sports team going.
Warshawski has the bright idea of trying to recruit "Buffalo" Bill Bysen, the millionaire owner of the By-Smart Corporation, a multi-national that owns and operates a chain of discount box stores, to help fund the team. (Clearly, Bysen is a thinly-veiled Sam Walton, owner of Walmart.) She gets an in with Buffalo Bill, via his grandson, Billy the Kid, who is foreman of the factory at the world headquarters of By-Smart, also conveniently located in south-side Chicago.
Before Warshawski even has a chance to explain the win-win of a By-Smart-sponsored basketball team and the positive PR it would give to By-Smart, Buffalo Bill shoots her down, complaining that he doesn't want to give any more "handouts" to more lazy welfare recipients.
When Billy the Kid goes missing (along with one of her high school players) with some important company documents and a local factory is destroyed by a mysterious explosion, killing the owner, Warshawski soon finds herself with her hands full.
Surprisingly, this is my first Paretsky novel. I usually don't like starting in the middle of the series, but I think I picked a pretty good place to start. Warshawski's tightly-constructed plots and great characters make for a fast-paced read, and her social commentary is sharp while never interfering with the flow of the story. I will definitely keep more Paretsky on my "to-read" list.
In her novel "Fire Sale", Paretsky's beloved private eye, V.I. Warshawski, encounters her toughest battle yet: class warfare.
Warshawski reluctantly agrees to coach a girl's basketball team in her old high school in south-side Chicago. Outdated facilities, budgetary cuts, and a neighborhood in which a majority of the kids live below the poverty line make sports an important part of these kids' lives, but they can barely pay for uniforms and equipment, let alone the costs and fees of keeping a sports team going.
Warshawski has the bright idea of trying to recruit "Buffalo" Bill Bysen, the millionaire owner of the By-Smart Corporation, a multi-national that owns and operates a chain of discount box stores, to help fund the team. (Clearly, Bysen is a thinly-veiled Sam Walton, owner of Walmart.) She gets an in with Buffalo Bill, via his grandson, Billy the Kid, who is foreman of the factory at the world headquarters of By-Smart, also conveniently located in south-side Chicago.
Before Warshawski even has a chance to explain the win-win of a By-Smart-sponsored basketball team and the positive PR it would give to By-Smart, Buffalo Bill shoots her down, complaining that he doesn't want to give any more "handouts" to more lazy welfare recipients.
When Billy the Kid goes missing (along with one of her high school players) with some important company documents and a local factory is destroyed by a mysterious explosion, killing the owner, Warshawski soon finds herself with her hands full.
Surprisingly, this is my first Paretsky novel. I usually don't like starting in the middle of the series, but I think I picked a pretty good place to start. Warshawski's tightly-constructed plots and great characters make for a fast-paced read, and her social commentary is sharp while never interfering with the flow of the story. I will definitely keep more Paretsky on my "to-read" list.
October 25, 2013
It is always a hit or miss with Sara Paretsky's V I Warshawski. I understand that most authors are Liberal and I am not. That said, I like a good story. And if the author inserts her/his views into the protagonist, I don't mind those views if it is pertinent to the character and to the storyline. And Warshawski is the absolute opposite of me. But I do love her. Yet her feminist views didn't fit in Fire Sale. The storyline was good at first; the plotting fast and furious. Then, in my opinion Warshawski just didn't fit in with the story lines.
She's jealous of Morrell's reporter friend. I think V I is a confident women who has a bleeding heart. Then, why does she put a good fuss over taking over her friend's coaching job? Her friend is sick, for heaven's sake. In past books, she adores her friend. Without her V I would not have made it out of the South side of Chicago. No college education, no home, nada. I didn't understand that at all.
For me, Fire Sale was too long and boring. The Warehouse fire, the religious but conscience lacking Bysens, the mysterious Hispanic Pastor, her girls all do finally come together. I think I would have run my nails down a chalkboard if I had to read another page in this novel.
She's jealous of Morrell's reporter friend. I think V I is a confident women who has a bleeding heart. Then, why does she put a good fuss over taking over her friend's coaching job? Her friend is sick, for heaven's sake. In past books, she adores her friend. Without her V I would not have made it out of the South side of Chicago. No college education, no home, nada. I didn't understand that at all.
For me, Fire Sale was too long and boring. The Warehouse fire, the religious but conscience lacking Bysens, the mysterious Hispanic Pastor, her girls all do finally come together. I think I would have run my nails down a chalkboard if I had to read another page in this novel.
August 9, 2010
When V.I. Warshawski returns to her old South Chicago neighborhood to fill in for her old high school basketball coach, she's quickly drawn into a web of mystery centered on giant discount retailer By-Smart. As always, V.I. is her old crusading self and can't resist the opportunity to investigate both By-Smart and the mysterious burning of a local company, as well as aid a pair of star-crossed lovers.
I've been impressed at the high standard Paretsky has managed to maintain in what has turned into a fairly long-running series (13 books by my count), and Fire Sale is no exception. It's vintage Paretsky, with a tight mystery, vivid setting, and the complex characters her readers have grown to expect.
I've been impressed at the high standard Paretsky has managed to maintain in what has turned into a fairly long-running series (13 books by my count), and Fire Sale is no exception. It's vintage Paretsky, with a tight mystery, vivid setting, and the complex characters her readers have grown to expect.
August 15, 2009
Another page-turner from Sara Paretsky. I found this one a little hard to get into. However, from around half-way in I really couldn't put it down.
The main character, V.I. Warshawski, is so abrasive, that I really have to be in a certain mood to be able to cope with the language and the violence.
