Blacklist [Unknown Binding]

Product Details

• Unknown Binding
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd (January 1, 2004)
• ISBN-10: 0141010231
• ISBN-13: 978-0141010236
• ASIN: B001KSQ5XM
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (91 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,740,072 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sara Paretsky is the award-winning creator of the V I Warshawski detective novels. When Sara introduced V I in Indemnity Only in 1982, she revolutionized the mystery novel. By creating a female investigator who uses her wits as well a her fists, Sara challenged a genre in which women were traditionally either vamps or victims.

V I is the quintessential urban woman. She grew up in the shadow of the old steel mills on Chicago's Southeast side and knows her way around every alley in town. She's a street fighter, a singer, a bit of a clothes horse, and a woman of great intensity and passion.

So how much like V I is her creator? They certainly come from very different places. Sara grew up in rural Kansas where she attended a two-room school. She continues to believe the high point of her life came at the age of twelve when she was picked to play third base for the Kaw Valley District 95 baseball team.

Bleeding Kansas, Sara's 14th novel, is set in the part of the Kaw River Valley where Sara grew up.

Sara first came to Chicago in 1966 to do community service work in the same neighborhood where Martin Luther King was organizing. It was a time of fierce passions in the city and in the country as people fought over racial justice, the rights and wrongs of the war in Vietnam, and women's rights. Sara has always felt that that summer changed her life forever, and when she finished her undergraduate degree at the University of Kansas, she came back to make Chicago her home. Some of the history of that summer is recounted in her essay collection, Writing in an Age of Silence.

Like V I, Sara likes to sing, in an amateur way, has a hopeless passion for the Cubs, loves Italian shoes'and is obsessed by the search for the perfect cappuccino, so much so that she even went to cappuccino school.

In other academic ventures, Sara received a PhD in American History and an MBA from the University of Chicago. In 1976, she married physics professor Courtenay Wright. The two live in the city of Chicago with their wonder dog Callie. Their lives are made brighter by their adored granddaughter, Maia.

Sara shares V I's passion for social justice. She founded Sisters in Crime in 1986 to support women readers and writers in the mystery world. To give back to the community, Paretsky established the Sara and Two C-Dogs Foundation, which primarily supports girls and women in the arts, letters, and sciences. She has endowed several scholarships at the University of Kansas, and has mentored students in Chicago's inner city schools. She serves on the advisory boards of Literature for All of Us, a literacy group for teen moms, and Thresholds, which serves Chicago's mentally-ill homeless.

Sara has received numerous awards, including the Diamond Dagger for Lifetime achievement from the British Crime Writers Association, the Gold Dagger for best novel for her book Blacklist, and the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from several different universities. Sara's books have been translated into almost thirty languages.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 12th installment, and Im not tired of this broad, October 28, 2003

By 

Peggy Vincent "author and reader" (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blacklist: A V.I. Warshawski Novel (Hardcover)

The first Paretsky book I read, I knew I was going to have to read all of them. And I have, and I'm still not tired of this V. I. Warshawski broad, Chicago private eye.
Blacklist deals with the long-term effects of discrimination and guilt. A friend of Vic's (V. I.) asks her to investigate possible trespassing in the family mansion where she grew up. Here's a good scene: on her first foray into the property in years, she stumbles into a cruddy pond and comes up holding hands with some dead guy. Turns out he's a black journalist writing about stuff from the 30s. Things get deeper and murkier when the man's sister asks Warshawski to investigate the murder.
I get the feeling that Paretski has done some fantastic research in the writing of this book, as the content spans cultures, generations, and politics over 70 yrs as she proves that prejudice is alive and well in our world.
No big surprise there, but she does it so very, very well.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars V. I. is not Miss Marple, March 11, 2005

By 

Laura A Jackson (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blacklist (V.I. Warshawski Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is another great V.I. Warshawski book. She does a great job in evoking Chicago and the current political environment. My main critique would center on number of characters and the complexities of their ancient histories which makes it a bit of a challenge in terms of keeping the cast of characters straight. In addition to the main plot, the subtext of the story comprises a compelling weaving of various histories... of African Americans, leftists and gays... and the challenges they have faced in various times in our recent history. The juxtaposition of the current "Patriot Act" environment with the MacArthy era is an effective way of demonstrating the perils of an unencumbered police state and judiciary. While some may prefer more 'timeless' Miss Marple type mysteries where there is little reference to the current sociopolitical context, weaving current challenges into the story makes it even more interesting, and in some ways, educational.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Blacklist, October 12, 2003

By 

K. Freeman (Apple Valley, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blacklist: A V.I. Warshawski Novel (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed this book.

V.I. must face corruption among the scions of rich families, and the ghosts of 1950's witchhunts rise up to threaten the civil liberties of the modern day.

This was a stronger book, in my opinion, than the recent "recovered memory" Warshawski book, and probably better than the "women's prison" one as well, though I liked that. Paretsky has created a strong and real-seeming character who continues to appeal through multiple novels; the plot is both exciting and plausible; and, unlike in some installments, the antagonists in Blacklist are believable.

I like Paretsky's politics, as expressed in her books: left-wing in the sense of humanist concern for the working class, rather than in the sense of silly New Agey political correctness. This sensible point of view is one of the books' attractions, especially compared to the radical-right-wing paranoia of some other mystery/thriller authors.

Blacklist provides a good balance of action and character-centered drama, with some trenchant critique of modern politics thrown in. I highly recommend it.