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V.I. Warshawski #8
Tunnel Vision
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER •� The best of Sara Paretsky’s mystery novels . . . all of [Sara] Warshawski’s feminist and liberal proclivities are in full boil, propelling a complex and action-filled plot.�
Stubbornness has landed private eye V.I. Warshawski in big trouble at her Chicago office. With her grand old Loop building set to be razed, she’s become a hold-out tenant amid frayed wiring and scary, empty corridors. Then she finds a homeless woman with three kids in the basement, and before she can rescue them, they disappear. Worst of all, she’s been implicated in a murder—after the body of Deirdre Messenger, a prominent lawyer’s wife, turns up sprawled across her desk.
V.I., who had volunteered with Deirdre at a women’s shelter, suspects her death is linked to a case of upper-class domestic abuse so slickly concealed that the police refuse to believe it. Increasingly at odds with the cops, V.I. is blindly plunging ahead after the truth. And her path may lead to corruption at the highest levels.or deep into the abandoned tunnels beneath Chicago’s streets, where secrets are hiding in the dark like a child’s—or V.I.’s—worst nightmare.
“Riveting . . . a ripsnorting climax . . . [Warshawski is] street-smart, feisty yet appealingly vulnerable.”� Chicago Sun-Times
Stubbornness has landed private eye V.I. Warshawski in big trouble at her Chicago office. With her grand old Loop building set to be razed, she’s become a hold-out tenant amid frayed wiring and scary, empty corridors. Then she finds a homeless woman with three kids in the basement, and before she can rescue them, they disappear. Worst of all, she’s been implicated in a murder—after the body of Deirdre Messenger, a prominent lawyer’s wife, turns up sprawled across her desk.
V.I., who had volunteered with Deirdre at a women’s shelter, suspects her death is linked to a case of upper-class domestic abuse so slickly concealed that the police refuse to believe it. Increasingly at odds with the cops, V.I. is blindly plunging ahead after the truth. And her path may lead to corruption at the highest levels.or deep into the abandoned tunnels beneath Chicago’s streets, where secrets are hiding in the dark like a child’s—or V.I.’s—worst nightmare.
“Riveting . . . a ripsnorting climax . . . [Warshawski is] street-smart, feisty yet appealingly vulnerable.”� Chicago Sun-Times
480 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 1994
217 people are currently reading
1,186 people want to read
About the author
Sara Paretsky
293books2,326followersSara Paretsky is a modern American author of detective fiction. Paretsky was raised in Kansas, and graduated from the state university with a degree in political science. She did community service work on the south side of Chicago in 1966 and returned in 1968 to work there. She ultimately completed a Ph.D. in history at the University of Chicago, entitled The Breakdown of Moral Philosophy in New England Before the Civil War, and finally earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. Married to a professor of physics at the University of Chicago, she has lived in Chicago since 1968.
The protagonist of all but two of Paretsky's novels is V.I. Warshawski, a female private investigator. Warshawski's eclectic personality defies easy categorization. She drinks Johnnie Walker Black Label, breaks into houses looking for clues, and can hold her own in a street fight, but also she pays attention to her clothes, sings opera along with the radio, and enjoys her sex life.
Paretsky is credited with transforming the role and image of women in the crime novel. The Winter 2007 issue of Clues: A Journal of Detection is devoted to her work.
Her two books that are non-Warshawski novels are : Ghost Country (1998) and Bleeding Kansas (2008).
The protagonist of all but two of Paretsky's novels is V.I. Warshawski, a female private investigator. Warshawski's eclectic personality defies easy categorization. She drinks Johnnie Walker Black Label, breaks into houses looking for clues, and can hold her own in a street fight, but also she pays attention to her clothes, sings opera along with the radio, and enjoys her sex life.
Paretsky is credited with transforming the role and image of women in the crime novel. The Winter 2007 issue of Clues: A Journal of Detection is devoted to her work.
Her two books that are non-Warshawski novels are : Ghost Country (1998) and Bleeding Kansas (2008).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 236 reviews
May 6, 2020
Book Review
3+ out of 5 stars for , the 8th mystery book in the "VI Warshawski" thriller series, written in 1994 by . In this book, Paretsky tackles the struggle of the homeless, domestic abuse and city politics. With her building set to be knocked down, VI has to find alternative offices, but she won't give up. When she's one of the last people still holding on to her lease, she finds herself being target. First she's stalked and scared in the building. Then she finds a dead body, who later turns out to be a woman she volunteered with at a shelter. Then it's connected to a city official, and she's eventually accused of the murder. How does she get herself into these situations? While a good book in the series, but it wasn't one of my favorites. It's still a good series. I think VI's personality got to me too much in this book. I know she's under attack. And she's trying to do the right thing. But she was a tad annoying and self-indulgent in some chapters. Eventually, we get back into the norm where she fights the right people and helps make her point, but it was a little over-done this time.
About Me
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on ŷ, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at , where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by.