That said, this is a really interesting plot which involves three main families and their behaviour towards each other and the outside world, and, most notably towards VI.
How she survives to become part of another plot defeats me, but I look forward to reading another story sometime.
The main character, V.I. Warshawski, is so abrasive, that I really have to be in a certain mood to be able to cope with the language and the violence.
That said, this is a really interesting plot which involves three main families and their behaviour towards each other and the outside world, and, most notably towards VI.
How she survives to become part of another plot defeats me, but I look forward to reading another story sometime.
February 18, 2020
VI Warshaski is a clever PI and such a generous kind person. The mystery is complicated and of course I didn’t figure it out. I had not met her boyfriend Morrell before and I liked their relationship. Of course Mr. Contreras and the dogs are in the story and it’s always good to see them. Another thoroughly enjoyable book.
March 11, 2013
stopped reading after 50+ pages ... a mixed up mess of a story. It looks like I'm the odd one out on this one. Most GR reviews are positive.
July 23, 2022
A consistently good detective series.
May 4, 2019
Gotta love this Chicago detective! An afternoon's read, but worth it all. Here's a thing a wrote a while ago:
https://annarborobserver.com/articles...
https://annarborobserver.com/articles...
August 27, 2024
I see why V.I. Warshawsky is popular, and why she's often described as "the only feminist detective", or even "the first feminist detective". I like many of her quirks. There are, however, some deeply unrealistic aspects of her work.
First, however, the good parts. The detective and author's focus on relationships, while likely limiting the male audience, captures some real detective work quite well. The character's personal prudery in many areas makes up for her more "liberated" (and realistically, stressful and sadly solitary even when she's with someone) lifestyle. I love the authentic U.Chicago and European snobbery aspects of her.
Warshawski even, though she has a background as an NCAA athlete, has a good reason why she can sometimes overpower naturally stronger men. Most brawlers could take most WNBA athletes while they were still competing, after all, much less if one were to hospitalize the ladies with serious injuries several times in a few weeks. Warshawski has learnt to, if not entirely overcome, at least seriously neutralize that disadvantage. She also has a firearm, though she's loathe to use it "bully" even the most richly deserving punk.
I also really, really appreciate that, while Mrs. Paretsky has deeply help political convictions, that she doesn't hate people. There were several characters who richly deserved scorn and comeuppance upon whom the author and Warshawski (it would be Warshawskowa if she were more Polish, but while she loves her father, she clearly takes after her mother, who died when she was quite young, and she grew up American - neutering names is what we do here) have mercy, mercy mostly unearned.
Now, as for serious unreality ... if, as here, a Wal-Mart style family business that so openly supports some kind of nondenominational Pentecostal Evangelicism were conducting criminal activity and even harassing competitors by dumping garbage in their lots, there's NO WAY an Illinois prosecutor, especially one in Chicago, wouldn't be thrilled to go after them. The very idea that they could buy their freedom somehow is ludicrous. Money helps in law, up to a point, but then it just becomes a target. Law actually has rules and one cannot drag out arson, homicide, or even conspiracy charges forever. Not even in corrupt Chicago. Certainly not in a corrupt Chicago that managed to (very illegally) ban Wal-Marts and Chick-Fil-A's for pursuing politics very much like those Paretsky disdains from an uncomprehending remove, and which in her world along with money would make them bulletproof. Relatedly, the very idea that one could use influence with legislators to have a US citizen deported is paranoiac fantasy. ICE CAN screw up and deport a citizen from time to time, but not knowingly and not under circumstances like those imagined by Warshawski.
And then there's Dr. "Lotty" Hershel. It is believable that Warshawski's half Jewish mother would have fled Italy in 1941, but not so much BECAUSE she was Jewish. After all, that wasn't Mussolini's bag, and until the war started to go VERY badly indeed for Italy, he wanted to lead a different vision of fascism, one that discriminated against a lot of folks including blonde people, but not fellow "Mediterraneans". It is VERY hard to believe that that the experience of losing much of one's family TO THE Nazis in Vienna and living there for some years as things progressed to the Nuremburg Laws and worse would make Lotty actually push abortions (rather than quietly tolerate them in the way a major female antagonist hypocritically does in the story). The Nazis had to compete for votes early in their history, and their issues were gay rights (look up Ernst Julius Gunther Rohm - umlaut over the o - and how Adolf started persecuting non-Nazi gays to get Communist electoral support and sideline his only real intra-party rival), euthanasia, both voluntary and involuntary, and abortion, especially of the "unfit". There's a reason Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger had so many Nazi guest columnists in her publications and why she was one in so many of theirs. Now, irreligious Jews like Dr. Herschel, always called Lotty by Warshawski even though one gets the impression she'd bristle at the familiarity in many a setting, generally also supported most of those causes BEFORE THE EXPERIENCE OF THE Nazis. It would take remarkably pig-headedness in what was a very little girl when ghettos were being imposed in Vienna, much less the Camps, to cling to that belief in the face of a regime and party that aggressively pushed abortions in a way that only the Chinese Communists have equaled for any length of time.
And the economic assumptions ... they're terrible. Paretsky has plenty of highly accomplished economists she could consult with to make her assumptions even mildly plausible. She could also go to sociology faculty or people working in The Harris School of Public Policy. She doesn't. She missed some real opportunities. Even the most progressive of faculty are familiar with James Buchanan's Public Choice theory (here's https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/c... a taste if you, like I, are into such things, though the field is most notorious for exploring reasons for and modalities of corruption in both public and private entities). It features heavily in all sorts of conspiracy theory fever dreams. And it is a plausible explanation of how people actually behave. There are Literature professors at U. Chicago who even showed how the modern convention of including a woman for every sub genre of a review has actually DECREASED the prominence of the best female writers (who ever hears of Andre Norton these days in Sci Fi or Fantasy -whereas in the sexist 1960s and 1970s she was everywhere and her work holds up on its own merits, but it isn't feminist enough or something). Consulting these people would make Paretsky's work less obvious and more real. Verisimilitude would help. It would help a lot.
