Chicago private investigator V. I. WARSHAWSKI is asked to
look into the disappearance of a young African-American
August Veriden, who works as a trainer in a university
gym, but is also an aspiring filmmaker. It seems he
vanished along with a Black movie star, Emerald Ferring,
whose days of glory are past. There was a break-in in the
gym's medical supplies, but even without having met
Veriden, V.I. is convinced he is innocent of the theft,
but where is he, and why with Emerald? Emerald had been an
activist in her home state of Kansas, clamouring to stop
the nuclear arms race in the early 1980s. V.I. sets out
for Kansas with one of her dogs. August and Emerald are
nowhere to be found, but every step of the way, the clues
and morsels of information V.I. acquires point to
something that could prove too much for her to handle,
while trying to stay alive.
It had been too long since I had read a Sara Paretsky
novel, I had nearly forgotten how engrossing V.I.
Warshawski's adventures are. V.I. is a seasoned and
serious investigator, she does not make silly beginners'
mistakes; when she's on to something, she won't let go,
and in FALLOUT, V.I. stirs up a deadly hornet's nest.
Specters from thirty years ago raise their ugly heads,
racial tensions are still present and impede V.I.'s
investigation. Many secrets thought long-buried lead to
too many trails, and either people honestly don't know, or
don't want to talk, but nothing seems to lead to August
and Emerald.
FALLOUT is over 400 pages long, and I think there might be
as many layers to the story as there are pages to the
book! Ms. Paretsky thoroughly researched her subject, and
what inspired the author to write this book is
fascinating. Ms. Paretsky's attention to detail gives
FALLOUT a cinematic vibe, and a chilling understanding of
all that is happening, without burdening the reader with
unnecessary information, while providing just enough to
keep us in the loop. The pace is nice and steady, which
helped hold my interest throughout, and the writing is
elegant yet simple. There are many characters, so well
fleshed out, several discoveries and plot twists, all
plausible, and I never felt confused or overwhelmed.
FALLOUT ends with a tremendous bang, and I will not wait
so long next time to read my next book by the remarkable
Sara Paretsky!
P.D. JAMES called her "the most remarkable" of
today's suspense writers. STIEG LARSSON loved her work so much, he named her
in his novels.
And now SARA PARETSKY returns with the most
extraordinary novel of her legendary career:
FALLOUT.
Before there was Lisbeth Salander, before
there was Stephanie Plum, there was
V.I. WARSHAWSKI. To her parents, she's
Victoria Iphigenia. To her friends, she's Vic. But to
clients seeking her talents as a detective, she'sV.I. And her new case will lead her from her native
Chicago... and into Kansas, on the trail of a vanished film
student and a faded Hollywood star.
Accompanied by her dog, V.I. tracks her quarry through a
university town, across fields where missile silos once
flourished -- and into a past riven by long-simmering racial
tensions, a past that holds the key to the crimes of the
present. But as the mysteries stack up, so does the body
count. And in this, her toughest case, not even V.I. is safe.
Exciting and provocative, fiercely intelligent and
witty, FALLOUT is reading at its most enjoyable and
powerful.
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