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V.I. Warshawski #11
Blacklist
V. I. Warshawski explores secrets and betrayals that stretch across four generations in this New York Times bestselling novel from one of the most compelling writers in American crime fiction...
“A thoughtful, high-tension mystery.”— The Washington Post Book World
“A genuinely exciting and disturbing thriller.”— Chicago Tribune
As a favor to her most important client, V. I. agrees to check up on an empty mansion. But instead of a mysterious intruder she discovers a dead man in the ornamental pond—a reporter for an African-American publication whom the suburban cops are quick to dismiss as a suicide.
When the man’s shattered family hires V. I. to investigate, she is sucked into a Gothic tale of sex, money, and power, leading her back to McCarthy-era blacklists and forward to some of the darker aspects of the Patriot Act. As V. I. finds herself penned in to a smaller and smaller space by an array of people trying to silence her, and before she can untangled the sordid truth, two more people will die—and V.I.’s own life will hang in the balance.
“A thoughtful, high-tension mystery.”— The Washington Post Book World
“A genuinely exciting and disturbing thriller.”— Chicago Tribune
As a favor to her most important client, V. I. agrees to check up on an empty mansion. But instead of a mysterious intruder she discovers a dead man in the ornamental pond—a reporter for an African-American publication whom the suburban cops are quick to dismiss as a suicide.
When the man’s shattered family hires V. I. to investigate, she is sucked into a Gothic tale of sex, money, and power, leading her back to McCarthy-era blacklists and forward to some of the darker aspects of the Patriot Act. As V. I. finds herself penned in to a smaller and smaller space by an array of people trying to silence her, and before she can untangled the sordid truth, two more people will die—and V.I.’s own life will hang in the balance.
480 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
309 people are currently reading
1795 people want to read
About the author
Sara Paretsky
272 books2,375 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 359 reviews
July 16, 2017
Book Review
4 out of 5 stars to Blacklist, the 11th book in the "V.I. Warshawski" thriller and mystery series, written in 2004 by Sara Paretsky. What a fantastic book! It had everything from murder to corporate espionage to communism. Spanning a history of nearly 50 years, the story puts VI in the most scary of situations, and it allows Paretsky to truly tell a tale of remarkable prominence. There are so many connections and seedy things happening, you're not sure how to begin figuring it out. Plus there are two cases she's got going on at once. Will they intersect? Something tells me they will... they always do. But I'm not going to spoil it for you. They might not actually come together. The best part of this book is Paretsky's unyielding way of telling the truth and the reality of what's happening all around us. I'm about 6 books behind on this series, at least a decade or so, and I can't wait to catch up this summer. She's always a treat.
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.
4 out of 5 stars to Blacklist, the 11th book in the "V.I. Warshawski" thriller and mystery series, written in 2004 by Sara Paretsky. What a fantastic book! It had everything from murder to corporate espionage to communism. Spanning a history of nearly 50 years, the story puts VI in the most scary of situations, and it allows Paretsky to truly tell a tale of remarkable prominence. There are so many connections and seedy things happening, you're not sure how to begin figuring it out. Plus there are two cases she's got going on at once. Will they intersect? Something tells me they will... they always do. But I'm not going to spoil it for you. They might not actually come together. The best part of this book is Paretsky's unyielding way of telling the truth and the reality of what's happening all around us. I'm about 6 books behind on this series, at least a decade or so, and I can't wait to catch up this summer. She's always a treat.
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.
December 22, 2016
Book number eleven in this series and still going strong. Vic is still the same, determined to get to the truth even at great cost to herself financially and physically.
As usual the story line is good and full of action. Vic breaks into houses, searches a small lake herself when the police will not do it, steals a car, harbours a fugitive and generally breaks the law at random. At least she is understanding when the police get angry with her. And she does solve the crime.
Sadly her developing love interest from the previous book is put on hold for the duration of this story. Morrell is posted off to Afghanistan and appears rarely and then only by email. I hope he returns safely for book 12:)
As usual the story line is good and full of action. Vic breaks into houses, searches a small lake herself when the police will not do it, steals a car, harbours a fugitive and generally breaks the law at random. At least she is understanding when the police get angry with her. And she does solve the crime.
Sadly her developing love interest from the previous book is put on hold for the duration of this story. Morrell is posted off to Afghanistan and appears rarely and then only by email. I hope he returns safely for book 12:)
September 1, 2025
I have just finished listening to this book in the series for the second time this year. I decided I was going to try to listen to all of the books in the series in the correct order in the audible format. When I realized that I had just first listened to this book earlier this year, I decided what the heck and moved through it only remembering scattered bits now and then. The glory of geriatric life! In this book, the Bad guys are not dead or in jail at the end. This is the book that concludes that if you are rich, the world is a different place for you. And if you are of a certain origin after 9/11, you might just end up dead and labeled a terrorist.
________________
I have just finished listening to this book for the first time in the Audible format over 11 years after I read it for the first time in print. I have no recollection of having experienced this book before. But the things that I liked about this author over a decade ago, I still very much like today.
————————-
One of the reasons I am fond of Sara Paretsky is her ability to locate her stories in the political and social events of the day. In the first chapter of Blacklist, set in 2002, she reflects on the World Trade Center, the Taliban, Afghanistan and anthrax. V.I. Warshawski leans to the left and I like her take on events from that point of view.
V.I. is also personally connected with world events by a boyfriend (whom she liberally – way to go V.I. – refers to as a lover) who is a journalist currently in the midst of the most recent American war, this one in Afghanistan. There is rarely a dull moment in the life of Ms. Warshawski. Generally, that is just the way she likes it; she has been known to manufacture excitement herself.
V.I. doesn’t waste much time getting into the action. By the end of chapter three she is in a pond with a dead man in a suit on a vacant estate in suburban Chicago in the middle of the night. This doesn’t sound like the normal work of a private investigator!
So the famous dull moment apparently has eluded our adventurous protagonist once again just in time for book number eleven of the V.I. Warshawski series.
The book delves into the HUAC era of the 1950s when artists were blacklisted for actual or alleged communist connections. The names are changed to protect the guilty. A journalist is killed (we suspect) while he is researching a book about a black dancer from the New Deal era of the 1930s.
As happens occasionally with Warshawski, she finds herself in the company of wealthy people whose families are connected to questionable events in the present and past. Our intrepid PI periodically gathers in a substantial payday from her rich connections to support her in her leaner earning periods. She generally finds her life in danger at least once (and sometimes more) each book. She has used up her cat lives and then some. We have to understand and accept that this book is fiction and Ms. W- has to make it to the end of the series which is currently ongoing in its sixteenth iteration.
There are different viewpoints about what Ms. W- is doing. She thinks she is “trying to figure out what all these rich important people did fifty years ago that they don’t want anyone to know about today.” The rich people think she “may not be an instigator, but you’re certainly not a bystander: you generate turmoil.” I would give credence to both points of view and they make the book most interesting.
I spent the first thirty years of my life in Michigan and thought I was a good driver in snow. But V.I. beats me easily. In the book she drives north from Chicago into Wisconsin in a snow storm with a nonagenarian in the passenger seat telling her life story. In spite of the intensity of the story and the snow, V.I. not only makes it safely to their destination but solves the murder case that has left her physically battered and exhausted. She is still a Wonder Woman though she is now forty-something!