To be fair, Paretsky MAY be allowing her main character to engage in unreal worries that are proven false ... and that could work for one or two things. But this is not one or two things.
The book has well-written psychological drama. It's not Christie or Conan Doyle style clue spotting. It's certainly not as politically accurate as their work, and it's as criminologically off (there's no "Napoleon of crime" because criminals tend to be disordered, and even Communist Party/al Quaeda types tend to factionalize and slaughter each other) as Sir Arthur's work. But the psychological insights aren't terrible. They'd do better in a science fiction setting, though C.J. Cherryh has largely claimed that space with superior characterization to the point of capturing alien thought processes and people trying to adapt to and understand those. The science fiction setting would help because ludicrous real world assumptions, like a Walton family mafia acting like they're aristos in The Game of Thrones and literally getting away with mafia tactics would not be immediately implausible. For the feminism of this sort to "work" in the real world, Paretsky could invent an alternate world where such things work. Heinlein's sexual liberation ethos reads a lot like a #MeToo nightmare in the real world, but in sci-fi, as in psychology papers, it can seem appealing. There's a reason for that. Paretsky would have done well to have learnt that lesson.
Imagine if Jim Butcher and Sara Paretsky would write a short story or two each featuring each other's chief character. That could be fun. And Harry Dresden's world has magic and mobsters.
First, however, the good parts. The detective and author's focus on relationships, while likely limiting the male audience, captures some real detective work quite well. The character's personal prudery in many areas makes up for her more "liberated" (and realistically, stressful and sadly solitary even when she's with someone) lifestyle. I love the authentic U.Chicago and European snobbery aspects of her.
Warshawski even, though she has a background as an NCAA athlete, has a good reason why she can sometimes overpower naturally stronger men. Most brawlers could take most WNBA athletes while they were still competing, after all, much less if one were to hospitalize the ladies with serious injuries several times in a few weeks. Warshawski has learnt to, if not entirely overcome, at least seriously neutralize that disadvantage. She also has a firearm, though she's loathe to use it "bully" even the most richly deserving punk.
I also really, really appreciate that, while Mrs. Paretsky has deeply help political convictions, that she doesn't hate people. There were several characters who richly deserved scorn and comeuppance upon whom the author and Warshawski (it would be Warshawskowa if she were more Polish, but while she loves her father, she clearly takes after her mother, who died when she was quite young, and she grew up American - neutering names is what we do here) have mercy, mercy mostly unearned.
Now, as for serious unreality ... if, as here, a Wal-Mart style family business that so openly supports some kind of nondenominational Pentecostal Evangelicism were conducting criminal activity and even harassing competitors by dumping garbage in their lots, there's NO WAY an Illinois prosecutor, especially one in Chicago, wouldn't be thrilled to go after them. The very idea that they could buy their freedom somehow is ludicrous. Money helps in law, up to a point, but then it just becomes a target. Law actually has rules and one cannot drag out arson, homicide, or even conspiracy charges forever. Not even in corrupt Chicago. Certainly not in a corrupt Chicago that managed to (very illegally) ban Wal-Marts and Chick-Fil-A's for pursuing politics very much like those Paretsky disdains from an uncomprehending remove, and which in her world along with money would make them bulletproof. Relatedly, the very idea that one could use influence with legislators to have a US citizen deported is paranoiac fantasy. ICE CAN screw up and deport a citizen from time to time, but not knowingly and not under circumstances like those imagined by Warshawski.
And then there's Dr. "Lotty" Hershel. It is believable that Warshawski's half Jewish mother would have fled Italy in 1941, but not so much BECAUSE she was Jewish. After all, that wasn't Mussolini's bag, and until the war started to go VERY badly indeed for Italy, he wanted to lead a different vision of fascism, one that discriminated against a lot of folks including blonde people, but not fellow "Mediterraneans". It is VERY hard to believe that that the experience of losing much of one's family TO THE Nazis in Vienna and living there for some years as things progressed to the Nuremburg Laws and worse would make Lotty actually push abortions (rather than quietly tolerate them in the way a major female antagonist hypocritically does in the story). The Nazis had to compete for votes early in their history, and their issues were gay rights (look up Ernst Julius Gunther Rohm - umlaut over the o - and how Adolf started persecuting non-Nazi gays to get Communist electoral support and sideline his only real intra-party rival), euthanasia, both voluntary and involuntary, and abortion, especially of the "unfit". There's a reason Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger had so many Nazi guest columnists in her publications and why she was one in so many of theirs. Now, irreligious Jews like Dr. Herschel, always called Lotty by Warshawski even though one gets the impression she'd bristle at the familiarity in many a setting, generally also supported most of those causes BEFORE THE EXPERIENCE OF THE Nazis. It would take remarkably pig-headedness in what was a very little girl when ghettos were being imposed in Vienna, much less the Camps, to cling to that belief in the face of a regime and party that aggressively pushed abortions in a way that only the Chinese Communists have equaled for any length of time.
