Guardian Angel [Paperback]

Sara Paretsky (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Dell NY; First Thus edition (1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440213991
• ISBN-13: 978-0440213994
• ASIN: B001J2U8ZU
• Shipping Weight: 10.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,594,578 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

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not your typical detective story, March 27, 2006

By 

Books By BES - See all my reviews

This review is from: Guardian Angel (Hardcover)

V.I. Warshawski - best known through Kathleen Turner's representation of her in the '80's - is not your typical detective, and this is not your typical detective story. If you're looking for Mickey Spillane or Erle Stanley Gardner type grit, this isn't the place. Thus, I would classify this more along the lines of a detective story for the fairer gender. Still, Paretsky manages to write a gritty detective novel while weaving her stories in such a way that her reader's get an idea about the inner lives of her characters. Vic has problems outside of the detective business, and Paretsky incorporates just enough of the daily chore of living into the story without letting it overwhelm the reader. By the end, you can feel you're reading about a friend, and you can cheer when she wins because you know her. Another great thing about this novel, Paretsky has managed to keep a positive sense of life throughout, despite the trials that Vic faces. Vic has it hard, but there's no whining deprecation to the character. All in all a wonderful book to curl up with on a Sunday morning while you have your coffee.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A woman's eye on man's business society, December 7, 2001

By 

Jacques COULARDEAU "A soul doctor, so to say" (OLLIERGUES France) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Guardian Angel (Mass Market Paperback)

Sara Paretsky is a lot more than a plain detective story writer. She describes a whole society, in this case that of Chicago and its crime, or crimes. Violent crime is not number one on her agenda, though it comes in due time. She is mainly interested in white collar crime, the type you find in business and finances. These criminals are highly qualified and educated and some believe that they can have all they want, just because they have the education, the money or the power it takes to command the world. Violence only comes up when some outsiders, first of all the private investigator of this book, try to get into the circle to find out about those criminal acitivites. After moral or social intimidation violence comes in the same line, and it can go all the way to elimination. But this classy world does not accept to be endangered and they are ready to sacrifice some of their children in order to save the system. You can become an outcast overnight if your actions or initiatives endanger the power of the bosses of this society. It is a clan and those who do not accept these clannish procedures are rejected. But Sara Paretsky goes a lot beyond and gives also a fair picture of some burning issues in our socieries. She does not put them all on the front burner but she does for the position of women : they can do all they want, no profession is beyond their reach, because an equal society has to reject any privilege or segregation. A fascinating page turner.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best So Far!, July 7, 2008

By 

R. DuPar "Lover of Books, Nature and Many Things" (Goleta, Ca) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Guardian Angel (Mass Market Paperback)

This is one of the best in the series! In the 7th installment V. I. Warshawski, Chicago's PI, Vic becomes involved with her neighborhood. An old friend of Mr. Contreras is in trouble and then missing. The neighborhood has its own problems with new neighbors complaining and harassing the neighbors who have been around for many years. It includes more details on her ex-husband, a new love interest and a strained old friendship.