I expect the get to the end of the V.I. Warshawski series sooner rather than later. And it seems likely that Sara Paretsky will still be adding books to the series once I get to the “last” one. I look forward to being caught up, waiting for the next book to be published, following Ms. W- into her fifty-somethings. Blacklist adds to the string of four star Paretsky books.
________________
I have just finished listening to this book for the first time in the Audible format over 11 years after I read it for the first time in print. I have no recollection of having experienced this book before. But the things that I liked about this author over a decade ago, I still very much like today.
————————-
One of the reasons I am fond of Sara Paretsky is her ability to locate her stories in the political and social events of the day. In the first chapter of Blacklist, set in 2002, she reflects on the World Trade Center, the Taliban, Afghanistan and anthrax. V.I. Warshawski leans to the left and I like her take on events from that point of view.
V.I. is also personally connected with world events by a boyfriend (whom she liberally – way to go V.I. – refers to as a lover) who is a journalist currently in the midst of the most recent American war, this one in Afghanistan. There is rarely a dull moment in the life of Ms. Warshawski. Generally, that is just the way she likes it; she has been known to manufacture excitement herself.
V.I. doesn’t waste much time getting into the action. By the end of chapter three she is in a pond with a dead man in a suit on a vacant estate in suburban Chicago in the middle of the night. This doesn’t sound like the normal work of a private investigator!
I specialize in financial and industrial crime. It used to be that I spent a lot of time on foot, going to government buildings to look at records, doing physical surveillance and so on. But in the days of the internet, you traipse from website to website.
So the famous dull moment apparently has eluded our adventurous protagonist once again just in time for book number eleven of the V.I. Warshawski series.
The book delves into the HUAC era of the 1950s when artists were blacklisted for actual or alleged communist connections. The names are changed to protect the guilty. A journalist is killed (we suspect) while he is researching a book about a black dancer from the New Deal era of the 1930s.
As happens occasionally with Warshawski, she finds herself in the company of wealthy people whose families are connected to questionable events in the present and past. Our intrepid PI periodically gathers in a substantial payday from her rich connections to support her in her leaner earning periods. She generally finds her life in danger at least once (and sometimes more) each book. She has used up her cat lives and then some. We have to understand and accept that this book is fiction and Ms. W- has to make it to the end of the series which is currently ongoing in its sixteenth iteration.
There are different viewpoints about what Ms. W- is doing. She thinks she is “trying to figure out what all these rich important people did fifty years ago that they don’t want anyone to know about today.” The rich people think she “may not be an instigator, but you’re certainly not a bystander: you generate turmoil.” I would give credence to both points of view and they make the book most interesting.
I spent the first thirty years of my life in Michigan and thought I was a good driver in snow. But V.I. beats me easily. In the book she drives north from Chicago into Wisconsin in a snow storm with a nonagenarian in the passenger seat telling her life story. In spite of the intensity of the story and the snow, V.I. not only makes it safely to their destination but solves the murder case that has left her physically battered and exhausted. She is still a Wonder Woman though she is now forty-something!
I expect the get to the end of the V.I. Warshawski series sooner rather than later. And it seems likely that Sara Paretsky will still be adding books to the series once I get to the “last” one. I look forward to being caught up, waiting for the next book to be published, following Ms. W- into her fifty-somethings. Blacklist adds to the string of four star Paretsky books.
May 8, 2022
'Blacklist' by Sara Paretsky is the 11th novel in the Chicago private detective V.I. Warshawski series. She is a hardcore person physically, never permitting the dangers to her life or limbs slow her down! Long time readers will know what I'm talking about. I don't know how many scars she has on her fortiesh-year-old (?) body by now, but I bet the number of little white scarring stripes she must have everywhere on her skin must be near a hundred. One of the things she resents is any assumption she is 'only' a woman. She IS smart, tough, and very very good at her job!
Her primary focus, and what kind of jobs she takes, are those investigating financial crimes. She was a law student in college. However, she often finds herself dealing with very rough-and-tumble people, you know, like entitled and extremely wealthy people, and the lowlife thugs, as well as pink/white-collar minions, the rich folk hire to kill Vic (Victoria). Police have never liked her except for the honest seeking-real-justice ones. Her progressive ideals get her into a LOT of hot water, too. She never knows when to stop digging into secrets! But she does know when she has to let justice go because she can't fight City Hall or the wealthy. She bides her time, though.
I think the books should be read in order. If you begin the series, start here: Indemnity Only.
'Blacklist' was published in 2003. Every Warshawski novel involves current events of the year, and this one follows the pattern. Her journalist boyfriend is in Afghanistan, and she becomes involved with protecting a Muslim kid falsely accused of being a Taliban or Al-Qaeda terrorist. What he actually is is a dishwasher working to send money to his family.
In another plot thread, Warshawski finds the body of an African-American journalist, Marcus Whitby, when a wealthy client, Darraugh Graham, hires her to check out why lights in a deserted mansion keep coming on. Darraugh's mother, Geraldine Graham, ninety-one-years-old, keeps an eye on the mansion Larchmont Hall. She once had close friends who lived there. What was Whitby doing to get himself, well, dead? When Darraugh wants her to stop investigating (why?), Whitby's family hires Warshawski to continue her investigation.
The plot threads become tangled and convoluted, and the dogpile of possible players piles up! Hatreds are uncovered which stretch back to the 1950's when many artists, college students and leftists were being destroyed by political witch-hunts looking for communist sympathizers to - here it comes gentle reader - blacklist!
It is a wonderful spiral staircase of secrets Vic uncovers, chapter by chapter. The author must have used a conspiracy wall to figure out where she would lead her fictional detective next, omg. Expect to flip back to earlier chapters, gentle reader! Or build your own conspiracy wall...
Her primary focus, and what kind of jobs she takes, are those investigating financial crimes. She was a law student in college. However, she often finds herself dealing with very rough-and-tumble people, you know, like entitled and extremely wealthy people, and the lowlife thugs, as well as pink/white-collar minions, the rich folk hire to kill Vic (Victoria). Police have never liked her except for the honest seeking-real-justice ones. Her progressive ideals get her into a LOT of hot water, too. She never knows when to stop digging into secrets! But she does know when she has to let justice go because she can't fight City Hall or the wealthy. She bides her time, though.
I think the books should be read in order. If you begin the series, start here: Indemnity Only.
'Blacklist' was published in 2003. Every Warshawski novel involves current events of the year, and this one follows the pattern. Her journalist boyfriend is in Afghanistan, and she becomes involved with protecting a Muslim kid falsely accused of being a Taliban or Al-Qaeda terrorist. What he actually is is a dishwasher working to send money to his family.
In another plot thread, Warshawski finds the body of an African-American journalist, Marcus Whitby, when a wealthy client, Darraugh Graham, hires her to check out why lights in a deserted mansion keep coming on. Darraugh's mother, Geraldine Graham, ninety-one-years-old, keeps an eye on the mansion Larchmont Hall. She once had close friends who lived there. What was Whitby doing to get himself, well, dead? When Darraugh wants her to stop investigating (why?), Whitby's family hires Warshawski to continue her investigation.