And the economic assumptions ... they're terrible. Paretsky has plenty of highly accomplished economists she could consult with to make her assumptions even mildly plausible. She could also go to sociology faculty or people working in The Harris School of Public Policy. She doesn't. She missed some real opportunities. Even the most progressive of faculty are familiar with James Buchanan's Public Choice theory (here's https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/c... a taste if you, like I, are into such things, though the field is most notorious for exploring reasons for and modalities of corruption in both public and private entities). It features heavily in all sorts of conspiracy theory fever dreams. And it is a plausible explanation of how people actually behave. There are Literature professors at U. Chicago who even showed how the modern convention of including a woman for every sub genre of a review has actually DECREASED the prominence of the best female writers (who ever hears of Andre Norton these days in Sci Fi or Fantasy -whereas in the sexist 1960s and 1970s she was everywhere and her work holds up on its own merits, but it isn't feminist enough or something). Consulting these people would make Paretsky's work less obvious and more real. Verisimilitude would help. It would help a lot.
To be fair, Paretsky MAY be allowing her main character to engage in unreal worries that are proven false ... and that could work for one or two things. But this is not one or two things.
The book has well-written psychological drama. It's not Christie or Conan Doyle style clue spotting. It's certainly not as politically accurate as their work, and it's as criminologically off (there's no "Napoleon of crime" because criminals tend to be disordered, and even Communist Party/al Quaeda types tend to factionalize and slaughter each other) as Sir Arthur's work. But the psychological insights aren't terrible. They'd do better in a science fiction setting, though C.J. Cherryh has largely claimed that space with superior characterization to the point of capturing alien thought processes and people trying to adapt to and understand those. The science fiction setting would help because ludicrous real world assumptions, like a Walton family mafia acting like they're aristos in The Game of Thrones and literally getting away with mafia tactics would not be immediately implausible. For the feminism of this sort to "work" in the real world, Paretsky could invent an alternate world where such things work. Heinlein's sexual liberation ethos reads a lot like a #MeToo nightmare in the real world, but in sci-fi, as in psychology papers, it can seem appealing. There's a reason for that. Paretsky would have done well to have learnt that lesson.
Imagine if Jim Butcher and Sara Paretsky would write a short story or two each featuring each other's chief character. That could be fun. And Harry Dresden's world has magic and mobsters.
August 23, 2017
It has been years since I last read a V.I. Washawski story, too long really. This one was great and I really loved the narrator. It was a long and winding story, but the many characters were all so well developed it really kept me guessing who the bad guy(s) were.
Many of these (if not all) of this series are set in south Chicago, which according to the stories has seen better days. Neighborhoods have deteriorated, people with few skills can't find jobs. Naturally, crime is high.
It opens with V.I. somehow, coaching a high school girls' basketball team. Many of her player are Hispanic, some even bring their babies to practice. V.I. used to play basketball at this same high school and her coach is still a close friend. She tries hard to find a business to fund the team which leads her to a big box company called By Smart. She attempts to get financing from them and in the process gets involved with the owners. They are an extended family, some of whom seem very entitled and may be using questionable business practices. The young grandson of the CEO though, is different and tries to help V.I. get the funding. They meet because he is working at a warehouse during a mandated post-high-school year "learning the business". But, thanks to the plot line, he is different, has made friends through his church that have given him a different perspective of how the company treats its employees.
Things get VERY complicated, perhaps even convoluted, but I won't spoil the fun. Check this book out, you won't be disappointed.
Many of these (if not all) of this series are set in south Chicago, which according to the stories has seen better days. Neighborhoods have deteriorated, people with few skills can't find jobs. Naturally, crime is high.
It opens with V.I. somehow, coaching a high school girls' basketball team. Many of her player are Hispanic, some even bring their babies to practice. V.I. used to play basketball at this same high school and her coach is still a close friend. She tries hard to find a business to fund the team which leads her to a big box company called By Smart. She attempts to get financing from them and in the process gets involved with the owners. They are an extended family, some of whom seem very entitled and may be using questionable business practices. The young grandson of the CEO though, is different and tries to help V.I. get the funding. They meet because he is working at a warehouse during a mandated post-high-school year "learning the business". But, thanks to the plot line, he is different, has made friends through his church that have given him a different perspective of how the company treats its employees.
Things get VERY complicated, perhaps even convoluted, but I won't spoil the fun. Check this book out, you won't be disappointed.
December 6, 2012
As a long time fan of Sara Paretsky's V. I. Warshawski, I enjoyed this volume in the series.
Seeking funds for a team she is unexpectedly coaching, V. I. seeks out retail discound giant By-Smart. (Does that rhyme with something? Not real subtle, herer!) It soon becomes obvious that By-Smart has some activites going on that they don't want made public. V. I. can't resist a puzzle and starts snooping around.....
As usual in this series, there is a large and varied cast of characters. I especially liked the scne where V. I. is offered work by one of the wealthy families--and they are astounded when she refuses! They are so used to people jumping when they snap their fingers.......
The plot is good and I will say no more to avoid spoilers. I always find the plots in the V. I. series very compelling if sometimes a bit complex.
All in all a good mystery thriller suited for most mystery fans. Some violence and a bit of tough language but not too graphic...suitable for age 16 up.
Seeking funds for a team she is unexpectedly coaching, V. I. seeks out retail discound giant By-Smart. (Does that rhyme with something? Not real subtle, herer!) It soon becomes obvious that By-Smart has some activites going on that they don't want made public. V. I. can't resist a puzzle and starts snooping around.....
As usual in this series, there is a large and varied cast of characters. I especially liked the scne where V. I. is offered work by one of the wealthy families--and they are astounded when she refuses! They are so used to people jumping when they snap their fingers.......
