Synopses & Reviews
Called a "career-crowning triumph" and named one of the the top 50 mysteries and thrillers of the last 5 years by the London Sunday Times
, Sara Paretsky is back with Critical Mass
the latest entry in the VI Warshawski series,
"Vic is at her stubborn, reckless, compassionate best in this complicated page-turner about selfish secrets passed down through generations. Paretsky has been on a roll lately, her long-running, trailblazing series at its most dynamic since the early days." Booklist on Critical Mass
V.I. Warshawskis closest friend in Chicago is the Viennese-born doctor Lotty Herschel, who lost most of her family in the Holocaust. Lotty escaped to London in 1939 on the Kindertransport with a childhood playmate, Kitty Saginor Binder. When Kittys daughter finds her life is in danger, she calls Lotty, who, in turn, summons V.I. to help. The daughters troubles turn out to be just the tip of an iceberg of lies, secrets, and silence, whose origins go back to the mad competition among America, Germany, Japan and England to develop the first atomic bomb. The secrets are old, but the people who continue to guard them today will not let go of them without a fight.
Review
"… superb… This strong outing shows why the tough, fiercely independent, dog-loving private detective continues to survive."
Publisher's Weekly Starred Review
"Edgy… It's good to see Warshawskithat can-do, no-nonsense gal who barged into the man-world of fictional gumshoes in 1982still saving the innocent."
St. Louis Beacon
"A new V.I. Warshawski novel is always a cause for celebration… Paretsky's the queen of the hard-boiled for good reasons. Her characters are ordinary people. Her dialogue is pitch perfect… The story revolves around bulliespersonal, sexual and corporate onesand Warshawski is smart enough to know bullies can be beaten."
Minneapolis Star Tribune
"The Fourteenth entry in the V.I. Warshawski series finds the smart-mouthed Chicago PI approaching 50 but unafraid of mixing it up with some thuggish Ukrainian mobsters… V.I. proves as persistent as ever in a case that ranges from the edgy urban nightclub scene to the corporate interests making a fortune from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And, as always, the city of Chicago, from its gentrified lofts to its working-class bars, is given a starring role. Another solid entry in a popular series."
Booklist
"Paretsky plays out her trademark political and social themes not with rhetoric but with a compelling story of lives shattered by pride, greed and fear of the unknown."
Kirkus Review
Review
Praise for Sara Paretsky
CRITICAL MASS
“Stellar…Paretsky builds suspense by deftly weaving the contemporary narrative with flashbacks.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Paretsky has been on a roll lately, her long-running, trailblazing series at its most dynamic since the early days.”
—Booklist (starred review)
"As much a breathless mystery as a historical delving into science and wartime academic politics. An intellectual mystery that will please the author's many fans.
—Library Journal
BREAKDOWN
“Riveting…Warshawski once again proves a dogged champion for the truth at any cost.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Both Paretsky and she sharp-tongued justice-seeker, V.I. Warshawski, remain formidable in the masterfully suspenseful fifteenth novel in this superb and adored Chicago-set series. … V.I. reigns as crime fictions spiky, headstrong warrior woman of conscience, and Paretsky, classy champion of the powerless, has never been more imaginative, rueful, transfixing, and righteous.”—Booklist (starred review)
“Plotted with all Paretskys customary generosity, this standout entry harnesses her heroines righteous anger to some richly deserving targets, all linked together in a truly amazing finale.”— Kirkus (starred review)
“What really matters in a Sara Paretsky mystery are the crimes behind the crimes ¬- the corrupt politics, the class divisions, the economic inequities, the dirty business practices and all the other injustices that incite the wicked deeds we love to read about. Breakdown takes its first crack at a soft target: a cult series of lurid vampire novels that sends a group of impressionable pre-teenage girls into a graveyard to perform a giddy initiation ritual for their book club. But once V.I. Warshawski, the intrepid private eye who sees herself as “a street fighter, a product of the mills and ethnic wars of Chicagos Steel City,” has rescued the girls from the trauma of discovering the murder victim, the true villains come into sharper focus.”—Marilyn Stasio,The New York Times
