Rating: 
Summary: V. I. in top form, classy, sassy and spirited¿
Review: Dzien dobry, Sara Paretsky and Detective Warshawski... from a survivor - thank you for noting 9/11.So, V.I., you are off on another assignment in BLACKLIST. Hired by a long-time client, Darraugh Graham to investigate 'goings on' at his family's old home near Anodyne Park in New Solway. Darraugh's feisty mother Geraldine now lives in an apartment near the property and has seen lights in the attic of the empty house, imagination or fact? On the second late-night property stakeout, Detective Warshawski encounters a young teenage female heading toward the entry of the house. The teenager takes flight and escapes during pursuit, unfortunately. Giving chase, Detective V.I. falls into five feet of murky, weedy, pond water located on the property. As she rises out of the clay-like soil, she finds a drowned dead man; attempts CPR but to no avail. The dead man is identified as freelance reporter Marcus Whitby. Cause of death is listed as 'drowning' after consumption of alcohol, probably. His parents come to Chicago to claim the body and are eager to return home for burial ceremonies. Sister of Marcus engages V.I. to intervene for an autopsy to determine cause of death, officially. Why was he at the property? How come his automobile was not nearby? Why was there no identification on him other than a very wet matchbook and a pencil? Warshawski learns the identity of the teenage trespasser who is linked to an affluent Chicago family, a publishing firm owned by the Bayard's. Interrogation of young Ms. Bayard brings shallow results. The news media reports on the mysterious disappearance of a young, male Egyptian named Benjamin Sadawi. Added to the building suspense are reports of terrorist activities under investigation, adding fire and energy of implications wrought in BLACKLIST. And..., more turmoil runs amok when "authorities" want to gain access to student files in the elite Vina Fields Academy on Chicago's Gold Coast. The momentum builds with V.I. not deterred by any subtle hints or threats to her investigation. Suddenly, however, her employer Darraugh Graham instructs V.I. to put a halt to the investigation of the once family-owned property. Warshawski fans know that such moments of "halt commands" only provide fuel to V.I.'s detective energy. Meanwhile, Warshawski's love of her life, Morrell is on assignment in Afghanistan. To friend and neighbor, Mr. Contreras (God love him), V.I. is known as 'doll' or 'cookie', and he continues his vigil of watching over her. Providing chicken soup, and a breakfast of French toast with bacon to maintain her well-being. As always, Sara Paretsky gives credence to the story with well-described, scenic places in Chicago, lovable and not-so-lovable characters - some have been with Warshawski for years as others come and go. Along with the plots, questionable circumstantial deaths, and a not-to-be defeated Detective Warshawski, BLACKLIST will keep you reading through wonderfully captioned-chapters, such as: 'House of the Dead'; 'Crocodile In the Moat'; 'Stiffed at the Morgue'; 'Terrorist on the Run', and 'Shootout at the Eagle River Corral'. In true Paretsky definitive style, V.I. Warshawski continues with question upon question of what she is getting for responses -- sly, half-truth, no-truth answers. To readers - check out Sara Paretsky's website... www.SaraParetsky.com.
Review based on 2003 hardcover. Recommended read: By A Spider's Thread by Laura Lippman for release in June 2004.
Rating: 
Summary: A Cynical Look at Politics and the Wealthy
Review: Fine novels have always transcended their story lines to say something more universal about the way people are. Often, mystery novelists get caught up in their plots and fail to make an important statement. In Blacklist, Ms. Sara Paretsky provides an intriguing look at American politics, racism and sexism over the last century. It's an impressive job of impugning the motives and methods of the influential, powerful and wealthy in our society. Those who are ardent conservatives will hate this book. It isn't as tough on the liberals as it is on the conservatives during most of the book, and argues strongly against government challenges to our Constitutional rights, such as the Patriot Act and the Congressional search for Communists in the 1950s. The mystery is a fine one, and makes good use of the over 400 pages to develop the story slowly . . . allowing it to age in your mind like fine wine does. I especially liked the way that V.I. encountered many emotional and physical problems during the story that delayed and complicated her investigations, much like happens in real life. The book has two main weaknesses. First, it is too often preachy rather than illustrative or instructive. Second, Ms. Paretsky is too cynical for my taste about how much the powerful can get away with. She leaves us with the sense that we are powerless to protect those we love and ourselves from what the powerful want for their own personal agendas. Otherwise, I would have happily assigned this book five stars. I would like to commend Ms. Paretsky for working some of the worst characteristics of the Patriot Act into her story, illustrating problems that too few people are aware of. The story itself has two entertwined plot lines that coincidentally connect up on an empty estate. Late one night, V.I. is poking around to discover the source of some mysterious lights inside the supposedly locked and secure empty mansion. V.I. spots a teenager on the grounds and grabs a clue from her that leads to identifying who the teen is. Then, while traipsing around in the dark, V.I. falls into an ornamental pond . . . and discovers a dead man. The police aren't very interested in what happned to the dead man, and V.I.'s persistence is essential to reveal what really happened. Is he connected to the mysterious lights? As I finished the story, I found myself thinking about Iago and all of the trouble he causes for Othello through his misrepresentations. We should be careful about how much we trust those in power. They may have hidden agendas that we are unaware of.