The plot threads become tangled and convoluted, and the dogpile of possible players piles up! Hatreds are uncovered which stretch back to the 1950's when many artists, college students and leftists were being destroyed by political witch-hunts looking for communist sympathizers to - here it comes gentle reader - blacklist!
It is a wonderful spiral staircase of secrets Vic uncovers, chapter by chapter. The author must have used a conspiracy wall to figure out where she would lead her fictional detective next, omg. Expect to flip back to earlier chapters, gentle reader! Or build your own conspiracy wall...
June 15, 2017
Wow. You would think Sara Paretsky had a crystal ball and could look into the future of America with this book.
"Blacklist" taking place in a post 9/11 America where everyone who is a Muslim is automatically a terrorist is starting to wear on VI. Due to her protesting during her college days, she knows what a slippery slope the US is in right now with allowing The Patriot Act to allow the government to spy on its citizens all for the great good of security. When VI is asked by one of her long-standing clients to look into his mother's accusations that someone has broken into their old home, VI comes across a dead journalist/writer. And it looks like his investigations into a pioneer in the African American art scene during the Red Scare in the U.S. has run into an America that is ready to do whatever it can in the name of terrorism.
I loved this book and it in turn broke my heart while reading. VI can be self righteous. But you definitely (or I did) get where she is coming from. You can see parallels to what the US did back in the 50/60s to those who they claimed where Communists to them saying anyone with brown skin is automatically an enemy. VI ends up running into a powerful publisher and a character who reminded me a little too much of Glen Beck while I was reading.
We get the usual cast of characters in this one. We also have VI feeling lost now that her lover Morello is in Afghanistan investigating the Taliban. She makes a lot of comparisons to her being Penelope and him being Odysseys. I would have to say though that no one puts VI in the corner, so it was a bit much to have her being all fire and brimstone towards anyone who is blocking her ability to figure out who murdered this journalist to them being all weepy over the state of her love life.
The ending shocked me (in a good way). I wish that sometimes Paretsky would do what Sue Grafton does with her Kinsey Millhone detective books and write an epilogue. I hate things being left twisting in the wind.
"Blacklist" taking place in a post 9/11 America where everyone who is a Muslim is automatically a terrorist is starting to wear on VI. Due to her protesting during her college days, she knows what a slippery slope the US is in right now with allowing The Patriot Act to allow the government to spy on its citizens all for the great good of security. When VI is asked by one of her long-standing clients to look into his mother's accusations that someone has broken into their old home, VI comes across a dead journalist/writer. And it looks like his investigations into a pioneer in the African American art scene during the Red Scare in the U.S. has run into an America that is ready to do whatever it can in the name of terrorism.
I loved this book and it in turn broke my heart while reading. VI can be self righteous. But you definitely (or I did) get where she is coming from. You can see parallels to what the US did back in the 50/60s to those who they claimed where Communists to them saying anyone with brown skin is automatically an enemy. VI ends up running into a powerful publisher and a character who reminded me a little too much of Glen Beck while I was reading.
We get the usual cast of characters in this one. We also have VI feeling lost now that her lover Morello is in Afghanistan investigating the Taliban. She makes a lot of comparisons to her being Penelope and him being Odysseys. I would have to say though that no one puts VI in the corner, so it was a bit much to have her being all fire and brimstone towards anyone who is blocking her ability to figure out who murdered this journalist to them being all weepy over the state of her love life.
The ending shocked me (in a good way). I wish that sometimes Paretsky would do what Sue Grafton does with her Kinsey Millhone detective books and write an epilogue. I hate things being left twisting in the wind.
April 17, 2010
Yes, I know--another Paretsky. I really like her stuff, and this is one of the best.
The above blurb gives a good summary of the book. The really interesting part was the parallels Paretsky draws bettween the McCarthy era blacklists and the more troubling aspects of the current Patriot Act.
I am going to paraphrase V. I. here--" What if he is a terroirst and he kills an innocent? But, what if he is just a young kid who forgot to renew his visa--a young kid with the wrong sort of name? The government might sned him to a no-name prison--if he is not a terroirst, it will make him one...."
I found this a gripping novel, one of Paretsky's best, well drawn characters and many thought provoking ideas. The plot is complex and may be confusing at first. Stick with it--it all is clarified in the end. A must for Sara Paretsky fans; recommend for any mystery fan.
The above blurb gives a good summary of the book. The really interesting part was the parallels Paretsky draws bettween the McCarthy era blacklists and the more troubling aspects of the current Patriot Act.
I am going to paraphrase V. I. here--" What if he is a terroirst and he kills an innocent? But, what if he is just a young kid who forgot to renew his visa--a young kid with the wrong sort of name? The government might sned him to a no-name prison--if he is not a terroirst, it will make him one...."
I found this a gripping novel, one of Paretsky's best, well drawn characters and many thought provoking ideas. The plot is complex and may be confusing at first. Stick with it--it all is clarified in the end. A must for Sara Paretsky fans; recommend for any mystery fan.
August 17, 2012
I am not really sure how to start here. I have read Sara Paretsky's V I Warshawski novels in the past. I haven't read them in any particular order. I just pick them up at garage sales or ebay in wholesale lots etc. I have always enjoyed the ones I read in the past. For some reason they remind me a little of the Sue Grafton novels. But, just a little. This book - Blacklist- was published in 2003, while the event of 9/11 were still really fresh in our minds. V I's boyfriend, a reporter is in Afghanistan covering events there. V I is feeling a little tender as a result of his being in constant danger and out of touch with her. She is hired by her client Darraugh Graham to stake out the estate formerly owned by his mother. Geraldine thinks she sees lights on in the attic of the abandoned mansion on the estate she once owned. While watching the old estate V I finds a dead body. The victim was a reporter, and his family doesn't buy the official cause of death. So, they hire V I to uncover what really happened.
My main issue with this book is that I feel the author used her postiion as an author to preach to us through a beloved character. Authors often hear from readers about the opinions expressed in novels. Usually, the author will explain that the character's views don't necessarily mirror their own. However, in this case, the author is so offended by the Patriot Act, that she spends, literally, the entire first half of the novel on a rant. I don't think the V I detective novels are usually as long. But, this one is over 400 pages. If we could have simply established the political climate of the time and then moved on, the mystery would have been much more fast paced and easier to follow, a much shorter novel. When I pick up a novel, I like to read fiction. I want to escape the real life news and tragedy we are exposed to and live with everyday. I don't really mind social commentary showing up in a novel, but not to the point of overkill. I also don't care for a novelist using his or her work as a platform for their personal beliefs, whatever they may be. It doesn't matter if I agreed or disagreed with author, the point is I don't want a running commentary in a mystery novel. If I was interested in those things, I would read non-fiction. I wish I had counted how many times the patriot act was mentioned in the first half of the book. It was just ridiculous. Finally, when I was nearly 60% into it, the author stepped off her soap box, or at least took it down a notch, and the mystery actually started to become interesting. The last 40% wasn't half bad, but it was certainly not the best mystery I've ever read. Things just didn't come together in the end to my satisfaction. Overall a lukewarm experience, mostly diappointed.