“One of the many pleasures of Sara Paretskys V.I. Warshawski novels is that the sharp-tongued, short-tempered detective often seems to be following clues that lead not just to the heart of whatever mystery is at hand, but also into the red-hot center of the zeitgeist itself… the dialogue is sharp, the satire of politics and media intuitions downrightbiting, and the descriptions hilarious.”— L.A. Times
Review
Praise for CRITICAL MASS “Critical Mass proves that this gifted author is still, justifiably, a star. …Paretsky has an impressive knack for weaving gripping history into her swift plot.” —The Seattle Times “There are plenty of women among the ranks of genre authors, but not many like Sara Paretsky, whose intellectually lively mysteries featuring her gutsy Chicago private eye, V.I. Warshawski, are fired by political causes and feminist social issues….Paretsky makes us feel both her own love for science and her fury at the way women like Martina have been denied the pursuit of their passion.” —Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review “As usual, V.I.s quest is fraught with plenty of danger and white-knuckle moments. … It is as much a breathless mystery as a historical delving into science and wartime academic politics. An intellectual mystery that will please the authors many fans.” —Library Journal “V.I. has a charismatic and blistering way of bringing old secrets to light.” - Kirkus “Stellar…Paretsky builds suspense by deftly weaving the contemporary narrative with flashbacks.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Paretsky has been on a roll lately, her long-running, trailblazing series at its most dynamic since the early days.” —Booklist (starred review)
Review
“Both Warshawski and Paretsky are at the top of their forms."—
Tampa Bay Times “Paretsky at her best, describing with a reporter's eye and a painter's vision the light and texture of a place.”—Washington Post
“No one, male or female, writes better PI books than Paretsky.”—The Denver Post
“Paretsky still writes with the kind of dazzling, diamond-hard clarity that can break your heart on every other page.”—Chicago Tribune
“A daring departure…A career-crowning achievement.”—The Sunday Times (London)
Review
“An utterly riveting debut thriller! Pirio Kasparov is one of the best protagonists I've read in years, tough, cynical, wry and compelling. Her determination to discover the truth behind her friend's murder will earn your admiration, while her growing desire to be a better daughter, friend, and person will win your heart.”
—Lisa Gardner, New York Times bestselling author of Fear Nothing
"Set on the gritty Boston waterfront, Elisabeth Elo's novel starts off as a murder mystery and slowly builds into something larger and more disturbing. North of Boston is a gripping and unorthodox thriller, packed with intriguing characters and unexpected twists."
—Tom Perrotta, New York Times bestselling author of Nine Inches and The Leftovers
"I wish I had a friend like Pirio Kasparov—intelligent, loyal, brave, and funny. From the opening pages of North of Boston I was enthralled and deeply committed to following Pirio wherever her brilliant author decided to send her next. What a terrific novel."
—Margot Livesey, New York Times bestselling author of The Flight of Gemma Hardy
“As someone who has spent her life on the sea, I can tell you that Elisabeth Elo knows her stuff. Terrific fishing details, a fast-paced plot, and a heroine named Pirio Kasparov who steals the show. A great debut!”
—Linda Greenlaw, New York Times bestselling author of The Hungry Ocean and Lifesaving Lessons
"In North of Boston, Elisabeth Elo has written a modern, sophisticated, and compelling thriller. Her plot is original, her details deft, and her heroine utterly remarkable."
—Ivy Pochoda, author of Visitation Street
"Tough and smart, Pirio Kasparov comes alive in this fast-paced novel of unconventional plot twists and damaged relationships."
—Audrey Schulman, author of Three Weeks in December
"Pirio Kasparov, the no-nonsense star of Elisabeth Elos debut novel, North of Boston, is a multifaceted character. Like its protagonist, North of Boston is many things—a murder mystery, an environmental thriller, and a domestic drama."
—The Boston Globe
"North of Boston grapples with and melds seemingly disparate subject matter (commercial fishing, perfume, alcoholism, issues of class, environmental consciousness, self-determination) in an original and entertaining way . . . Judging from North of Boston, Pirios next puzzle promises to be nothing short of unpredictable and exciting."
—Kirkus
“Pirio Kasparov is an alluring heroine. Shes sharp-witted, hell-bent on finding the truth, and her narrative voice is laced with surly sexiness. Pirios baldly honest, slightly melancholic reflections and Elos use of extreme natural settings will have strong appeal for Scandinavian crime fans. An impressive debut with surprising literary depth.”