3+ out of 5 stars for , the 8th mystery book in the "VI Warshawski" thriller series, written in 1994 by . In this book, Paretsky tackles the struggle of the homeless, domestic abuse and city politics. With her building set to be knocked down, VI has to find alternative offices, but she won't give up. When she's one of the last people still holding on to her lease, she finds herself being target. First she's stalked and scared in the building. Then she finds a dead body, who later turns out to be a woman she volunteered with at a shelter. Then it's connected to a city official, and she's eventually accused of the murder. How does she get herself into these situations? While a good book in the series, but it wasn't one of my favorites. It's still a good series. I think VI's personality got to me too much in this book. I know she's under attack. And she's trying to do the right thing. But she was a tad annoying and self-indulgent in some chapters. Eventually, we get back into the norm where she fights the right people and helps make her point, but it was a little over-done this time.
About Me
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on ŷ, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at , where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by.
July 16, 2016
As usual I raced through the next book in this excellent series. Paretsky's books are long and involved but always exciting and fast paced. I enjoy reading about the gritty, dangerous life of a private investigator in 1990s Chicago even when it occasionally drifts into melodrama!
However I am just starting to feel that we have covered exactly the same ground in a number of books now and I am hoping something new comes up soon. Maybe now V.I has passed the ominous big event of turning 40 and has taken on a potential partner that may indeed be the case.
Fingers crossed for the next one:)
However I am just starting to feel that we have covered exactly the same ground in a number of books now and I am hoping something new comes up soon. Maybe now V.I has passed the ominous big event of turning 40 and has taken on a potential partner that may indeed be the case.
Fingers crossed for the next one:)
August 8, 2023
As I apparently am going through this series for the second time, 10 years, after the first, I have moved from the print copies to the Audible and e-books. I think audible books for the series have been something of a late comer as the series has gathered more fans and publicity as the years moved along.
One thing that I seem to be more aware of in my second pass through these books is how unlawful our heroine actually is. I remember being aware that she regularly engaged in breaking and entering, and that her collection of lockpicks were a regular part of her story. However, in the second pass, I seem to be more aware of the rather extreme violation of the law that she routinely engages in. And the fact that people accuse her of always being right is certainly a reality. It seems to be that as a serious, there is a lot of forgiveness for the main character, if bad actions lead to good results. And of course, in a novel which is written by a real author, who has total control over such appearances, so that bad actions lead to good outcomes. Real life seems to be a bit more complicated in my experience, which is now 10 years more than it was when I first read these books. I am less impressed by the progressive references which are scattered throughout the book and more concerned about the flagrant law violations that are also predominant. I don’t know quite what to think about it. Once again, Vic has managed to escape death a number of times. She acknowledges this tendency on her part by occasionally mentioning the nine lives of cats. She also deals with the need to have a love interest in her books, who is regularly rotating to a new person. The end of this book apparently includes the end of her current relationship. We can be assured that she will have a new one by the next book.
I noticed that the first time I read this book I gave it three stars, and the second time I gave it four stars so apparently my concern about the morality of the lead character did not cause me to downgrade the rating. I think the presentation in the audible format simply improves the presentation of the story for me.
—ĔĔĔĔĔĔ�-
This is the eighth book in the V.I. Warshawski series. The year is 1992 and V.I. is making her usual effort to do good community organizing and to scratch out a living working at her one person private investigation agency. She has so many rough edges that it is hard to get close to her. Hardscrabble would seem to describe her pretty well. But she is much more than that as you will see.
Early in the book V.I. finds herself in a situation that is not uncommon for her: she is at a party where she has been invited because she knows someone but she is out of place both with her clothing and her liberal views. This time it is a dinner party where she knows some of the people from her days in law school. Events at the dinner lead to her taking a maternal, protective role with a fourteen year old girl, the daughter of the host and hostess. This is the other side of the tough, independent woman persona that she normally has. It is good to see V.I. in this nurturing and caring role that often appears when she is faced with people who are made powerless by age or poverty. It is good to recall this side of her when she is otherwise focused on her worldly role that her work sometimes demands. She can be fearless and overbearing and then sensitive and thoughtful. Looking at it with another lens, she has both strong feminine and strong masculine aspects.
If Warshawski gets a pro bono job at the beginning of the book, it is likely that job will be her main focus for the rest of the book. She especially likes it when the pro bono client asks her to stop investigating because the problem has gone away. Then she definitely has to continue on the case, making no money but getting deeper into the mystery. One good way to get V.I. to do something is to tell her not to do it! Yes, it does seem like something of a pattern in the series. Then the dead body appears and V.I. is battling the police to solve the murder. V.I. has a rule about cooperating with the Chicago police � but is not unwilling to ask an officer she is sleeping with for inside information.
Warshawski’s penchant for making enemies, something that seemed out of control in the last book, continues in Tunnel Vision. She alienates one person after another including people who are close to her. For me it makes it a less enjoyable read when so many negative feelings are generated. Some: OK; continuously: No.
V.I. breaks into an office as a part of her investigation. As usual.
Her home is broken into and tossed. As usual.
V.I. is knocked unconscious by the intruders and winds up in the ER. As usual.
But she is back on the job the very next day. As usual.
V.I. can’t keep a boyfriend for more than one book. As usual.
V.I. earns no money as a private investigator in the entire book. Not unusual.
But she ends up with a wad of cash at the end of the book as a result of her pro bono work. Not unusual.
