Every new Sara Paretsky novel is an event, the chance to reencounter her beloved heroine, V. I. Warshawski -- "a private eye with the sharpest tongue and hardest head in Chicago" (The New York Times Book Review) -- a cause for rejoicing. But Blacklist is something special.
This is a story of secrets and betrayals that stretch across four generations -- secrets political, social, sexual, financial: all of them with the power to kill. Eager for something physical to do in the spirit-exhausting wake of 9/11, V.I. accepts a request from an old client to check up on an empty family mansion; subsequently surprises an intruder in the dark; and, giving chase, topples into a pond. Grasping for something to hold on to, her fingers close around a lifeless human hand.
It is the body of a reporter who had been investigating events of forty-five years earlier, during the McCarthy era, and V. I.'s discovery quickly sucks her into the history of two great Chicago families -- their fortunes intertwined by blood, sex, money, and the scandals that may or may not have resulted in murder all these years later. At the same time, she inadvertently becomes involved in the story of a missing Egyptian boy whose possible terrorist connections make him very much sought after by the government. As the two cases drive her forward -- and then shockingly tumble together, pushing her into situations more perilous than she could have imagined -- she finds that wealth and privilege, too, bear a terrible price; and the past has no monopoly on patriotic scoundrels. Before everything is over, at least two more people will lie dead...and V.I. might even be one of them.
Written by Tammy from Bartlesville, OK
on July 9th, 2008
Book Rating: 2/5
OMG! This should be called a POLITICAL novel from the far left liberal perspective. It's a world where all republicans are closet homosexuals and hypocrites to boot, who only exist to lie and get rich off the poor. Not to mention that they are also portrayed as racist, hick, small-town sheriffs that shoot first and ask questions later. Don't forget the FBI and anyone associated with the current¯ (read Republican) administration, who are all out to take away your rights and destroy the constitution in their quest to hunt down and paint poor little immigrants as terrorists. Naturally the villain is a card-carrying member of the GOP and the saintly liberal saves the day. Don't bother.
Blacklist
Written by Jean from Santa Cruz, CA
on September 25th, 2007
Book Rating: 5/5
Sara Paretsky always tells a great story. Blacklist has some excellent points to make comparing the McCarthy era to the current Patriot act. Makes you stop and think about our freedom and right.
