Bethanne Patrick interviews Sara Paretsky about her book "Hardball" on The Book Studio

It's been a while since I've read a Sara Paretsky novel. I'm not sure if she stopped writing for a while or I stopped reading her or what.
I have to say I think this is one of her best. I liked the juxtaposition of the threads of the 60s civil rights era with the present time. ( )

A really well done book with significant depth. It is almost a work of historical fiction with an interwoven crime plot of involving a lot of complexity. It held my attention to the very last page.

The writing is well done, and the character development was thoughtful, realistic, and compelling.

I have read many of her novels over the years, and this is probably the best so far. It is clearly one of the best in its genre. ( )

Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski series is a winner and one that I've been following for years. This book comes after a few years when the last one was written, and I must say the wait was worth it! The books do keep getting better, and Vic is so real! In this book Vic is trying to find a missing black boy for his dying aunt. The boy has been missing for 40 years, and as she investigates she uncovers more and more secrets that have been buried for decades. And she finds herself on the run for her life as the ant hills that she's turning over keep threatening the players that were involved so many years ago. Why is a missing person case causing all the murder and mayhem? You can bet that Vic is going to find out. She also keeps running into information about her dad who was a cop back in 1967 Chicago. I absolutely loved this book, and found that I ran through it way too quickly. I wanted to savour it, but just had to keep reading. I hope I don't have to wait so long for the next V.I. Warshawski book next time. ( )

This is her best V.I. Warshwski novel yet. I am constantly amazed at what a good job Ms. Paretsky does at capturing the essence of the moment. She intertwines the troublesome questions of the moment (domestic spying on U.S. residents in the name of "National Security") along with the messy history of the city of Chicago. I love that she does this through personal stories (V.I. along with a cross section of Chicago residents). I love how V.I. always says what we would want to say but might be too scared to do so. I highly recommend this book. ( )