The plot is good and I will say no more to avoid spoilers. I always find the plots in the V. I. series very compelling if sometimes a bit complex.
All in all a good mystery thriller suited for most mystery fans. Some violence and a bit of tough language but not too graphic...suitable for age 16 up.
January 26, 2013
Wonderful! Refreshing. The main character is a private detective and she gets into a case she never intended to and cracks it wide open. The adventure is great. The author has unique and refreshing language. After all the books I read, it is nice to not have to use such foul language to get your point across. I don't know how to describe this book, it was wonderul, leaving things that should be left to your imagination, left to your imagination! It's fun, it's adventurous, it's heart warming, it's all around good. Bravo Sara Paretsky!
June 20, 2020
This was a satisfyingly complex case for V. I. Warshawski to solve, although she sustained even more injuries than usual. The plot is based in South Chicago, which is closer to my home turf, so I felt like I knew the streets better. The Chicago Skyway looms over the neighborhood--and the plot. It's time for V. I. to stop using a Palm Pilot, though, and get a smart phone! Looking forward to the newest novel.
November 26, 2007
I enjoy this author very much, try to pick up her newest book as soon as I see it.
June 25, 2019
This book was like watching a "Captain Planet" cartoon with cartoon bad guys doing cartoon things to obstruct an overly simplified good cause.
January 3, 2020
La detective feminista otra vez encendida en una historia que es 'Fuego'
Es la segunda novela que leo de Sara Paretsky y descubro que me gusta un poco más. No sé qué opinaré si alguna vez llego a completar las 20 partes de la serie de su detective feminista estrella Vic Warshawski, pero por ahora las esperanzas se mantienen altas. En ‘Fuego’, la autora se mete más de lleno en problemáticas sociales, como la pobreza del sur de Chicago, mientras continúa enarbolando el misterio y la acción que parecen perseguir a su protagonista. De hecho, desde el comienzo se siente el fuego y la adrenalina.
Esta vuelta, en lo que es la 12da parte de su serie (publicada en 2005), Warshawski se ve prácticamente forzada a regresar a South Chicago, el barrio donde nació. Ya como una detective de consumada trayectoria, Vic se encuentra con el desafío sorpresivo de tener que ser la entrenadora del equipo de básquet femenino de su vieja escuela. La relación con las adolescentes que lo integran la llevará a inmiscuirse en distintos temas que son una constante allí: las drogas, la delincuencia, el fracaso escolar, el abandono, el embarazo adolescente, el desempleo, etc. Mientras atiende esto, la corrupción y el poder inescrupuloso de una familia empresaria rica de Chicago será el otro gran problema a resolver. La conjugación de estas dos vertientes es lo que condimenta esta historia. Y la narrativa de Paretsky parece no tener inconvenientes para hacerlo de buena manera.
Como ya señalé en mi reseña de ‘Marcas de fuego’, otra de las aventuras de la detective feminista, la autora maneja bien el arte de la construcción y descripción de personajes, así como también el desarrollo de la trama. A veces la historia parece que se complica demasiado, pero luego todo tiene su correcta y acertada explicación (con algunas excepciones); algo que mantiene al lector enganchado, con ganas de saber cómo se desenvolverá todo.
Lo que sí resulta medio confuso, y justo tiene que ver con la trama, es el comienzo. Porque la historia en sí recién empieza por la mitad del libro y la primera parte es un flashback. Una audaz decisión de Paretsky que le pone la cara del dios romano Jano a esa etapa del libro. Es decir, por un lado, el recurso es genial, porque va a los bifes ya en las primeras páginas; por el otro, cuesta un tiempo agarrarle el hilo al argumento. Una vez que se salva esa distancia, el quilombo cobra sentido y las tinieblas se aclaran.
Al calificar la novela anterior que leí de ella, afirmé que había que haber vivido en Chicago para disfrutarla más. Creo que en ‘Fuego’ eso no hace falta. Al agregarle la conexión con las jóvenes del equipo de básquet, la narración suma un costado más humano y emocional que suma (quizás no al nivel de un Khaled Hosseini, pero suficiente para una novela policial).
Otro punto a favor más es que hay un par de personajes que se repiten del universo Paretsky y uno parece ya conocerlos. Algo que supongo es consecuencia del gran desarrollo que hace la autora de sus personajes. El viejo Contreras, por ejemplo, el vecino del piso de abajo de la detective.
En fin, una novela muy buena, por tiempos confusa, pero que es una excelente opción si están a la búsqueda de una historia de detectives con todas las letras. Seguro que más adelante retomaremos con alguna de las aventuras de Victoria Iphigenia Warshawski. Vale la pena.
Mi calificación para el libro: 4 estrellitas.
Es la segunda novela que leo de Sara Paretsky y descubro que me gusta un poco más. No sé qué opinaré si alguna vez llego a completar las 20 partes de la serie de su detective feminista estrella Vic Warshawski, pero por ahora las esperanzas se mantienen altas. En ‘Fuego’, la autora se mete más de lleno en problemáticas sociales, como la pobreza del sur de Chicago, mientras continúa enarbolando el misterio y la acción que parecen perseguir a su protagonista. De hecho, desde el comienzo se siente el fuego y la adrenalina.
