Breakdown (V. I. Warshawski Series #15)

One to check out!

This is a review of an uncorrected manuscript won through a giveaway program. I felt some of the beginning and ending chapters were both very strong, with some of the middle chapters maybe needing a little more editing that would only help stengthen the story. All in all a very nice story and one that I enjoyed :)

Thank you for having this in a giveaway again and giving me a chance to win and read this book! :)

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A Very Perlexing Tale

This book kept me really engaged with all of its twists and turns. I gave it four stars because it also kept me confused for a while because there are so many characters its hard to keep them straight. Also, I was a little put off by V.I.'s attitude that its ok to barge into people's homes and butt into their business and ask questions, but when someone show up on her doorstep she gets all huffy. But that's a minor point. Also, the book became a little preachy in places regarding left-wing/right-wing political policies behind a thin veil.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Slow in spots, but still good

I have been following the exploits of V.I. since her first case and was a huge fan from the beginning. Although I felt that this case bogged down in a few spots, it did not disappoint...I finished it in a day. I have to admit that around page 375 I got very nervous and was about to be really, really mad! Can't wait for the next Paretsky offering. If you like V.I. stories, check out "Cold Case" and "Cold Shoulder" by Lynda LaPlante.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Convoluted Tale

One thing we have learned in the previous 14 novels in the series: V.I. Warshawski is brash, rash and opinionated. So it should be no surprise that those characteristics continue in this, the 15th entry in the series. Unfortunately these traits also carry over to the plot, and that is unfortunate because otherwise it might have been an interesting novel. However, the book never seems to make up its mind whether it is a political tract, murder mystery or something else.

In fact this reader, at least, is hard put to try, even in a minimal way, to summarize the plot. It begins with a few young girls in an improbable setting (a cemetery) performing some sort of ritual, during which a murder takes place. Long diatribes against a Fox-like cable network and its right wing lead commentator, a couple of more murders or attempted assassinations, a senatorial campaign pitting a conservative against a liberal, and who knows what else. Enough? There’s probably more.

Just as an aside, detracting from the novel, in a finished copy, displays some very poor (or lack of) proofreading along the way. Needless to say, the novel gets off to a slow plodding pace, and only picks up speed at times beyond the middle and before the conclusion, which seems perfunctory at best.

Not the best V. I. Warshawski

I've read all of this series and this one has a very weak and confusing beginning. It was tough to get engaged. Better luck next time.

Excellent

If you like V.I. you will enjoy this book.

Good Read!

Great to get back to V.I. and all her 'family'. It kept me guessing to the end

Aging Out

I've been a fan of V.I. Warshawski for 30 years and I like this book. That said, I'm concerned about a few details. When will Lotty retire? Are her hands still steady enough to do surgery? She must be at least 80. And what in the world does Vic feed Mitch & Peppy? Those dogs have lived longer than any of my cats!
I could argue that a few of the villainous characters are way over the top, except that I experience their "real life" counterparts daily in the media. I'd name names, but I don't want anyone to sue... --catwak

highly recommended - you must check it out!!!

I love V. I. Warshawski. I have read all her books. So when I saw she had a new book out, I had to read it.I enjoyed this book.

Don't miss

Super book, super author.

Stays very true to the Warshawski series

Carmilla, Queen of the Night, is a shape-shifting raven whose fictional exploits thrill girls all over the world. When tweens in Chicago's Carmilla Club hold an initiation ritual in an abandoned cemetery, they stumble on an actual corpse, a man stabbed through the heart in a vampire-style slaying.

The girls include daughters of some of Chicago's most powerful families: The grandfather of one, Chaim Salanter, is one of the world's wealthiest men; the mother of another, Sophy Durango, is the Illinois Democratic candidate for Senate.

For V. I. Warshawski, the questions multiply faster than the answers. Is the killing linked to a hostile media campaign against Sophy Durango? Or to Chaim Salanter's childhood in Nazi-occupied Lithuania? As V.I. struggles for answers, she finds herself fighting enemies who are all too human.

I have loved this series from the first book. It's a great book and stays very true to the Warshawski series. It had me from the first chapter and I couldn't put it down.

Painful Read

She needs to get off her soap box and write a true mystery. This books reads like a lecture on all the injustices in this Country. Can not recommend just could not past the negative tone of her writing.

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