The 1992 flooding of the tunnels under the Loop in downtown Chicago is a historic fact and plays a significant role in this book. The Chicago Cubs are dear to the heart of Ms. Warshawski and always make a brief appearance or two, usually in a losing role. In 1992 the Cubs finished fourth in the Eastern Division of the National Baseball League, eighteen games out of first place. In 1992 Barack Obama began teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School.
The fifteenth V.I. Warshawski was published in 2012 so I am about halfway through the series as it currently stands. One of my goals in reading this series in order is to follow the career of a female protagonist who is a feminist. Another goal is to watch a character develop over the years in an ongoing series. Tunnel Vision happens over twenty years ago. V.I. turns forty at the end of this book which means she will be sixty when she reaches the fifteenth book.
At this point in my reading the series seems a little repetitious to me as I have suggested in all the “as usual� events I listed already. Maybe that would not be surprising if you believe that people do not change their core personality that much over the years. But I think V.I. must be approaching her midlife crisis. But given V.I.’s recent exploits, I am not sure what a crisis would look like for her.
There were still adrenalin moments and events in this book. And I am definitely curious about what comes next for V.I. so I am going to follow up by reading the next book in the series immediately. I am interested in seeing if that changes my experience of the book. But this book and the previous one did not rank as high for me as earlier books in the series. Tunnel Vision gets three stars from me. Have I just worn out from V.I. Warshawski?
One thing that I seem to be more aware of in my second pass through these books is how unlawful our heroine actually is. I remember being aware that she regularly engaged in breaking and entering, and that her collection of lockpicks were a regular part of her story. However, in the second pass, I seem to be more aware of the rather extreme violation of the law that she routinely engages in. And the fact that people accuse her of always being right is certainly a reality. It seems to be that as a serious, there is a lot of forgiveness for the main character, if bad actions lead to good results. And of course, in a novel which is written by a real author, who has total control over such appearances, so that bad actions lead to good outcomes. Real life seems to be a bit more complicated in my experience, which is now 10 years more than it was when I first read these books. I am less impressed by the progressive references which are scattered throughout the book and more concerned about the flagrant law violations that are also predominant. I don’t know quite what to think about it. Once again, Vic has managed to escape death a number of times. She acknowledges this tendency on her part by occasionally mentioning the nine lives of cats. She also deals with the need to have a love interest in her books, who is regularly rotating to a new person. The end of this book apparently includes the end of her current relationship. We can be assured that she will have a new one by the next book.
I noticed that the first time I read this book I gave it three stars, and the second time I gave it four stars so apparently my concern about the morality of the lead character did not cause me to downgrade the rating. I think the presentation in the audible format simply improves the presentation of the story for me.
—ĔĔĔĔĔĔ�-
This is the eighth book in the V.I. Warshawski series. The year is 1992 and V.I. is making her usual effort to do good community organizing and to scratch out a living working at her one person private investigation agency. She has so many rough edges that it is hard to get close to her. Hardscrabble would seem to describe her pretty well. But she is much more than that as you will see.
Early in the book V.I. finds herself in a situation that is not uncommon for her: she is at a party where she has been invited because she knows someone but she is out of place both with her clothing and her liberal views. This time it is a dinner party where she knows some of the people from her days in law school. Events at the dinner lead to her taking a maternal, protective role with a fourteen year old girl, the daughter of the host and hostess. This is the other side of the tough, independent woman persona that she normally has. It is good to see V.I. in this nurturing and caring role that often appears when she is faced with people who are made powerless by age or poverty. It is good to recall this side of her when she is otherwise focused on her worldly role that her work sometimes demands. She can be fearless and overbearing and then sensitive and thoughtful. Looking at it with another lens, she has both strong feminine and strong masculine aspects.
If Warshawski gets a pro bono job at the beginning of the book, it is likely that job will be her main focus for the rest of the book. She especially likes it when the pro bono client asks her to stop investigating because the problem has gone away. Then she definitely has to continue on the case, making no money but getting deeper into the mystery. One good way to get V.I. to do something is to tell her not to do it! Yes, it does seem like something of a pattern in the series. Then the dead body appears and V.I. is battling the police to solve the murder. V.I. has a rule about cooperating with the Chicago police � but is not unwilling to ask an officer she is sleeping with for inside information.
Warshawski’s penchant for making enemies, something that seemed out of control in the last book, continues in Tunnel Vision. She alienates one person after another including people who are close to her. For me it makes it a less enjoyable read when so many negative feelings are generated. Some: OK; continuously: No.
� people were annoyed with me. That was a fact of my business life: people were always more or less peeved with me for the questions I asked.
V.I. breaks into an office as a part of her investigation. As usual.
Her home is broken into and tossed. As usual.
V.I. is knocked unconscious by the intruders and winds up in the ER. As usual.
But she is back on the job the very next day. As usual.
V.I. can’t keep a boyfriend for more than one book. As usual.
V.I. earns no money as a private investigator in the entire book. Not unusual.
But she ends up with a wad of cash at the end of the book as a result of her pro bono work. Not unusual.
The 1992 flooding of the tunnels under the Loop in downtown Chicago is a historic fact and plays a significant role in this book. The Chicago Cubs are dear to the heart of Ms. Warshawski and always make a brief appearance or two, usually in a losing role. In 1992 the Cubs finished fourth in the Eastern Division of the National Baseball League, eighteen games out of first place. In 1992 Barack Obama began teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School.
