Dead Land

I have followed this series for years and the books keep on giving - insights into local politics , corruption , homelessness , mental health and VI attempts to navigate it all to right the wrongs in front of her .

This is a very complicated almost convoluted story with VI addressing her middle years and what she might
have missed along the way - whilst showing her loyalty to all her friends and trying to stay alive long enough to solve the conundrum in front of her . Her depths of strength and tenacity , her sense of integrity , wear her down to such an extent that she appears almost depressed - but as always she fights through to the truth , but at what cost ?

I think overall that this is the best book in a long line of excellent stories in this series - but it took a lot out of me , I so longed for VI to abandon the case at times , she almost dies several times , but just when I think she can take no more she finds another gear and manages to drag herself back from the brink .
VI could not manage to do this without her circle of friends and even at some stages her enemies - she is still under threat of eviction if her lawyer neighbour gets her way .!

This book is outstanding and if this is your genre it should not be missed and I await the next in the series

I was given an arc of this book by Netgalley and the publisher in return for an open and honest review.

I have followed Sara Paretsky's feminist icon, Chicago PI VI Warshawski, from the very first, a series that has charted the state of the US through the years, the racism, the sexism, the power grabs, the changing nature of the media, crime and gang culture, the rise in billionaires and right wing populists, the corporate and political wrong doing, ruthlessness, abuse of power, corruption, all its social, political and economic failings. It has documented the increasing poverty, homelessness, attacks on refugees and migrants, and the barely there support for the fragile, the vulnerable, for those with mental health issues, right up to the problematic current incumbent in the White House and more. Through out the inimitable VI, or Vic, has stood up for right, against all the odds, fighting the good fight, battered, bruised but still there, not yet ready to give up, even while her body protests, her mind is strong, as she once again enters the fray, facing danger from all corners, putting her life on the line for those that matter to her and in what she believes.

Vic's goddaughter, the fierce, temperamental hockey player and student instructor Bernie Fouchard is training South Chicago's young girls, when her young man, the geeky Leo Prinz, is murdered in the park at night. Leo had been in charge of computer presentations for SLICK, a community group trying to push through a landfill and beach development on Lake Michigan, spearheaded by the powerful Park Superintendent, Gifford Taggett. All in a Chicage famous for its pay to play political policy where money changes hands and almost overnight developers are building on public lands. Still haunted by the trauma of her long dead opera singing mother, Vic gets drawn into trying to look out for the once famous, now homeless and emaciated Lydia Zamir, still grieving the loss of her writer boyfriend, Hector Palardo. Palardo had been one of 17 victims in a mass shooting at Horsethief Canyon in Kansas, four years ago. Murray's employers, Global Entertainment, are willing to pay big bucks to Vic to find Lydia when she goes missing and a big national law firm that defended the Kansas shooter is expressing a strong interest in her whereabouts too.

Left to look after the beautiful dog, Bear, after his volatile owner and aggressive owner, Coop, protector of Lydia, disappears, can Vic pull together the disparate threads in a complicated and intricate investigation to get to the truth? Once again Paretsky gives us tense and suspenseful storytelling in a case that harks back to South America and Chile's history of terror under the murdering and torturing regime of the dictator, General Pinochet, a period in which over 40, 000 people 'disappeared', a nightmare regime supported by the US. Those who have followed Vic through time will love this latest addition to the series, and those yet to become acquainted with her, have a treat in store. Highly recommended! Many thanks to Hodder and Stoughton for an ARC.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for an advance copy of Dead Land,
This is my first book from Sara Paretsky and definitely not my last.
I quickly got into the story but near the start there was a section describing i felt was too in-depth about the music from Lydia, BUT as the story unfolded it soon became clear this was needed to be told as it gives a superb insight to the character.
Once the action/investigation takes off there is no holding back, the who, what, where, why and run aspects keep coming thick and fast.
Mucho excitement, Very well written, fast paced, and you won’t want to put it down.
Now on too my next Sara Paretsky book.

I have read (almost) all of Sara Paretsky’s VI Warshawski novels and fell in love with them from the first one I read. There are so many facets to Vic and she is always getting herself embroiled in complicated issues which can typically address anything political, sexist, racist and corrupt in society.

This story is no different and I felt it was one of the best novels by this author with VI taking on a whole series of dangerous challenges, almost getting herself killed on more than one occasion.

The story is tense and looks back at South America and Chile’s history of terror under Pinochet, where numerous people disappeared, noting that the regime was supported by the USA.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton and Sara Paretsky for my ARC in return for my honest review.

Another excellent read from this author. Highly recommended.

Really well written and complex thriller. It's been many years since I've read anything bu this author and I'd forgotten how good she is. Very engaging main character and well rounded other characters. Paretsky is a great writer.