Esta vuelta, en lo que es la 12da parte de su serie (publicada en 2005), Warshawski se ve prácticamente forzada a regresar a South Chicago, el barrio donde nació. Ya como una detective de consumada trayectoria, Vic se encuentra con el desafío sorpresivo de tener que ser la entrenadora del equipo de básquet femenino de su vieja escuela. La relación con las adolescentes que lo integran la llevará a inmiscuirse en distintos temas que son una constante allí: las drogas, la delincuencia, el fracaso escolar, el abandono, el embarazo adolescente, el desempleo, etc. Mientras atiende esto, la corrupción y el poder inescrupuloso de una familia empresaria rica de Chicago será el otro gran problema a resolver. La conjugación de estas dos vertientes es lo que condimenta esta historia. Y la narrativa de Paretsky parece no tener inconvenientes para hacerlo de buena manera.
Como ya señalé en mi reseña de ‘Marcas de fuego’, otra de las aventuras de la detective feminista, la autora maneja bien el arte de la construcción y descripción de personajes, así como también el desarrollo de la trama. A veces la historia parece que se complica demasiado, pero luego todo tiene su correcta y acertada explicación (con algunas excepciones); algo que mantiene al lector enganchado, con ganas de saber cómo se desenvolverá todo.
Lo que sí resulta medio confuso, y justo tiene que ver con la trama, es el comienzo. Porque la historia en sí recién empieza por la mitad del libro y la primera parte es un flashback. Una audaz decisión de Paretsky que le pone la cara del dios romano Jano a esa etapa del libro. Es decir, por un lado, el recurso es genial, porque va a los bifes ya en las primeras páginas; por el otro, cuesta un tiempo agarrarle el hilo al argumento. Una vez que se salva esa distancia, el quilombo cobra sentido y las tinieblas se aclaran.
Al calificar la novela anterior que leí de ella, afirmé que había que haber vivido en Chicago para disfrutarla más. Creo que en ‘Fuego’ eso no hace falta. Al agregarle la conexión con las jóvenes del equipo de básquet, la narración suma un costado más humano y emocional que suma (quizás no al nivel de un Khaled Hosseini, pero suficiente para una novela policial).
Otro punto a favor más es que hay un par de personajes que se repiten del universo Paretsky y uno parece ya conocerlos. Algo que supongo es consecuencia del gran desarrollo que hace la autora de sus personajes. El viejo Contreras, por ejemplo, el vecino del piso de abajo de la detective.
En fin, una novela muy buena, por tiempos confusa, pero que es una excelente opción si están a la búsqueda de una historia de detectives con todas las letras. Seguro que más adelante retomaremos con alguna de las aventuras de Victoria Iphigenia Warshawski. Vale la pena.
Mi calificación para el libro: 4 estrellitas.
June 20, 2020
2006 [or 2005]
Another good one.
I like the way Paretsky works in all kinds of social issues. Here we have teenage pregnancy; the evils of capitalism [exploitation of the working class by business owners squeezing out maximum profit]; girls' basketball at an underfunded school in South Chicago. Business and factories close, arson and murder are committed but draw little attention. The area is underserved as a police district, illustrated clearly by events in the plot but also discussed explicitly in conversations between V.I. and her ex-boyfriend who has just been made commander of this area. Religion gets in too, in the form of a Hispanic Catholic priest trying in his way to promote social justice, and in the form of the 'strong family values' of the capitalist family. Exploitation of immigrant and migrant workers, at one point even using the "jefe" system, where a middleman is hired to find [illegal] workers and the company pays the jefe rather than the workers directly. A very current issue, as this same unjust labor system is now coming to light in the meat-packing plants of Germany, the U.S. and maybe even the Netherlands.
How can a mother support her children [and often grandchildren] on such a salary, and what chance do her children have of finishing high school let alone going to college; we see this clearly.
It's exciting to see how V.I. is able to show some muscle/authority when around punks, misogynists, cut-throat businessmen. She does keep going into clearly dangerous situations with no backup, but I guess she wouldn't be able to afford to pay a partner to back her up and it wouldn't be nearly as exciting if she always played it safe. The severe beatings and shootings she undergoes in this book seem really extreme, overstretching the imagination, but OK, it's fiction, right?
Presumably the neighborhood is now majority Hispanic, though I don't think this term is in the book; we see it in the last names and the spoken Spanish of the characters. The enormous business empire is presumably modeled after Wal-mart, although the name Wal-mart is actually mentioned in the book one single time as a competitor, perhaps as a precaution...
I felt the relationship between V.I. and her current boyfriend [who had 'served' in Afghanistan] was too self-consciously described; probably the publisher thinks a love interest is essential, but I think I wouldn't have missed it.
It always feels good to have Mr Contreras and V.I.'s dogs involved in the plot, rather substantially this time.
Another good one.
I like the way Paretsky works in all kinds of social issues. Here we have teenage pregnancy; the evils of capitalism [exploitation of the working class by business owners squeezing out maximum profit]; girls' basketball at an underfunded school in South Chicago. Business and factories close, arson and murder are committed but draw little attention. The area is underserved as a police district, illustrated clearly by events in the plot but also discussed explicitly in conversations between V.I. and her ex-boyfriend who has just been made commander of this area. Religion gets in too, in the form of a Hispanic Catholic priest trying in his way to promote social justice, and in the form of the 'strong family values' of the capitalist family. Exploitation of immigrant and migrant workers, at one point even using the "jefe" system, where a middleman is hired to find [illegal] workers and the company pays the jefe rather than the workers directly. A very current issue, as this same unjust labor system is now coming to light in the meat-packing plants of Germany, the U.S. and maybe even the Netherlands.
How can a mother support her children [and often grandchildren] on such a salary, and what chance do her children have of finishing high school let alone going to college; we see this clearly.
It's exciting to see how V.I. is able to show some muscle/authority when around punks, misogynists, cut-throat businessmen. She does keep going into clearly dangerous situations with no backup, but I guess she wouldn't be able to afford to pay a partner to back her up and it wouldn't be nearly as exciting if she always played it safe. The severe beatings and shootings she undergoes in this book seem really extreme, overstretching the imagination, but OK, it's fiction, right?