The fifteenth V.I. Warshawski was published in 2012 so I am about halfway through the series as it currently stands. One of my goals in reading this series in order is to follow the career of a female protagonist who is a feminist. Another goal is to watch a character develop over the years in an ongoing series. Tunnel Vision happens over twenty years ago. V.I. turns forty at the end of this book which means she will be sixty when she reaches the fifteenth book.
At this point in my reading the series seems a little repetitious to me as I have suggested in all the “as usual� events I listed already. Maybe that would not be surprising if you believe that people do not change their core personality that much over the years. But I think V.I. must be approaching her midlife crisis. But given V.I.’s recent exploits, I am not sure what a crisis would look like for her.
There were still adrenalin moments and events in this book. And I am definitely curious about what comes next for V.I. so I am going to follow up by reading the next book in the series immediately. I am interested in seeing if that changes my experience of the book. But this book and the previous one did not rank as high for me as earlier books in the series. Tunnel Vision gets three stars from me. Have I just worn out from V.I. Warshawski?
August 13, 2015
Too Hard to Believe...
We've read every Paretsky / Warshawski book but the last (as we speak), but we're disappointed at the pretty unbelievable action in this one. We often feel like our author and our leading lady have the same problem as Robin Cook sometimes -- when the characters start moving around and breaking into places and being mugged, being tailed, etc. etc., it just gets a little tough to believe. We believe if V.I. stayed put a little more and did a little more cerebral work and a little less hotdogging 'round Chicago, we'd both be happier.
We're still fans, but we'd rather see fewer and more well developed characters, a somewhat less complicated yet compelling plot, and surely less social commentary. Letting some reasonable actions speak for themselves is better than rubbing our faces in it. Would like to see Paretsky stop reading Grisham and get back to her earlier self!
We've read every Paretsky / Warshawski book but the last (as we speak), but we're disappointed at the pretty unbelievable action in this one. We often feel like our author and our leading lady have the same problem as Robin Cook sometimes -- when the characters start moving around and breaking into places and being mugged, being tailed, etc. etc., it just gets a little tough to believe. We believe if V.I. stayed put a little more and did a little more cerebral work and a little less hotdogging 'round Chicago, we'd both be happier.
We're still fans, but we'd rather see fewer and more well developed characters, a somewhat less complicated yet compelling plot, and surely less social commentary. Letting some reasonable actions speak for themselves is better than rubbing our faces in it. Would like to see Paretsky stop reading Grisham and get back to her earlier self!
December 2, 2024
Action packed story. Vic with the trusty Mr Contrera embark on another perilous adventure in Chicago. The story involves a murder of a woman in Vic’s office where the building is condemned and scheduled for demolition. The woman’s dysfunction family Fabian a law professor with anger problems and the daughter Emily who is petrified of him along with her younger brothers.
Corruption, crooked politicians, financial shenanigans along with Murray the reporter all add to a page turner. The Loop, tunnels beneath the city an agricultural company all add to the mix. Vic once again gets beaten up, Mr Contreras at 79 has to have rabies shot and her boyfriend Conrad is exasperated with her stubbornness and not following the rule of law.
It’s a shame they never made a tv series although I really enjoy the radio series with Kathleen Turner.
Corruption, crooked politicians, financial shenanigans along with Murray the reporter all add to a page turner. The Loop, tunnels beneath the city an agricultural company all add to the mix. Vic once again gets beaten up, Mr Contreras at 79 has to have rabies shot and her boyfriend Conrad is exasperated with her stubbornness and not following the rule of law.
It’s a shame they never made a tv series although I really enjoy the radio series with Kathleen Turner.
December 21, 2014
This book was fine for what I used it for, reading in 45 minute chunks while walking on the treadmill . I like it that V. I. Warshawski is a feminist and has the physical strength to match her integrity. Sometimes, however, like the police, her boyfriend, and other friends I want to throttle her. I like the themes about abused women and children but think they are dealt with with rather a heavy hand.
January 27, 2022
Tunnel Vision by Sara Paretsky is the 8th book in the V.I. Warshawski Mystery series. With the building housing her office set for demolition, V.I. comes across a homeless woman with her children hiding in the basement after fleeing from domestic abuse, and then the wife of a prominant lawyer that she enlists to help is found murdered in her office. V.I. is tenacious as ever but the books are starting to become a little repetitive, although still exciting and complex. I did find the police attitude a bit condescending and offputting and the story rather unbelievable and not up to the standard of the previous books. However, V.I.s determination and capability save the day and she starts to be a bit more considerate of her friends.
July 8, 2017
She really is a hard boiled PI. One of the very first women PIs, she really knows her stuff. She's tough, gun-toting and full of sass. I like her. There were times I thought she was too brass, crass and brazen but that made me love her even more. She gets everyone she knows into hot water and easily they all follow her into these troubles. I love her downstairs neighbor and would love to hear the back story on how they came about sharing ownership of the two dogs.
December 30, 2012
Innocence is a very dangerous state of being, particularly in the Chicago sewers private investigator V.I. Warshawski wanders in. Literally.