My main issue with this book is that I feel the author used her postiion as an author to preach to us through a beloved character. Authors often hear from readers about the opinions expressed in novels. Usually, the author will explain that the character's views don't necessarily mirror their own. However, in this case, the author is so offended by the Patriot Act, that she spends, literally, the entire first half of the novel on a rant. I don't think the V I detective novels are usually as long. But, this one is over 400 pages. If we could have simply established the political climate of the time and then moved on, the mystery would have been much more fast paced and easier to follow, a much shorter novel. When I pick up a novel, I like to read fiction. I want to escape the real life news and tragedy we are exposed to and live with everyday. I don't really mind social commentary showing up in a novel, but not to the point of overkill. I also don't care for a novelist using his or her work as a platform for their personal beliefs, whatever they may be. It doesn't matter if I agreed or disagreed with author, the point is I don't want a running commentary in a mystery novel. If I was interested in those things, I would read non-fiction. I wish I had counted how many times the patriot act was mentioned in the first half of the book. It was just ridiculous. Finally, when I was nearly 60% into it, the author stepped off her soap box, or at least took it down a notch, and the mystery actually started to become interesting. The last 40% wasn't half bad, but it was certainly not the best mystery I've ever read. Things just didn't come together in the end to my satisfaction. Overall a lukewarm experience, mostly diappointed.
December 15, 2013
Some long books are enticing enough to be devoured whole others require a dutiful grinding stamina of their readers. This book is a grind which yields very little as you follow the private detective in her attempts to solve the murder of a journalist. It's not that the plot is bad, it has power, money, McCarthey trials and betrayal all packaged in, but the heroine is a bore recounting in numbing detail every facet of her day, her urgent need for a osteopath, the occasional excursion to a soap box rant. It's all a bit like being stuck on a 5 hour flight with a nice but boring liberal who you agree with anyway who won't stop talking. They are awful pleasant but you could have used the time a lot better.
July 19, 2009
Not being a regular reader of Paretsky or her protagonist, V. I. Warshawski, there were times when I was surprised by her illegal actions and very legal connections. However, I was delighted by the descriptions of Chicago--both historical and modern Chicago. The history surrounding Bronzeville particularly resonated with me since we had recently heard the "African-American Symphony" composed by a former resident of that all-black community and had listened to the official Chicago historian talk about bank failures and cultural changes in that area. One portion of the book describes a wedding that took place at Fourth Presbyterian Church and I happened (in Jungian synchronicity)to read that passage just as I was traveling home on the "El" after walking past that vine-covered edifice.
Yet, I'm not rating this book so highly on the basis of local color (though I'll be reading other mysteries by Paretsky for precisely that reason, just as I enjoy that aspect of Greeley). I like everything from the title (Blacklist) referring literally to the ostracism of "fellow travelers" during the Cold War and figuratively to the lives of African-Americans from that era. I enjoyed the fact that this was a book of socio-economic "incest," cultural-political betrayal, and family secrets. I liked the fact that I guessed the perpetrator early on, but still flirted with the red herring suspects who floated to the surface like the dead carp in the pool where the first victim was found.
The history is vivid, the protagonist is creative, and the plot seems plausible to me. I particularly like the way the detective's circumstances are constantly changing in a spiral of changing clients, accusations, clues, and possibilities. Did the black journalist actually find something that caused him to be murdered or did his research into an intelligent and talented performer from the '50s cause him to despair enough to commit suicide? Does the appearance of a very wealthy teenager at the crime scene indicate complicity in the crime or is it coincidence? Is the character of Arab descent who is present at the scene of the crime evidence that he is a terrorist or further evidence of coincidence? For almost 500 pages, I was mesmerized by this beautifully-etched portrait of Old Chicago versus Modern Chicago, a landscape written in blood and tears.
Yet, I'm not rating this book so highly on the basis of local color (though I'll be reading other mysteries by Paretsky for precisely that reason, just as I enjoy that aspect of Greeley). I like everything from the title (Blacklist) referring literally to the ostracism of "fellow travelers" during the Cold War and figuratively to the lives of African-Americans from that era. I enjoyed the fact that this was a book of socio-economic "incest," cultural-political betrayal, and family secrets. I liked the fact that I guessed the perpetrator early on, but still flirted with the red herring suspects who floated to the surface like the dead carp in the pool where the first victim was found.
The history is vivid, the protagonist is creative, and the plot seems plausible to me. I particularly like the way the detective's circumstances are constantly changing in a spiral of changing clients, accusations, clues, and possibilities. Did the black journalist actually find something that caused him to be murdered or did his research into an intelligent and talented performer from the '50s cause him to despair enough to commit suicide? Does the appearance of a very wealthy teenager at the crime scene indicate complicity in the crime or is it coincidence? Is the character of Arab descent who is present at the scene of the crime evidence that he is a terrorist or further evidence of coincidence? For almost 500 pages, I was mesmerized by this beautifully-etched portrait of Old Chicago versus Modern Chicago, a landscape written in blood and tears.
July 14, 2009
I was a bit unsure of whether to read this book, because I've been disappointed by the more recent books by Patricia Cornwell and wondered whether V.I. Warshawski would have weathered well. However, I was delighted to find that this is a belter of a novel. Set in a Chicago reeling from 9/11 and a terrorist witchhunt, it neatly links back to a blacklist of the 1930s and the secrets of the rich first families of 'New Solway'. Of course it was linked together by a murder and Victoria breaking the rules all over the place in time honored fashion.
I can't recommend this enough, it is well written and full of suspense.
I can't recommend this enough, it is well written and full of suspense.
July 20, 2010
Confusing and very tedious plot makes 415 pages go slow...
We've had to wait a little over two years since Paretsky's last V.I. Warshawski private eye adventure ("Total Recall"), so we anxiously dove into this new one. Soon VI stumbles across the drowned body of an "African-American" reporter whose death is attracting virtually no police attention in the wealthy Chicago suburb where his remains were discovered. Hired to look into the matter by the family, VI spends day and night trying to find virtually any clue. Much of the story involves 50-year-old happenings during the 1950's Communist "witch-hunt"; and it soon became difficult to track all the names and places and characters being described, most of whom we couldn't have cared less about. A side story about an Egyptian teenager kept in hiding, ostensibly because nothing but his national heritage had branded him to be a terrorist, did little to contribute to the plot. Rather, it served as a platform onto which the author could preach at us re the Patriot Act and American liberties being usurped post-9/11 in the name of national security.
While VI was her normal competent and resourceful self, we found ourselves just slogging through the book with virtually no redeeming entertainment. Even as all the truths unravel at the end, we felt little relief or satisfaction, other than in achieving that final page. We feel it is one of the weaker entries in the otherwise fairly good VI series, and have to wonder if the author (or maybe just us) grows as tired as was our leading lady throughout most of this rather dull read.
We've had to wait a little over two years since Paretsky's last V.I. Warshawski private eye adventure ("Total Recall"), so we anxiously dove into this new one. Soon VI stumbles across the drowned body of an "African-American" reporter whose death is attracting virtually no police attention in the wealthy Chicago suburb where his remains were discovered. Hired to look into the matter by the family, VI spends day and night trying to find virtually any clue. Much of the story involves 50-year-old happenings during the 1950's Communist "witch-hunt"; and it soon became difficult to track all the names and places and characters being described, most of whom we couldn't have cared less about. A side story about an Egyptian teenager kept in hiding, ostensibly because nothing but his national heritage had branded him to be a terrorist, did little to contribute to the plot. Rather, it served as a platform onto which the author could preach at us re the Patriot Act and American liberties being usurped post-9/11 in the name of national security.
