Customer Reviews

Hard Time

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I bought Hard Time on a whim having dimly remembered the Kathlene Turner movie. I was expecting a standard tough cookie woman detective novel and instead got a great read.

The book starts off with VI almost running over the body of an "escaped" woman prisoner and rapidly develops into a complex web of Chicago politics, media scheming, and win at all costs capitalism. All without Paretsky losing her lightness of touch and humorous prose.

Although the final third of the novel becomes rather uncomfortable because of the unremitting terrors of the womans' prison scenes, the book achieves important social commentary without being exploitive or in your face. As VI points out, this is an area of society that we non criminals never think about and if we do we reflexively agree that it should come with truckloads of punishment.

The key villain and wife, Eleanor, seem too evil to be real and the final confrontation in church is a little too contrived and symbolic. Overall though I gave it five stars for being a real page turner.

Reading Paretsky is like going back to visit old friends. As this series progresses, I've noticed that the stories have become more socially relevant. I agree with other Amazon reviewers that V.I. taking so many physical risks in her 40's is getting just plain stupid, but Paretsky's writing and plotting is so good, it's hard to nit pick.

One thing: I started reading this series years ago. V.I. ages, but Golden Retreiver Peppy must be about 20 years old by now. Similarly, Old Lottie and Mr. Contreras must be about 100.

Nontheless, for fans of Sara Paretsky, her books are too few, and too far between. This is one of her best.

Once more Ms. Paretsky has given us a book peopled with characters that we can feel about. There are those who we can love, hate, feel sorry for. The story is great and is told in such a way that I did not want to put the book down. I wanted to keep reading to know what would happen to V. I. and the other characters.

Beyond the story and characters is a tale that should raise the social consciousnous of the readers. Hopefully all prisons are not like Coolis...but I do wonder how much of this kind of thing might be going on and wonder what I could do to help if it is.

All and all, a first rate novel. I worried that we might never read about V. I. again, but am glad that Ms. Paretsky took her time and came out with a great novel...instead of trying to come up with any old thing just to have a book to publish each year. I hope there is another V. I. book in the future...I will be waiting.

It's nice to finally have VI Warshawski back on the mystery scene. I'm sure it's a challenge for an author to stick with one genre year after year but VI had become such a central figure on the mystery scene that I was really angry with Paretsky for leaving her out of the picture for several years now.

VI is in top form in Hard Time. Things have changed as we learn her relationship with Murray is much strained as a result of the takeover of the leading Chicago news outlets since her last book. Mr. Contreras is still looking out for her and VI is still getting herself into hot water with the local police. Yet, as usual, she prevails. A great return. Let's have more VI on a regular basis now that Paretsky has experimented with a couple of other writing genres for the past few years! VI reigns!

Being a mystery writer with my first book in its initial release, I fondly recall reading Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski series to see how a star of crime fiction developed one of the top mystery series of our time. Then, V.I. vanished. After approximately five years, Paretsky has written a fresh V.I Warshawski mystery, and HARD TIME is as impressive as her earlier works. V.I. and her supporting cast have aged, and Murray has switched from print to television journalism. Murray's career evolution indirectly lands V.I. at a celebrity party that launches this adventure. There is an automobile accident, police abuse of power, corporate corruption, and V.I. standing up to the powers that be. She lands in prison, and our dog-loving detective uses that opportunity to expose more crimes. HARD TIME is a fabulous book, capturing Chicago and its environs in a way few other authors do. I'm thrilled V.I. has returned to the literary scene.

V.I. is not a detective out of the English drawing room style. She is an original, and as such will be appreciated or rejected by the degree that you look for originality in your mysteries. The plot is deliciously complicated, hard to anticipate, and moves along nicely. Although some will quibble that the whole thing is improbable, it could be made very probable with one small change in the motives of the killers. As such, I'd have to say this is by far the most sophisticated and exciting of the books in the series. V.I. is a lot like Robert Parker's Spenser: Principle is the thing. In an age when many unthinkingly take the easy way out, it is valuable to explore what a modern Dona Quixote would do. V.I. fills the bill perfectly in this fine novel which rises above the detective genre into regular fiction. Keep up the good work!

Not only do I think "Hard Time" is the best of Sara Paretsky's novels, but I think this is the best mystery novel I've read in the past couple of years. Not to knock her previous novels, but some how this one seems to have taken her writing to a new level. Don't ask me to tell you why it's her best, though. Tighter plotting? Maybe -- but Paretsky could always tell a story. Deeper characters? Again, maybe. But they're the same crew of good guys she's always used. Perhaps it was the criminals -- there are many in this story -- and they are much darker and much more realistic than the villains of her previous novels. Or perhaps it was just the rawness of story that coolly describes the ways the powerless abused by the powerful. Anyway, I just put down "Hard Time", and I still haven't put my finger on why I think it's so good -- however, I would have given this novel six stars, but five is the maximum allowed by amazonian law.

I just want to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I like reading about the good fight V. I. is fighting and all the hardships she has to endure. My life is quite tame so that makes it all the more interesting for me to read about it in a book. I couldn't put this book down; I found it to be adventurous and suspenseful. I've read all the V. I. books and this one is my favorite. I'm so glad she's back!

5 years was way too long to wait for another V.I. Warshawski mystery. I'd almost forgotten how good Sara Paretsky is. She has the tough, hard-bitten female P.I. thing down to a science and has set a benchmark for any others that write in this genre. This is probably her best book in this series and I heartily recommend it to anyone. V.I. is a little older than when we last saw her, but not any more afraid to take on the world. Ms. Paretsky is not afraid to take on race, gender and con discriminations and she makes it fun to read at the same time.

This book started out a great read, but like most of the Vic series, evolved into a formula. Vic doesn't have a paying client, yet she perserveres and in the end, like all good movies, everything turns out fine and she ends up with a fat check from a grateful person, who is only peripherally involved in the story. The plot turned far-fetched when Vic elected to stay in prison for an additional two weeks to solve the case, for which she was not being paid! Why do I stay with this series? Because I like Mr. Contreras and the dogs and I keep hoping Vic will show something like compassion and love. She;s not an easy character to like!