—Booklist (starred review)
“Elos outstanding debut stars an intelligent, confident woman of Russian descent, Pirio Kasparov . . . The brisk plot smoothly incorporates such far-flung subjects as environmental issues, the fishing industry, and the perfume business.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Gritty downtown Boston and the awe-inspiring but unforgiving North Atlantic coast come to life in Elisabeth Elos debut suspense novel . . . readers will . . . be rooting for the doggedly determined Pirio right to the end."
—BookPage
“The novels subplots ripple out from the opening collision, circling a story rich with wicked smart allusions to Russian literature and clever nods to Western culture's most famous fishing story — ‘Moby-Dick. Pirio is a fascinating character and Elo a noteworthy new voice in the genre.”
—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“The author chose the thriller genre for her debut novel because she loves a strong protagonist who drives the action. Shes created a dandy in Pirio Kasparov.”
—Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Review
Praise for Sara Paretsky BREAKDOWN
“Riveting…Warshawski once again proves a dogged champion for the truth at any cost.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Both Paretsky and she sharp-tongued justice-seeker, V.I. Warshawski, remain formidable in the masterfully suspenseful fifteenth novel in this superb and adored Chicago-set series. … V.I. reigns as crime fictions spiky, headstrong warrior woman of conscience, and Paretsky, classy champion of the powerless, has never been more imaginative, rueful, transfixing, and righteous.”—Booklist (starred review)
“Plotted with all Paretskys customary generosity, this standout entry harnesses her heroines righteous anger to some richly deserving targets, all linked together in a truly amazing finale.”— Kirkus (starred review)
“What really matters in a Sara Paretsky mystery are the crimes behind the crimes ¬- the corrupt politics, the class divisions, the economic inequities, the dirty business practices and all the other injustices that incite the wicked deeds we love to read about. Breakdown takes its first crack at a soft target: a cult series of lurid vampire novels that sends a group of impressionable pre-teenage girls into a graveyard to perform a giddy initiation ritual for their book club. But once V.I. Warshawski, the intrepid private eye who sees herself as “a street fighter, a product of the mills and ethnic wars of Chicagos Steel City,” has rescued the girls from the trauma of discovering the murder victim, the true villains come into sharper focus.”—Marilyn Stasio,The New York Times
“One of the many pleasures of Sara Paretskys V.I. Warshawski novels is that the sharp-tongued, short-tempered detective often seems to be following clues that lead not just to the heart of whatever mystery is at hand, but also into the red-hot center of the zeitgeist itself… the dialogue is sharp, the satire of politics and media intuitions downrightbiting, and the descriptions hilarious.”— L.A. Times
Synopsis
The audacious new V. I. Warshawski novel from the New York Times-bestselling author"Doctors take days off--why not PIs?" V.I. Warshawski demands. But when America's hardest-working private eye goes clubbing, a stranger is shot and dies in her arms.
V.I. has been visiting Club Gouge, Chicago's edgiest nightspot, where a woman known as the Body Artist turns her naked body into a canvas for the audience to paint on.
The show attracts all kinds of people, from a menacing off-duty cop to Ukrainian mobsters and Iraq war vets--and V.I.'s impetuous cousin, Petra. A tormented young painter shows up, too, and the intricate designs she creates on the Body Artist drives on of the vets into a violent rage.
When the painter is shot, the cops figure it's an easy collar--PTSD vet goes off the rails, stalks then kills young woman. But the vet's family hires V.I. to clear his name, and the detective uncovers a chain of ugly truths that stretch all the way from Iraq to Chicago's South Side.
Synopsis
New York Times bestselling author Sara Paretsky's fourth V.I. Warshawski novel Private eye V.I. Warshawski knows her friend Consuelo's pregnancy is already risky-she's sixteen and diabetic. Despite V.I.'s efforts to provide Consuelo with proper care, both mother and daughter die in the local hospital. Suspecting malpractice, V.I. begins an investigation- and a reluctant romance with an ER doctor. But deadly complications arise when a series of vicious murders and an attack on a women's clinic lead her to suspect a cold-blooded cover-up. And if V.I. isn't careful, she just might have delivered her final case...