I'm thinking VI's tenacity and intensity must be a tad bit overwhelming because everyone ends up hating her 2/3 into every book in the series, despite her successful win-win record of not just solved cases, but also of resolved lives. However, like her elderly neighbor, Mr. Contreras, I find her adventures emotionally satisfying and that her world view seems very realistic, even while her solutions can be horribly self-destructive.
The author's knowledge of police procedures is, as usual, the weakest part of her novels. Not that I'm any kind of expert since my only education is what I've gleaned from three decades of reading mysteries! (And TV, movies and news stories.....) Sara Paretsky rarely explores the forensic side of investigations - it's all stalking, breaking-in-and-stealing-files, interviews, and extreme wrestling. But she DOES get that outsider view of police pretty much on target.
Side note: when I served on jury duty, I was passed over in several courtroom jury interviews by the lawyers. Later, when I was musing out loud about why, a court employee enlightened me - it was my profession as a secretary. Apparently, secretaries were notorious for voting in favor of hanging defendants, even in civil cases. I sputtered I was a life-long liberal Democrat! I was picked in the next jury interview session. Coincidence? ; )
He he.....
As usual, VI is up to her neck unraveling the lies and politics around a murder. The body turns up in her office, so despite her new policeman boyfriend's concern, most of Chicago's finest do not entirely believe in her innocence. Frankly, neither do I after 8 books, but I KNOW she doesn't kill if she isn't defending herself. Deirdre Messenger was a politically connected lawyer's wife, who was on the same women's shelter board of directors as VI. Even though Warshawski is more impoverished than ever, as Chicago's most prominent celebrity PI she is now fielding invitations from important people to attend parties and join organizations. Most of these overtures she ignores, but if she went to college with some of the organizers and it involves women's issues, VI accepts. Unfortunately, not only does her clear-eyed intelligence prevent her from not noticing injustice, but she is constitutionally unable to walk away from abuse victims. Never a believer in Chicago's establishment, or ANY city hall employee that doesn't wear blue jeans to work, she is ready to do whatever it takes to rescue Deirdre's abused children and take down an implicated Senator of the United States, even if it means wrecking every relationship she has.
I'm thinking VI's tenacity and intensity must be a tad bit overwhelming because everyone ends up hating her 2/3 into every book in the series, despite her successful win-win record of not just solved cases, but also of resolved lives. However, like her elderly neighbor, Mr. Contreras, I find her adventures emotionally satisfying and that her world view seems very realistic, even while her solutions can be horribly self-destructive.
The author's knowledge of police procedures is, as usual, the weakest part of her novels. Not that I'm any kind of expert since my only education is what I've gleaned from three decades of reading mysteries! (And TV, movies and news stories.....) Sara Paretsky rarely explores the forensic side of investigations - it's all stalking, breaking-in-and-stealing-files, interviews, and extreme wrestling. But she DOES get that outsider view of police pretty much on target.
Side note: when I served on jury duty, I was passed over in several courtroom jury interviews by the lawyers. Later, when I was musing out loud about why, a court employee enlightened me - it was my profession as a secretary. Apparently, secretaries were notorious for voting in favor of hanging defendants, even in civil cases. I sputtered I was a life-long liberal Democrat! I was picked in the next jury interview session. Coincidence? ; )
He he.....
As usual, VI is up to her neck unraveling the lies and politics around a murder. The body turns up in her office, so despite her new policeman boyfriend's concern, most of Chicago's finest do not entirely believe in her innocence. Frankly, neither do I after 8 books, but I KNOW she doesn't kill if she isn't defending herself. Deirdre Messenger was a politically connected lawyer's wife, who was on the same women's shelter board of directors as VI. Even though Warshawski is more impoverished than ever, as Chicago's most prominent celebrity PI she is now fielding invitations from important people to attend parties and join organizations. Most of these overtures she ignores, but if she went to college with some of the organizers and it involves women's issues, VI accepts. Unfortunately, not only does her clear-eyed intelligence prevent her from not noticing injustice, but she is constitutionally unable to walk away from abuse victims. Never a believer in Chicago's establishment, or ANY city hall employee that doesn't wear blue jeans to work, she is ready to do whatever it takes to rescue Deirdre's abused children and take down an implicated Senator of the United States, even if it means wrecking every relationship she has.
October 9, 2023
Vintage Vic, heb weer genoten van deze vrouwelijke speurneus. Ik deed door drukke omstandigheden wat lang over dit boek, waardoor ik de draad van het complexe verhaal en de vele namen wel eens kwijt was. Maar ik blijf Vic trouw :)
May 30, 2017
So "Tunnel Vision" is book #8 in the VI Warshawski series. I have to say that this one was very good, I didn't like it as much as book #7, but that's only because once again we have VI just acting like an idiot when she's in danger. I want her to learn some lessons in this series, and not keep acting like depending on other people besides Lotty is a weakness.