Rating:
Summary: Must Have!
Review: For those fellow fans of Paretsky, I have waited a long time for her to submit another novel featuring Vic. This is one you won't want to put down. While she has followed in the steps of many authors these days using 9-11 as a backdrop for her novel she does at least attempt to be fair and just and not just politically correct. The characters and storyline are one of her best. Highly recommend.
Rating:
Summary: Warshawski, back on track
Review: How satisfying it is to read a great Sara Paretsky novel that is not mired in politics, social injustice, mistreatment and all the other unsolvable ills of the world. "Blacklist" is a wonderful mystery pure and simple. With roots in the days of McCarthy-era blacklisting, the evil plot that Warshawski must unfold takes place in the wealthy estates that Chicagoans will recognize as Barrington (and parts beyond.) Most of the time Warshawski is sleuthing around dirty old tenements, so this is a surprising change of pace. In order to solve the murder of an enterprising black reporter, Warshawski has to jump through numerous hoops, most thrown up by rich folks who don't want the status quo broken. She does so in masterful style (although my bones ached for all her injuries). The end ties up cleanly, albeit sadly. This is a great read with throught-provoking questions about privacy and privilege tossed in along the way. Brava to Paretsky for a well-crafted book!
Rating: 
Summary: Less talk, more action
Review: I am a huge Sara Paretsky fan and could not wait to read VI's latest adventure. Unfortunately, this book was a big disappointment. Rather than racing through the pages, I find myself slogging along, trying to keep track of too many characters with similar names and annoying personalities. My guess is that if this book was Paretsky's first, it would have ended up in the rejection pile. The author obviously is upset about events after 9/11 which have led to many individuals of Middle Eastern background being detained as possible terrorists. She tries to link these current events with the blacklisting of the 1950s, but back then, no one was crashing planes into skyscrapers. I find it curious that Paretsky would risk alienating a good part of her audience with such a liberal stance. Please get VI off her soapbox and back to detecting.
Rating: 
Summary: Very disappointing....
Review: I am such a fan of Sara Paretsky and the V.I. Warshaski series and eagerly started reading this book. I can't begin to say how disappointed I was in this dreary, boring book. I made myself finish the book in the hopes that it would get better and the V.I. that I had come to know and love would reappear. Sadly, that did not happen. I sure hope Ms. Paretsky has something better in mind for her next book.
Rating:
Summary: Strong political message interwoven with plot
Review: I found it a great read. But be forewarned that this book expresses a strong sense of political outrage at the current political clime and your reading enjoyment will be strongly colored by your political beliefs. I found it an interesting, fast paced mystery novel which is filled with fascinating historical tidbits. It weaves a comparison between the black listing of the McCarthy era and the Patriot act into the plot. I was also very aware that my view was not unbiased because I was mentally cheering every time I felt the author expressed a particularly salient political point and I realized that had this book been written from a conservative political viewpoint I might not have made it past the second chapter without feeling totally outraged no matter how good the book was.
Rating:
Summary: Was this ghost written?
Review: I had really looked forward to this new mystery from one of my
favorite writers who's created an intelligent, wry, and observant protagonist in V.I. Warshawski. This book disappoints with an extremely convoluted plot involving too many characters. There's very little fun in reading Blacklist. V.I. lacks much of her sharper wit shown in earlier adventures and Blacklist reads as a poor summary of the low points in 20th Century social history. I only finished reading it because I hoped to find some of the pleasure I felt in previous V.I. novels.
Rating:
Summary: Definitely not a page-turner!
Review: I have read and enjoyed all the other V.I.Warshawski books, but this one is challenging me to finish it. I am 3/4 of the way, but all the loose threads are just taking too long to come together. The characters are not likeable, there is no love interest, and I am not motivated to get to the conclusion. Not her best book.
Rating:
Summary: So Glad to have you back, V.I!
Review: I opened this book, after watching for the publish. date, and after only a page or two, felt like we'd never 'missed a beat'. I am savoring every chapter-not done yet-and I'm an 'inhaler' of Ms. Paretsky's vivacious V.I.
It's so nice to have you back, V.I.!
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