While VI was her normal competent and resourceful self, we found ourselves just slogging through the book with virtually no redeeming entertainment. Even as all the truths unravel at the end, we felt little relief or satisfaction, other than in achieving that final page. We feel it is one of the weaker entries in the otherwise fairly good VI series, and have to wonder if the author (or maybe just us) grows as tired as was our leading lady throughout most of this rather dull read.
November 22, 2025
Blacklist by Sara Paretsky
Seven out of 10, but winner of the Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger
This is a complex, appreciated crime novel – placed on the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list – and it has the merit of being complex, dealing with politics, and not just of the period immediately after the 9/11 attacks and the effects of the Patriot Act that restricted civil liberties, but also the time when the committee on Un-American Activities was destroying lives – hence the name Blacklist – and many other themes like racism, the privileges of the super-rich, even the war in Afghanistan…wherefrom we also get the main problem, that it gets to try too much, it becomes artificial, inflated, preposterous, puffed up and ultimately quite annoying for this reader, who thought that Blacklist really failed eventually.
V.I. Warshawski is the main character of this and quite a few other novels, a woman private detective about whom we get to learn everything – which is way too much, with details concerning the soups she eats the dogs she extenuates when running, the minor and finally infuriating aspects of her life make one wish the book was less than half, maybe a quarter of the size and we would still not lose anything, expect perhaps the kind of soda she had near this place, the wrapper she has thrown at the other.
Early on we see the heroine take an assignment from a regular and important customer, Darraugh Graham, who keeps her on a retainer of $ 1,000 per month, whose mother has seen light in the house which is next to the retiring home where she lives now and which had been part of her family’s property…when the private detective travels to the sight, she stumbles upon a perpetrator, an adolescent grill, Catherine Bayard, that we would learn comes from another rich family in this neighborhood of Chicago owned by the wealthy.
When she falls into the unkempt pond near the mansion, the protagonist finds a body that she tries to resuscitate with CPR but to no avail and then she finds it was an African American, Marcus Whitby, a man that the local police assumes had committed suicide, after getting drunk…only this is just one of the takes on the covert or open racism that is present in a quite recent book – indeed, published in 2003 and amazingly awarded the Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger…either they do not know what they are doing, which is evidently absurd, or I am totally devoid of taste and sense, at least in the matter of the Blacklist, which is surely the case…
The sister of the dead man hires Warshawski to investigate the death of the journalist, which is considered a suicide by the authorities, but after a convoluted, complicated inquiry, the detective and the readers start finding that this was quite possibly a murder, with one possible witness, a boy that is wanted by the FBI, Benjamin Sadawi, who had washed dishes at the school of the rich, where he is met by Catherine Bayard, a rebellious, ardent girl that wants to save the suspect, who is suspect just because as a Muslim he had attended a mosque where some extreme propaganda had been aired, and this is just one year after the terrorist attacks in America in 2001, and thus she takes him to the property near Anodyne Park, where Geraldine Graham resides and sees the lights in the middle of the night.
There is mystery surrounding the death of the journalist, for is it seems absurd for him to decide to commit suicide by drinking and then instead of choosing the big lake near Chicago, where he lives, he travels all the way to this pond, to jump in and drown at such a great distance, where there is no apparent means of locomotion for him – he left the car in front of his house – on the other hand, why would anyone kill him and put him in the pond…unless of course, there are absent aspects and the heroine is about to uncover them…
Marcus Whitby had been writing a book on a star dancer, Kylie Ballantine, an African American that had been the target of the anti-communist committees, and while researching for it, he had found quite astonishing revelations about those involved in villainous inquests decades before…Olin Taverner had been a right wing Taliban – he would die in the book and his death appears to be the work of the same killer that had dispatched the black journalist – and the head of the group on Un-American Activities, more than a hypocrite, given that he was a homosexual under cover, but haunting others and attacking their liberties.
Taverner knows that he will die soon, for he is very old, and he wants to tell the truth and share documents that will blow into headlines in the media, affecting many, among those Calvin Bayard, the former head of Bayard publications, who suffers from Alzheimer now – albeit this is kept secret – who has given the control of his empire to his wife, Renee Bayard, grandmother of Catherine, a control freak passionate about organizing – indeed, her organizing skills are mentioned multiple times.
Renee Bayard confronts her granddaughter one night, at the abandoned property where the latter has given refuge to the dish washer who is suspected to be a terrorist, while the detective is hiding near her feet – this is what happens in detective fiction, right – our heroine had been diving into the pond to find more clues and as it has to be, she has found important clues and other paraphernalia…an African mask, a valuable ring…
The villain of the book, Mrs. Bayard, calls the police and before they come, Victoria Warshawski has to try and hide the poor boy, and while the cops look around the property, clever and astute as she is – or incredible, depending on your take of some of these weird, artificial, exaggerated and inflated scenes – she manages to evade a team of policemen and one policewoman, escapes the scene and takes the precious witness with her, hiding him for a while with a…Catholic priest, just like in Italian war movies…
When a private autopsy of the dead journalist will have been made, they find that apart from bourbon, the man had ingested a very dangerous drug, clearly placed in his drink by the murderer and then the path, the road to where the chemical has been is traced and the brilliant heroine uncovers the whole plot…it could be seen as magnificent, which is what the Crime Writers’ Association has obviously determined when they gave it such a prestigious award…nevertheless, huge sections of this unrewarding book have simply infuriated yours truly…
Seven out of 10, but winner of the Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger
This is a complex, appreciated crime novel – placed on the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list – and it has the merit of being complex, dealing with politics, and not just of the period immediately after the 9/11 attacks and the effects of the Patriot Act that restricted civil liberties, but also the time when the committee on Un-American Activities was destroying lives – hence the name Blacklist – and many other themes like racism, the privileges of the super-rich, even the war in Afghanistan…wherefrom we also get the main problem, that it gets to try too much, it becomes artificial, inflated, preposterous, puffed up and ultimately quite annoying for this reader, who thought that Blacklist really failed eventually.
V.I. Warshawski is the main character of this and quite a few other novels, a woman private detective about whom we get to learn everything – which is way too much, with details concerning the soups she eats the dogs she extenuates when running, the minor and finally infuriating aspects of her life make one wish the book was less than half, maybe a quarter of the size and we would still not lose anything, expect perhaps the kind of soda she had near this place, the wrapper she has thrown at the other.
Early on we see the heroine take an assignment from a regular and important customer, Darraugh Graham, who keeps her on a retainer of $ 1,000 per month, whose mother has seen light in the house which is next to the retiring home where she lives now and which had been part of her family’s property…when the private detective travels to the sight, she stumbles upon a perpetrator, an adolescent grill, Catherine Bayard, that we would learn comes from another rich family in this neighborhood of Chicago owned by the wealthy.