In "Tunnel Vision" VI is being forced out of the building she runs her office from. She is one of the lone holdouts and is constantly having to deal with the lights and water not working. When she goes to investigate when a fuse blows she comes across a homeless family living in the building's basement. Though VI knows she should have called social services, she doesn't and instead offers to take them to a doctor (Lotty). Later on VI goes to a committee meeting for a women's shelter she volunteers for and the story is passed around. One of the women, Deirdre Messenger offers to talk to the homeless family since she has some experience with social work. A few short days later Deirdre appears at VI's office and goes looking for the family. When VI returns the next day, she finds Deirdre dead.
This book honestly has a lot of twists and turns in it. It's been a year since the last book and VI is still going strong with Chicago police detective Conrad Rawlings. Though it's an interracial relationship, not much is made of it beyond Mr. Contreras being bothered by the whole thing as well as Conrad's mother. I wish we had gotten a chance to see them out and about more. But most of this book is VI fleeing from danger, not telling Conrad, and sleeping and taking baths. Part of me wonders why she even bothers dating when she acts like this the whole time.
I thought the book did really well there for a while with VI trying to untangle the mystery of who murdered Deirdre and why. We also get an ugly look at Deirdre's home life with her daughter and two sons.
I think what gave me pause though is that VI rightfully for once gets called out on her pigheadedness to what other people are dealing with in order to prove she's right.
In "Tunnel Vision" VI is being forced out of the building she runs her office from. She is one of the lone holdouts and is constantly having to deal with the lights and water not working. When she goes to investigate when a fuse blows she comes across a homeless family living in the building's basement. Though VI knows she should have called social services, she doesn't and instead offers to take them to a doctor (Lotty). Later on VI goes to a committee meeting for a women's shelter she volunteers for and the story is passed around. One of the women, Deirdre Messenger offers to talk to the homeless family since she has some experience with social work. A few short days later Deirdre appears at VI's office and goes looking for the family. When VI returns the next day, she finds Deirdre dead.
This book honestly has a lot of twists and turns in it. It's been a year since the last book and VI is still going strong with Chicago police detective Conrad Rawlings. Though it's an interracial relationship, not much is made of it beyond Mr. Contreras being bothered by the whole thing as well as Conrad's mother. I wish we had gotten a chance to see them out and about more. But most of this book is VI fleeing from danger, not telling Conrad, and sleeping and taking baths. Part of me wonders why she even bothers dating when she acts like this the whole time.
I thought the book did really well there for a while with VI trying to untangle the mystery of who murdered Deirdre and why. We also get an ugly look at Deirdre's home life with her daughter and two sons.
I think what gave me pause though is that VI rightfully for once gets called out on her pigheadedness to what other people are dealing with in order to prove she's right.
May 11, 2010
Sara Paretsky's eighth novel is the one I like best so far. Private investigator V I Warshawski is almost 40 years old now and though she is as fearless and head-headed as always, she is aware of a slight slowing down physically. That does not prevent her from breaking into buildings, rescuing people from flooded tunnels under Chicago or suffering her third concussion.
I remember the high numbers of homeless people on Colorado Blvd in Pasadena when I first moved to Los Angeles in 1991. I have often wondered where they all came from so suddenly and where they have gone now. Was it the backlash from Reagonomics or the emptying of mental institutions? Do we have better social services now?
In any case, Tunnel Vision takes place in 1992. It features a homeless woman and her three children, includes human trafficking of workers from Romania and, as usual, government corruption mixed with financial crime.
Paretsky has always been strong on plot but here she scales down on her cast of characters and I found it easier to follow the story. Not that I figured it all out before Vic did, but I was tracking with her and felt I had a prayer of understanding how she worked it out.
I am now over halfway through Paretsky's books and the next one is a stand alone without Warshawski, though Ghost Country is set in Chicago and in the author's words is a story of "the sacred and the dispossessed meeting on the streets." Sounds fabulous to me.
I have enjoyed the journey of Sara Paretsky's writing. The tough-talking PI has matured, along with her creator, into a fully realized, complex character who delves into both her social and personal issues with equal intensity. Underneath the action/adventure heroine's fast-paced heroics is some of the best feminist fiction around.
I remember the high numbers of homeless people on Colorado Blvd in Pasadena when I first moved to Los Angeles in 1991. I have often wondered where they all came from so suddenly and where they have gone now. Was it the backlash from Reagonomics or the emptying of mental institutions? Do we have better social services now?
In any case, Tunnel Vision takes place in 1992. It features a homeless woman and her three children, includes human trafficking of workers from Romania and, as usual, government corruption mixed with financial crime.
Paretsky has always been strong on plot but here she scales down on her cast of characters and I found it easier to follow the story. Not that I figured it all out before Vic did, but I was tracking with her and felt I had a prayer of understanding how she worked it out.
I am now over halfway through Paretsky's books and the next one is a stand alone without Warshawski, though Ghost Country is set in Chicago and in the author's words is a story of "the sacred and the dispossessed meeting on the streets." Sounds fabulous to me.
I have enjoyed the journey of Sara Paretsky's writing. The tough-talking PI has matured, along with her creator, into a fully realized, complex character who delves into both her social and personal issues with equal intensity. Underneath the action/adventure heroine's fast-paced heroics is some of the best feminist fiction around.