Synopsis
The last thing V.I. Warshawski was expecting when she showed up at Chicago's Club Gouge was that she'd wind up cradling a dying performance artist in an alley. A PTSD-stricken soldier is presumed guilty of the murder, but it's up to V.I. to find out what kinds of shady activities are really happening at Club Gouge...
Synopsis
V.I. Warshawski returns in the spectacular new novel from the New York Times bestselling author.
Carmilla, Queen of the Night, is a shape-shifting raven whose fictional exploits thrill girls all over the world. When tweens in Chicago's Carmilla Club hold an initiation ritual in an abandoned cemetery, they stumble on an actual corpse, a man stabbed through the heart in a vampire-style slaying.
The girls include daughters of some of Chicago's most powerful families: the grandfather of one, Chaim Salanter, is among the world's wealthiest men; the mother of another, Sophy Durango, is the running for United States Senate.
For V. I. Warshawski, the questions multiply faster than the answers. Is the killing linked to a hostile media campaign against Sophy Durango? Or to Chaim Salanter's childhood in Nazi-occupied Lithuania? As V.I. struggles for answers, she finds herself fighting enemies who are no less terrifying for being all to human.
Synopsis
In 1939, Dr. Lotty Herschel, V. I. Warshawkis closest friend in Chicago, escaped the Holocaust in Vienna with her childhood playmate, Kitty Saginor Binder. Though the two drifted and animosities grew between them over the years, when Kittys daughter finds her life in danger, she turns to Lotty for help. In turn, Lotty summons V.I. to take the case.
The threats on the daughters life at first seem a simple case of bad drug dealings, but V.I. soon discovers that they are just the tip of an iceberg of lies, secrets and silence whose origins trace back to the deadly race among America, Germany, Japan, and England to develop the atomic bomb. And while the secrets may be old, the people who continue to guard them will do anything to make sure they stay buried.
Synopsis
A gripping and unorthodox thriller, packed with intriguing characters and unexpected twists.” Tom Perrotta, bestselling author of Nine Inches Like Smillas Sense of Snow combined with the best of Dennis Lehane, North of Boston is a dark and deeply atmospheric thriller with a sharp-witted, tough-talking heroine readers will be clamoring to meet again.
Boston-bred Pirio Kasparov is out on her friend Neds fishing boat when a freighter rams into them, dumping them both into the icy waters of the North Atlantic. Somehow, she survives nearly four hours before being rescued. Ned is not so lucky. Pirio cant shake the feeling that what happened was no accident, a suspicion seconded by her cynical Russian-immigrant father. And when Pirio teams up with the unlikeliest of partners, she begins unraveling a terrifying plot that leads to the frozen reaches of the Canadian arctic, where she confronts her ultimate challenge: to trust herself.
Synopsis
"Vic is at her stubborn, reckless, compassionate best in this complicated page-turner about selfish secrets passed down through generations. Paretsky has been on a roll lately, her long-running, trailblazing series at its most dynamic since the early days." Booklist on Critical Mass
New York Times-bestselling author Sara Paretskys brilliant protagonist V.I. Warshawski returns in another hard-hitting entry, combining razor-sharp plotting and compelling characters with a heady mix of timely political and social themes.
V.I. Warshawskis closest friend in Chicago is the Viennese-born doctor Lotty Herschel, who lost most of her family in the Holocaust. Lotty escaped to London in 1939 on the Kindertransport with a childhood playmate, Kitty Saginor Binder. When Kittys daughter finds her life is in danger, she calls Lotty, who, in turn, summons V.I. to help. The daughters troubles turn out to be just the tip of an iceberg of lies, secrets, and silence, whose origins go back to the mad competition among America, Germany, Japan and England to develop the first atomic bomb. The secrets are old, but the people who continue to guard them today will not let go of them without a fight.
About the Author
Sara Paretsky is the author of nineteen books, including her renowned V. I. Warshawski novels, the most recent of which is the
New York Times bestseller
Breakdown. Her many awards include the Cartier Diamond Dagger Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Crime Writers Association and the 2011 Mystery Writers of Americas Grand Master Award. She lives in Chicago.