Presumably the neighborhood is now majority Hispanic, though I don't think this term is in the book; we see it in the last names and the spoken Spanish of the characters. The enormous business empire is presumably modeled after Wal-mart, although the name Wal-mart is actually mentioned in the book one single time as a competitor, perhaps as a precaution...
I felt the relationship between V.I. and her current boyfriend [who had 'served' in Afghanistan] was too self-consciously described; probably the publisher thinks a love interest is essential, but I think I wouldn't have missed it.
It always feels good to have Mr Contreras and V.I.'s dogs involved in the plot, rather substantially this time.
August 21, 2024
I appreciate going after the WalMart Waltons as sanctimoniously religious self-righteously right-wing regressively racist pieces of shit. Of course this family is not that family, legally, because this novel acknowledges that WalMart also exists in this world, along with BuySmart. Sure Jan.
Another thing I appreciate is that to a Swedish speaker, BuySmart sounds exactly like Bajs-mart, which means "Shit-mart."
What I don't appreciate are trope-laden takes on Hispanics. It's pretty ugly, really. In no way does it agree with the rich fucks' prejudices, but there are also no functional families nor functional relationships among the Hispanics :-( Maybe it was around the 10th time they called each other 'wetback' that I decided to dock a star for this. I'm sure that will break Paretsky's heart.
I like these books a lot, and I would like to think that Warshawski's the one in retrograde and will learn. But signs indicate that it's Paretsky. Warshawski walks into situations already richly riddled with tropes and tries to fix everything for these poor dysfunctional pitiable people. The Irish priest is way less tropey and the kids in his church are little rehabilitated angels. This difference now that I see it kind of makes me want to barf.
So I think Paretsky is approaching Warshawski as if 80s-90s Hillary Clinton - that sort of retrograde white feminist - grew up street-fighting. It's the sort of feminism that's "fine," but carried (past tense!) no guarantee of inclusivity as any history of 70s+ feminism will richly demonstrate, and thus the sort of feminism that could exist alongside +7% of white women voting for Tr*mp in 2020. Warshawski never would demean herself by voting for the orange pig, but the gap was still +2 in 2016 when Hillary herself was running.
It's a strange thing, sort of attitudes frozen on the page. These sorts of feminists were essential, no doubt, perhaps a necessary stage, painful in retrospect, that we had to go through, like the early racist suffragettes. Now they have grown and are loving Harris as much as the rest of us. I *hope* the books show this same sort of growth, soon.
Another thing I appreciate is that to a Swedish speaker, BuySmart sounds exactly like Bajs-mart, which means "Shit-mart."
What I don't appreciate are trope-laden takes on Hispanics. It's pretty ugly, really. In no way does it agree with the rich fucks' prejudices, but there are also no functional families nor functional relationships among the Hispanics :-( Maybe it was around the 10th time they called each other 'wetback' that I decided to dock a star for this. I'm sure that will break Paretsky's heart.
I like these books a lot, and I would like to think that Warshawski's the one in retrograde and will learn. But signs indicate that it's Paretsky. Warshawski walks into situations already richly riddled with tropes and tries to fix everything for these poor dysfunctional pitiable people. The Irish priest is way less tropey and the kids in his church are little rehabilitated angels. This difference now that I see it kind of makes me want to barf.
So I think Paretsky is approaching Warshawski as if 80s-90s Hillary Clinton - that sort of retrograde white feminist - grew up street-fighting. It's the sort of feminism that's "fine," but carried (past tense!) no guarantee of inclusivity as any history of 70s+ feminism will richly demonstrate, and thus the sort of feminism that could exist alongside +7% of white women voting for Tr*mp in 2020. Warshawski never would demean herself by voting for the orange pig, but the gap was still +2 in 2016 when Hillary herself was running.
It's a strange thing, sort of attitudes frozen on the page. These sorts of feminists were essential, no doubt, perhaps a necessary stage, painful in retrospect, that we had to go through, like the early racist suffragettes. Now they have grown and are loving Harris as much as the rest of us. I *hope* the books show this same sort of growth, soon.
January 10, 2021
. This one hits on themes of corporations dominating livelihoods in immigrant neighborhoods, and immigrants’ fears of complaining.
And then this compelling conclusion, where Victoria’s doctor friend Lotty gives a glimpse into her grandfather’s wisdom, shared during the Holocaust in the ghetto in Vienna: “During the terrible winter we spent together in 1938, the fifteen of us crowded into two rooms in the Vienna ghetto, he gathered all his grandchildren together and told us that the rabbis say when you die and present yourself before the Divine Justice, you will be asked four questions: [the last one is:] And most important, did you live in hope for the coming of the Messiah? We were living then without food, let alone hope, but he refused to live hopelessly, my Zeyde Radbuka. “Me, I don’t believe in God, let alone the coming of the Messiah. But I did learn from my zeyde that you must live in hope, the hoe that your work can make a difference in the world. Yours does, Victoria….If the Messiah ever does come, it will only be because of people like you, doing these small, hard jobs, making small changes in this hard world.” (page 402)
And then this compelling conclusion, where Victoria’s doctor friend Lotty gives a glimpse into her grandfather’s wisdom, shared during the Holocaust in the ghetto in Vienna: “During the terrible winter we spent together in 1938, the fifteen of us crowded into two rooms in the Vienna ghetto, he gathered all his grandchildren together and told us that the rabbis say when you die and present yourself before the Divine Justice, you will be asked four questions: [the last one is:] And most important, did you live in hope for the coming of the Messiah? We were living then without food, let alone hope, but he refused to live hopelessly, my Zeyde Radbuka. “Me, I don’t believe in God, let alone the coming of the Messiah. But I did learn from my zeyde that you must live in hope, the hoe that your work can make a difference in the world. Yours does, Victoria….If the Messiah ever does come, it will only be because of people like you, doing these small, hard jobs, making small changes in this hard world.” (page 402)
March 15, 2020
What I liked:
*The parts about the girls basketball team that V.I. is volunteered to coach, particularly how V.I. ends up bonding with them when she didn't expect to.