November 27, 2023
Finding a solid series you like is a big deal. Having been engaged with other recurring character series, I know that the quality can dip from one entry to another. Sara Paretsky so far has been pretty consistent, but Vic's super hero antics and emotionally prickliness are wearing me down some. It's a pickle, because part of what makes the series appealing requires Vic to make some really stupid choices sometimes (like how she treats Conrad).
That said, I actually enjoyed this one a lot. Vic's politics generally align with mine, she values and understands community organizing and how power works, and she lives in a big city in a neighborhood kind of like mine. At a page-to-page level, there is a lot more that is personally relatable to me than almost any other series than I can think of.
That said, I actually enjoyed this one a lot. Vic's politics generally align with mine, she values and understands community organizing and how power works, and she lives in a big city in a neighborhood kind of like mine. At a page-to-page level, there is a lot more that is personally relatable to me than almost any other series than I can think of.
September 10, 2019
Read years ago...1994
April 9, 2022
I love V.I., and her politics generally agree with mine, but sometimes I feel it does get a little heavy-handed. This book fit into the typical Warshawski formula, but I wanted more about the homeless family and Deirdre's murder/kids, and it got way into this large very large conspiracy. Interesting, but not my favorite.
March 24, 2020
Reading a V.I. Warshawski novel after schlogging my way through a cumbersome biography is like a surprisingly tasty desert after a meal I was supposed to like but didn't. V.I. is her usual complex, feisty, resourceful self, facing a multi-faceted mystery that begins after she tries to aid a homeless mother with three children. The mother mistrusts virtually everybody, and so slips through the help that V.I. arranges with her three children in tow. Some of V.I.'s sympathetic friends on the Chicago police force try to help find the homeless quartet, but the mother proves as resourceful and as canny as V.I. herself, and eludes not only capture but even notice.
As a consequence, V.I. digs more deeply into the disappearance, which catches the attention of some powerful and (of course) corrupt people who suspect V.I. of digging too close to the foundations of their misdeeds. Events take a truly sinister turn when an acquaintance with whom V.I. serves on a volunteer non-profit board turns up dead, sprawled across V.I.'s desk in her Pulteney building office, minus much blood and a goodly percentage of her brains. The dead woman is mother to three children, one of whom, the precocious 15 year old Emily, also disappears, with her two brothers along for the vanishing. Is this all connected? Well, of course it is, but one must read through the whole thing to get to the connection, at which point it will make sense.
If I have one criticism, well.... I cannot make it through much discourse without invoking Star Trek in one way or another. At the climax of the sixth Star Trek film, subtitled The Undiscovered Country, the Enterprise is being fired on by a cloaked Klingon vessel. The Enterprise crew is helpless against a foe that they can neither see or otherwise detect. The ship takes several hits from deadly Klingon torpedoes--until Lt. Uhura comes up with the idea to arm and fire a torpedo of their own, specially doctored to sniff out the exhaust from a starship. Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy make the necessary alterations, while the Klingon ship keeps pounding away. The Enterprise fires the lone torpedo, and off it goes into space, where it destroys the Klingon ship in a single blow. What does this have to do with V.I. Warshawski? Well, it seems that V.I. takes quite the pounding in every book. In Tunnel Vision, V.I. suffers yet another traumatic head injury, one that hospitalizes her for a short while. Yet within a few pages, V.I. is up and about, persisting in solving a crime despite a throbbing, blinding headache. Like the USS Enterprise, which can absorb a dozen torpedo hits only to destroy the enemy ship with one shot. V.I. can face down her head trauma and take out a corporate jet (still on the ground) by SHOOTING OUT ITS TIRES, all while soaking wet, freezing cold, and clad only in a blanket. I am not making this up. It's like the Billy Preston song: Let the bad guy win every once in a while. It's not that I am rooting for the destruction of either the Enterprise or of V.I, but their miraculous escapes do stretch credulity from time to time.
V.I. is otherwise a worthy protagonist, entertaining and easily sympathetic. Every Sara Paretsky book has been worth the read so far. I look forward to the next confection.
As a consequence, V.I. digs more deeply into the disappearance, which catches the attention of some powerful and (of course) corrupt people who suspect V.I. of digging too close to the foundations of their misdeeds. Events take a truly sinister turn when an acquaintance with whom V.I. serves on a volunteer non-profit board turns up dead, sprawled across V.I.'s desk in her Pulteney building office, minus much blood and a goodly percentage of her brains. The dead woman is mother to three children, one of whom, the precocious 15 year old Emily, also disappears, with her two brothers along for the vanishing. Is this all connected? Well, of course it is, but one must read through the whole thing to get to the connection, at which point it will make sense.