When she falls into the unkempt pond near the mansion, the protagonist finds a body that she tries to resuscitate with CPR but to no avail and then she finds it was an African American, Marcus Whitby, a man that the local police assumes had committed suicide, after getting drunk…only this is just one of the takes on the covert or open racism that is present in a quite recent book – indeed, published in 2003 and amazingly awarded the Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger…either they do not know what they are doing, which is evidently absurd, or I am totally devoid of taste and sense, at least in the matter of the Blacklist, which is surely the case…
The sister of the dead man hires Warshawski to investigate the death of the journalist, which is considered a suicide by the authorities, but after a convoluted, complicated inquiry, the detective and the readers start finding that this was quite possibly a murder, with one possible witness, a boy that is wanted by the FBI, Benjamin Sadawi, who had washed dishes at the school of the rich, where he is met by Catherine Bayard, a rebellious, ardent girl that wants to save the suspect, who is suspect just because as a Muslim he had attended a mosque where some extreme propaganda had been aired, and this is just one year after the terrorist attacks in America in 2001, and thus she takes him to the property near Anodyne Park, where Geraldine Graham resides and sees the lights in the middle of the night.
There is mystery surrounding the death of the journalist, for is it seems absurd for him to decide to commit suicide by drinking and then instead of choosing the big lake near Chicago, where he lives, he travels all the way to this pond, to jump in and drown at such a great distance, where there is no apparent means of locomotion for him – he left the car in front of his house – on the other hand, why would anyone kill him and put him in the pond…unless of course, there are absent aspects and the heroine is about to uncover them…
Marcus Whitby had been writing a book on a star dancer, Kylie Ballantine, an African American that had been the target of the anti-communist committees, and while researching for it, he had found quite astonishing revelations about those involved in villainous inquests decades before…Olin Taverner had been a right wing Taliban – he would die in the book and his death appears to be the work of the same killer that had dispatched the black journalist – and the head of the group on Un-American Activities, more than a hypocrite, given that he was a homosexual under cover, but haunting others and attacking their liberties.
Taverner knows that he will die soon, for he is very old, and he wants to tell the truth and share documents that will blow into headlines in the media, affecting many, among those Calvin Bayard, the former head of Bayard publications, who suffers from Alzheimer now – albeit this is kept secret – who has given the control of his empire to his wife, Renee Bayard, grandmother of Catherine, a control freak passionate about organizing – indeed, her organizing skills are mentioned multiple times.
Renee Bayard confronts her granddaughter one night, at the abandoned property where the latter has given refuge to the dish washer who is suspected to be a terrorist, while the detective is hiding near her feet – this is what happens in detective fiction, right – our heroine had been diving into the pond to find more clues and as it has to be, she has found important clues and other paraphernalia…an African mask, a valuable ring…
The villain of the book, Mrs. Bayard, calls the police and before they come, Victoria Warshawski has to try and hide the poor boy, and while the cops look around the property, clever and astute as she is – or incredible, depending on your take of some of these weird, artificial, exaggerated and inflated scenes – she manages to evade a team of policemen and one policewoman, escapes the scene and takes the precious witness with her, hiding him for a while with a…Catholic priest, just like in Italian war movies…
When a private autopsy of the dead journalist will have been made, they find that apart from bourbon, the man had ingested a very dangerous drug, clearly placed in his drink by the murderer and then the path, the road to where the chemical has been is traced and the brilliant heroine uncovers the whole plot…it could be seen as magnificent, which is what the Crime Writers’ Association has obviously determined when they gave it such a prestigious award…nevertheless, huge sections of this unrewarding book have simply infuriated yours truly…
January 5, 2014
I've never actually burned a book until tonight. Threw it in the fireplace without a second thought. What a shitshow this read was. If I could burn it twice, I would.
July 5, 2019
I had the V.I. Warshawski series recommended to me since I like similar series by Sue Grafton and Janet Evanovich.
While, it was similar and there were things about it that I enjoyed, Paretsky kept trying to shove her liberal politics down your throat. I put up with it for a couple of books, but this one was the last straw. I read fiction for enjoyment, not to be preached at. When I want to read about politics, I read a non-fiction political book. I'm done with this series.
While, it was similar and there were things about it that I enjoyed, Paretsky kept trying to shove her liberal politics down your throat. I put up with it for a couple of books, but this one was the last straw. I read fiction for enjoyment, not to be preached at. When I want to read about politics, I read a non-fiction political book. I'm done with this series.
January 12, 2012
I have been reading my way through Sara Paretsky's novels and have now read everything she wrote prior to Fire Sale, 2005, the one I read first. Her books are a journey through the major issues of the past 20 years, as well as an in depth look at the best features of a true liberal.
In Blacklist, the intrepid V I Warshawski is missing her boyfriend, the journalist Morrell, who is on assignment in Afghanistan and mostly out of touch. Meanwhile she finds herself tracking down the murderer of an African American journalist in the unlikely neighborhood of some of Chicago's richest residents. Soon enough she is embroiled in the fallout from the depredations of the HUAC in the 1950s.
What I like most about Paretsky are the layers and complexity in her stories. She is able to embrace the big picture and tie together the societal elements that make up an issue, showing us that no single one is isolated but interweaves with many tendrils.
So in Blacklist you get rich people in their suburban enclaves, the old and the young, black and white, as well as communism and the Red Scare as it relates to the Patriot Act and the War on Terror. Warshawski must sort through the personal secrets of men and women of advanced age at the same time as she deals with the ill-advised shenanigans of a teenage girl trying to protect an Egyptian boy suspected of terrorism.
This novel is a smart and deep look into American life as we now live it since the attack on the Twin Towers. A page-turner that eschews any cheap tricks of sensationalism while it admits there are many ways to approach a bad situation. Since 9/11 our society has fractured into as much polarization as we had during the Vietnam War years. Paretsky's view is that a good liberal, fighting for justice, must be able to see and understand both sides of the issues.
September 15, 2016
Sara Paretsky’s BLACKLIST ©2003 could have been written today; it doesn’t seem like we’ve learned very much in nearly fifteen years. Our Islamophobia today sounds as rabid as shortly after 9/11/2001. Private Detective V.I. Warshawski is shocked by just how many freedoms Americans gave up with the Patriot Act. Several storylines start in the mid-twentieth century, when McCarthyism and segregation were rampant. Activists and writers and dancers pushed xenophobic publishers, patrons and politicians. There is a very clear distinction between the supremely wealthy and the rest of us poor souls, in the past and the present. Seems like we haven’t learned much in the last sixty or seventy years.
And yet, this isn’t a political rant; or to be fair, the political message is what resonates when the story fades. The story gracefully unravels so many secrets until we are left with stark passion, and the heavy motivation to keep those betrayals hidden.
You will ponder over BLACKLIST for a while.
If you’re one of those people who like a Cast of Characters, you’ll find an easily downloadable one of BLACKLIST by Sara Paretsky on the review page on my website. Or write to me and I’ll email it to you. In case you’ve never heard why I think ALL authors should add a Cast of Characters EVERY TIME, here’s my reasons: http://www.reviewsbytdev.com/content/...
http://reviewsbytdev.com/content/BLAC...
And yet, this isn’t a political rant; or to be fair, the political message is what resonates when the story fades. The story gracefully unravels so many secrets until we are left with stark passion, and the heavy motivation to keep those betrayals hidden.
You will ponder over BLACKLIST for a while.