*That V.I. is encouraging the basketball team to keep up their studies and to try to go to college as well as giving them life lessons.
*"Billy the Kid" who seems to be the only family member who truly cares for the South Siders.
*Learning about long QT syndrome
*Coach McFarlane also seems to have encouraged her players and cared about them--enough so that V.I. feels she owes it to her coach to do as she's told.
What I didn't like:
*The way Christians are portrayed. The pastor damages a gang member's vehicle because the guy plays loud music outside the church trying to entice his girlfriend to come out to hang with him. The same pastor damages a local business's locks. The church seems to teach that birth control and abortion are sins but doesn't seem to teach the kids about abstinence or why it's important, or about the facts of life (such as you CAN get pregnant the first time you have sex). Billy the Kid is ridiculed for his beliefs.
*Sex is treated casually by many characters. Freddy seems to have kids by several women. Bron has multiple girlfriends.
*The privileged attitude of the Bysen family
*The parts about the girls basketball team that V.I. is volunteered to coach, particularly how V.I. ends up bonding with them when she didn't expect to.
*That V.I. is encouraging the basketball team to keep up their studies and to try to go to college as well as giving them life lessons.
*"Billy the Kid" who seems to be the only family member who truly cares for the South Siders.
*Learning about long QT syndrome
*Coach McFarlane also seems to have encouraged her players and cared about them--enough so that V.I. feels she owes it to her coach to do as she's told.
What I didn't like:
*The way Christians are portrayed. The pastor damages a gang member's vehicle because the guy plays loud music outside the church trying to entice his girlfriend to come out to hang with him. The same pastor damages a local business's locks. The church seems to teach that birth control and abortion are sins but doesn't seem to teach the kids about abstinence or why it's important, or about the facts of life (such as you CAN get pregnant the first time you have sex). Billy the Kid is ridiculed for his beliefs.
*Sex is treated casually by many characters. Freddy seems to have kids by several women. Bron has multiple girlfriends.
*The privileged attitude of the Bysen family
September 7, 2019
One would think V.I. could coach basketball without problems, but “no good deed . . .” in Sara Paretsky's FIRE SALE. She fills in for her old coach, who volunteers because the school can’t pay . . . “every available dime goes to preparing kids for standardized tests.”
Dangers appear from all directions: corporate greed, judgmental minister and congregation, a sexy foreign journalist, old high school rival . . . and a frog soap dish. The powerful exploit workers and squash competitors because “the only people they recognize as human are themselves.”
Through it all, the intrepid detective continues to care about those around her and to accept help from those who care about her. “I do things because people need me . .. (not) out of a spirit of adventure.” Even when exhausted, V.I. continues looking out for others and seeking truth, the epitome of never, ever giving up, fair, loving, and maintaining hope.
Dangers appear from all directions: corporate greed, judgmental minister and congregation, a sexy foreign journalist, old high school rival . . . and a frog soap dish. The powerful exploit workers and squash competitors because “the only people they recognize as human are themselves.”
Through it all, the intrepid detective continues to care about those around her and to accept help from those who care about her. “I do things because people need me . .. (not) out of a spirit of adventure.” Even when exhausted, V.I. continues looking out for others and seeking truth, the epitome of never, ever giving up, fair, loving, and maintaining hope.
February 9, 2024
The author continues her concern in the problems of the offspring of the heedless wealthy, whom her hero rescues. I wonder about the beating she subjects her protagonist to: is there violence in her own life that Vic's experiences expiate? or is the point here that Vic has a superhuman ability to withstanding punishment? For me the question is: does the genre require this, especially of women "presuming to do a man's job"? so seeing her get beaten and hospitalized impresses us with how much tougher she is than, say, a Chicago policeman? I'd be relieved if Vic could get through a book without being hospitalized. But no matter; I love the series, the window into Chicago, and her (superhuman) character, and will keep reading.
October 2, 2023
שרה פרצקי כותבת על טייקון, ילדיו ונכדיו. טייקון שהגיע מאשפתות והגיע לגדולות (כספית) ואמנם מטיף לחמלה וחסד ודתיות אבל שכח מה זה להיות עני ורעב. מולו הנכד שספג אידיאלים ולא מוכן לוותר. הכל מתרחש בשכונה בה גדל הטייקון ובה גדלה הבלשית ויקטוריה ורשבסקי. היא מנודבת לאמן את קבוצת הכדורסל של הבנות שחלקן ממוצא היספני , ועם הסקרנו שלה מגיע לפתור תעלומת העלמות הנכד, רציחות וכו'. כמה מתוך הסיפור הוא האמונה של פרצקי בקפיטליזם מול ההגירה ההיספנית? לא יודעת, אבל הספר כתוב יפה, ולא ניחשתי את הרוצחים. גם הסוף שונה מתמיד, והיא מתוודה כמה רחוק היום בו אנשים בעלי ממון יענשו על מעשיהם, בעיקר על רצח.
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