If you’re one of those people who like a Cast of Characters, you’ll find an easily downloadable one of BLACKLIST by Sara Paretsky on the review page on my website. Or write to me and I’ll email it to you. In case you’ve never heard why I think ALL authors should add a Cast of Characters EVERY TIME, here’s my reasons: http://www.reviewsbytdev.com/content/...
http://reviewsbytdev.com/content/BLAC...
August 13, 2016
This was the first V.I. Warshawski novel I’ve ever read and most likely the last. I was not remotely impressed by the writing style, the plot, or almost anything else about the novel. Set shortly after 9/11, V.I. Warshawski takes on an assignment investigating lights going on and off in a mansion late at night when she stumbles across a dead body. This leads to an investigation where she uncovers secrets from a group of elite, rich families in the Chicago area who have these incestuous relationships with each other and covet gossip and secrets. Being after 9/11, the Patriot Act and potential Islamic terrorists come into play, even though it really has no place in this novel. It seems like it was just thrown in to meet the author’s political sensibilities.
One of my all time pet peeves is when the author of a genre book, in this case a mystery novel, continually inserts their political viewpoints. When I read a mystery, I’m reading for the mystery, and the author incessant political commentary only serves to take away from the story and annoy me. The mystery itself was weak, and the characterization was especially poor. I can’t think of any character here that I like. When the reveal of the secret finally happened, it was predictable and mundane. The killer wasn’t at all believable. In short, this book is not worth reading.
Carl Alves – author of Conjesero
One of my all time pet peeves is when the author of a genre book, in this case a mystery novel, continually inserts their political viewpoints. When I read a mystery, I’m reading for the mystery, and the author incessant political commentary only serves to take away from the story and annoy me. The mystery itself was weak, and the characterization was especially poor. I can’t think of any character here that I like. When the reveal of the secret finally happened, it was predictable and mundane. The killer wasn’t at all believable. In short, this book is not worth reading.
Carl Alves – author of Conjesero
August 21, 2008
Paretsky writes the best, most dense, and intriguing mysteries, for her hard-nosed detective, V.I. Warshawski. History and politics, race relations, art and human interaction, crime and corporate corruption, gender and sexuality—these are the usuals in her books rather than spectacles to drape a poorly conceived plot around. More than ever, in this story, she covers a lot of ground, from the loss of civil liberties post 9/11 and the atmosphere of hysteria/fear/vengeance (white) Americans and the U.S. government have created.
The story involves the death of a reporter from an African-american newspaper on the grounds of a vacant mansion in the white part of town. From there it encompasses so much, it is hard to describe: McCarthyism, art, race, homophobia, expanded police powers, love, hate and all that human stuff, as Warshawski searches for the killer, the cops search for a suspected “terrorist” (a 17 year-old dishwasher of Arab descent who overstayed his VISA), and rich families seek to keep their secrets. The ending isn’t pat, but real. Well, recommended, is what I’m trying to say.
The story involves the death of a reporter from an African-american newspaper on the grounds of a vacant mansion in the white part of town. From there it encompasses so much, it is hard to describe: McCarthyism, art, race, homophobia, expanded police powers, love, hate and all that human stuff, as Warshawski searches for the killer, the cops search for a suspected “terrorist” (a 17 year-old dishwasher of Arab descent who overstayed his VISA), and rich families seek to keep their secrets. The ending isn’t pat, but real. Well, recommended, is what I’m trying to say.
January 25, 2014
I struggled to get through this book. Parts of it were interesting and then parts were just so tedious that I very nearly put the book down a few times but, rarely do I give up on a book and so I kept reading. I have not read others in this series but I know that they are popular however, for te life of me, after reading this book, I am not sure why.
It was a mishmash of characters and sub-plots, which almost seemed like they there thrown in there to mask the fact that the actual plot really was not that good, nor were the characters that strong either. At time I liked the characters and at times they made me roll my eyes because their actions just didn't seem to mesh with the overall character that had been developed in the earlier parts of the book. Overall, rather disappointing read.
It was a mishmash of characters and sub-plots, which almost seemed like they there thrown in there to mask the fact that the actual plot really was not that good, nor were the characters that strong either. At time I liked the characters and at times they made me roll my eyes because their actions just didn't seem to mesh with the overall character that had been developed in the earlier parts of the book. Overall, rather disappointing read.
March 23, 2008
Solving murders through archival research? What's not to love!
May 18, 2024
3.5⭐
I enjoyed the book but at times I felt it just would not end. Then came the last 40 pages or so and it was a race to finish the story. The ending, however unrealistic was worth finishing the book.
I enjoyed the book but at times I felt it just would not end. Then came the last 40 pages or so and it was a race to finish the story. The ending, however unrealistic was worth finishing the book.
June 3, 2019
Paretsky draws a line from the red scare abuses of McCarthyism to the post-9/11 terrorist fears. She merges the two eras with a murder investigation that V.I. Warshawski is assigned to. A black journalist is dead. He has been working on a biography of a 50s/60s era black artist with ties to rich and powerful families of Chicago. As his research takes him deeper into the complex and incestuous world of the Chicago elite and intellectuals, he discovers secrets these blue-bloods would prefer remain out of the public eye. He if found drowned in a carp pond at the former estate of one of the wealthy families connected with his research.
To complicate matters, a young illegal alien from Egypt is being sought as a possible extremist terrorist. Scared and with few options to turn to, he finds a sympathetic ear with a teenage girl who hails from these elite circles.
The murder victim, the fugitive, V.I. Warshawski, and these elite family members are brought together as Warshawski takes up where the murdered journalist left off. She is hired by the family of the murder victim to figure out who killed the man. Along the way, she uncovers the secrets he was silenced for.
The book is semi-entertaining. None of the characters and protagonists besides Warshawski are very compelling. The secret and the murder mystery lack urgency and intrigue that would make the story more captivating. The dialog is comical, but does not feel true to the characters and the scenes. The decades-old secret is not earth-shattering. Why someone would kill to keep the secret hidden is not credible. With all these defects, these could be overlooked. Many good books in the mystery genre fail these tests.
The issues that make the book a pass is due in part to the chances Paretsky takes. Paretsky has an agenda. Paretsky's warnings are not subtle. She uses her murder case to grab the reader's attention and then preaches on a variety of topics. She contemplates the corruption of wealth. She worries about entitlement. She points out the corruption and favoritism that slants the playing field to the wealthy. She mocks the do-gooder intellectuals who have little understanding or true concern for those they claim to champion. She warns against the public authorizing the overreach by authorities in the name of public safety. All these call-outs are misplaced. Her blunt commentaries lack the subtlety that would make her concerns more persuasive. She does not trust her reader will be able to understand these points without her explanatory diatribes.
Paretsky is a good, but not a great writer. The words, phrasing and dialog are often off-pitch. Her writing limitations are magnified as she deviates from the wise-cracking Warshawski. She is a good story teller. Warshawski is an interesting character. Paretsky takes a chance with "Blacklist". She attempts to break from the tried-and-true template. Her gamble fails. If Paretsky is interested in writing a socially conscious book, she is better served leaving Warshawski out and finding a more appropriate vehicle. Trying the explore more serious issues while still writing from the safety of the Warshawski model achieves neither. This is a platypus of a book. Neither fish nor fowl. We are expecting an escapist whodunit, and instead we have to endure a public service announcement. A curious combination that doesn't work.
To complicate matters, a young illegal alien from Egypt is being sought as a possible extremist terrorist. Scared and with few options to turn to, he finds a sympathetic ear with a teenage girl who hails from these elite circles.
The murder victim, the fugitive, V.I. Warshawski, and these elite family members are brought together as Warshawski takes up where the murdered journalist left off. She is hired by the family of the murder victim to figure out who killed the man. Along the way, she uncovers the secrets he was silenced for.
The book is semi-entertaining. None of the characters and protagonists besides Warshawski are very compelling. The secret and the murder mystery lack urgency and intrigue that would make the story more captivating. The dialog is comical, but does not feel true to the characters and the scenes. The decades-old secret is not earth-shattering. Why someone would kill to keep the secret hidden is not credible. With all these defects, these could be overlooked. Many good books in the mystery genre fail these tests.
The issues that make the book a pass is due in part to the chances Paretsky takes. Paretsky has an agenda. Paretsky's warnings are not subtle. She uses her murder case to grab the reader's attention and then preaches on a variety of topics. She contemplates the corruption of wealth. She worries about entitlement. She points out the corruption and favoritism that slants the playing field to the wealthy. She mocks the do-gooder intellectuals who have little understanding or true concern for those they claim to champion. She warns against the public authorizing the overreach by authorities in the name of public safety. All these call-outs are misplaced. Her blunt commentaries lack the subtlety that would make her concerns more persuasive. She does not trust her reader will be able to understand these points without her explanatory diatribes.
Paretsky is a good, but not a great writer. The words, phrasing and dialog are often off-pitch. Her writing limitations are magnified as she deviates from the wise-cracking Warshawski. She is a good story teller. Warshawski is an interesting character. Paretsky takes a chance with "Blacklist". She attempts to break from the tried-and-true template. Her gamble fails. If Paretsky is interested in writing a socially conscious book, she is better served leaving Warshawski out and finding a more appropriate vehicle. Trying the explore more serious issues while still writing from the safety of the Warshawski model achieves neither. This is a platypus of a book. Neither fish nor fowl. We are expecting an escapist whodunit, and instead we have to endure a public service announcement. A curious combination that doesn't work.
February 17, 2024
Blacklist by Sara Paretsky is the 11th book in the V.I. Warshawski Mystery series. Not long after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, V.I. is hired to investigate lights seen at an empty family mansion and stumbles across the body of a reporter in the pond who had been investigating the history of two prominent Chicago families. An interesting and complex story although a little different from the usual investigations V.I. undertakes. This book sees her delving more into the past while also worrying about Morell who is overseas in Afghanistan and also trying to help an Egyptian boy caught up in the distrust of Muslims.A rather disappointing outcome to a long story’ but very telling of the times.
July 8, 2021
Blacklist :
I had tired of Sara Paretsky hadn’t read any of her books for a while. I’m glad I picked up this one from the library. The title refers to the McCarthy hearings of the 1850s that destroyed so many people’s careers and even lives, comparing it to the anti-Muslim paranoia after 9/11 and the Patriot Act. The book was published in 2003, so very timely at publication.
Very fast paced enlivened with Paretsky’s wit and wry humor. V.I. gets into plenty of trouble, as usual, and many of the usual characters are involved in the story.
About 3/4 of the way through I got bogged down by the extensive list of rich folks and couldn’t keep track of who was having sex with, or feuding with whom, and how they were related. An old fashioned table of characters and a couple of family trees would have been helpful.
Although it’s recommended to read a series in chronological order, my practice is to read in the order in which they are available at the library. I think I may look for some others in the series that I have missed.
I had tired of Sara Paretsky hadn’t read any of her books for a while. I’m glad I picked up this one from the library. The title refers to the McCarthy hearings of the 1850s that destroyed so many people’s careers and even lives, comparing it to the anti-Muslim paranoia after 9/11 and the Patriot Act. The book was published in 2003, so very timely at publication.
Very fast paced enlivened with Paretsky’s wit and wry humor. V.I. gets into plenty of trouble, as usual, and many of the usual characters are involved in the story.
About 3/4 of the way through I got bogged down by the extensive list of rich folks and couldn’t keep track of who was having sex with, or feuding with whom, and how they were related. An old fashioned table of characters and a couple of family trees would have been helpful.
Although it’s recommended to read a series in chronological order, my practice is to read in the order in which they are available at the library. I think I may look for some others in the series that I have missed.
January 22, 2015
Really enjoyed this. Read a few Sara Paretsky's by now and really love VI and her neighbour. This is so far the best I read as it has a decent crime story as usual, but this time the background of McCathyism, reaction and the use for political opportunism of the attacks on the World Trade Centre as well as the American Upper Classes is very well done. Great relaxing, entertaining read.
August 15, 2011
One of the best V.I. Warshawski novels. There's a message here about the kind of paranoia and prejudice that arose after 9/11, as well as giving V.I. a turn at historical detective, figuring out a motive from events that happened decades ago. A fascinating story.
February 22, 2016
Great blend of mystery & social commentary about the U.S. in the period after 9/11 (especially some of the scary aspects of the Patriot Act).
April 6, 2024
V.I. personifies integrity
once again - and a refusal to minimise her own intelligence and insticts. Good insight into the Patriot Act and how it ties to the Un-American activities violations of freedom
once again - and a refusal to minimise her own intelligence and insticts. Good insight into the Patriot Act and how it ties to the Un-American activities violations of freedom
October 22, 2017
I didn't love it but storyline was good.
December 27, 2020
In this, one of her latter-era books (2003 as opposed to early '80s...), V.I. is stressed, mistrusted, maligned, beaten up, and subjected to all sorts of verbal indignities by her clients, colleagues, and the police. The only characters who consistently support her are her dear downstairs neighbor, Mr. Contreras, and of course, her two dogs.
I sort of left off reading her books in the late '90s and in the meantime, society and technology moved on and so did Chicago, so these later books reflect that. In this one, not are there cell phones and the Internet, but she gets entangled in a nest of affluent, arts-world, ex-lefty patriots from the '50s and '60s who have now grown up, gotten old, and buried some secrets.
My only real problem with this book was keeping straight the three families, some White, some Black, and all entangled with each other because of past baggage. I had to keep remembering whose mother had an affair with whose father and which children had strayed from their parents' ideologies. Very confusing to me. One entitled dowager is much like another, especially when they all have skeletons in their closets.
Still, V.I. Warshawski never disappoints; you just have to keep up with her.
I sort of left off reading her books in the late '90s and in the meantime, society and technology moved on and so did Chicago, so these later books reflect that. In this one, not are there cell phones and the Internet, but she gets entangled in a nest of affluent, arts-world, ex-lefty patriots from the '50s and '60s who have now grown up, gotten old, and buried some secrets.
My only real problem with this book was keeping straight the three families, some White, some Black, and all entangled with each other because of past baggage. I had to keep remembering whose mother had an affair with whose father and which children had strayed from their parents' ideologies. Very confusing to me. One entitled dowager is much like another, especially when they all have skeletons in their closets.
Still, V.I. Warshawski never disappoints; you just have to keep up with her.
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