If I have one criticism, well.... I cannot make it through much discourse without invoking Star Trek in one way or another. At the climax of the sixth Star Trek film, subtitled The Undiscovered Country, the Enterprise is being fired on by a cloaked Klingon vessel. The Enterprise crew is helpless against a foe that they can neither see or otherwise detect. The ship takes several hits from deadly Klingon torpedoes--until Lt. Uhura comes up with the idea to arm and fire a torpedo of their own, specially doctored to sniff out the exhaust from a starship. Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy make the necessary alterations, while the Klingon ship keeps pounding away. The Enterprise fires the lone torpedo, and off it goes into space, where it destroys the Klingon ship in a single blow. What does this have to do with V.I. Warshawski? Well, it seems that V.I. takes quite the pounding in every book. In Tunnel Vision, V.I. suffers yet another traumatic head injury, one that hospitalizes her for a short while. Yet within a few pages, V.I. is up and about, persisting in solving a crime despite a throbbing, blinding headache. Like the USS Enterprise, which can absorb a dozen torpedo hits only to destroy the enemy ship with one shot. V.I. can face down her head trauma and take out a corporate jet (still on the ground) by SHOOTING OUT ITS TIRES, all while soaking wet, freezing cold, and clad only in a blanket. I am not making this up. It's like the Billy Preston song: Let the bad guy win every once in a while. It's not that I am rooting for the destruction of either the Enterprise or of V.I, but their miraculous escapes do stretch credulity from time to time.
V.I. is otherwise a worthy protagonist, entertaining and easily sympathetic. Every Sara Paretsky book has been worth the read so far. I look forward to the next confection.
April 11, 2021
This is the eighth book in a series, but the first one I've read by this author. It would have been helpful if the author took newbies like me into account and gave at least a slight introduction to peripheral characters: Darraugh, Lotty, Conrad ... But otherwise, it does pretty much stand alone.
I read reviews by others before starting the book. Most were negative, but again, not having read anything by this author before, I went in with an open mind. It started out great: a woman and her children living on the street, a non-profit that works with abused women -- it all fit together and was a social issue I could wrap my head around.
But then we got in to other non-profits, bankers and a U.S. senator. It became difficult to keep straight which character belonged to which organization. I shouldn't need a spreadsheet to keep the characters of a novel straight. (Maybe if I was more familiar with the peripheral characters?)
There is also the issue of money. Vic laments the loss of her office, income taxes due, an increase in her real estate taxes, yet she spends 450+ pages chasing after Emily and trying to solve Deirdre's murder -- with no one paying her to do so. Shouldn't she be earning money to pay said bills?
The author does wrap everything together at the end, with lots of chase scenes and shoot-em-ups, making it an enjoyable ride if the readers suspends belief.
I read reviews by others before starting the book. Most were negative, but again, not having read anything by this author before, I went in with an open mind. It started out great: a woman and her children living on the street, a non-profit that works with abused women -- it all fit together and was a social issue I could wrap my head around.
But then we got in to other non-profits, bankers and a U.S. senator. It became difficult to keep straight which character belonged to which organization. I shouldn't need a spreadsheet to keep the characters of a novel straight. (Maybe if I was more familiar with the peripheral characters?)
There is also the issue of money. Vic laments the loss of her office, income taxes due, an increase in her real estate taxes, yet she spends 450+ pages chasing after Emily and trying to solve Deirdre's murder -- with no one paying her to do so. Shouldn't she be earning money to pay said bills?
The author does wrap everything together at the end, with lots of chase scenes and shoot-em-ups, making it an enjoyable ride if the readers suspends belief.
August 8, 2018
Audiobook review: The narrator does not know how to pronounce words like chasm, truculently, and Nike shoes. It’s not tomato/tomato kinds of words, either. It’s simply mispronunciation. Her voice is very breathy, better suited for other things, except that her narration is dry. It’s odd that all her characters sound virtually alike except the young teenage girl. Why she chose to actually give that give a voice of her own I don’t know. She does it well; too bad she didn’t do it with the rest of the book.
As an audiobook, I found myself wanting to tell the narrator to move the story along already. All the information about the housing requirements and contracts, etc. was uninteresting. There were also lots of extra side conversations, perhaps to build characters or interest, that instead just deterred from the main storyline. I listened to this during a time when I was feeling particularly under the weather so perhaps I am being harsh but I don’t think so. A good book picks up my spirits; a subpar book remains subpar.
I might try another of these books to see if it’s better. It wasn’t horrible and I might have enjoyed it more if I’d read the print version.
January 1, 2015
I've read a few of Sara Paretsky's books in the past and greatly enjoyed them. However, V.I. Warshawski really went over the line (police and moral) in this one. I like my private eye books to at least follow the line of the law, not to the letter but at least in that direction. You know, to at least appear realistic and legal. There is no way in hell, a real police situation would have been handled like this. The cops would have been all over her for her interference; here they basically ignored her and her tactics. Even her cop boyfriend, only said something about her being arrested if it wasn't for him.
I really didn't like Vic's methods in this one: interfering with a police investigation, impersonating a cop (more than once) and her verbal abuse of suspects. However, Vic was very good at handling 14-year-old Emily Messenger. Emily was a victim of parental abuse and sexual assault. I'd like to think that this was the deciding factor in Vic's behavior but unfortunately, her tactics started way before these events.
This is definitely not my favorite Paretsky title.
I really didn't like Vic's methods in this one: interfering with a police investigation, impersonating a cop (more than once) and her verbal abuse of suspects. However, Vic was very good at handling 14-year-old Emily Messenger. Emily was a victim of parental abuse and sexual assault. I'd like to think that this was the deciding factor in Vic's behavior but unfortunately, her tactics started way before these events.
This is definitely not my favorite Paretsky title.
April 25, 2013
V.I. Warshawski's funds are getting low and she accepts a case involving a women's construction group that had a contract turned down from a bank, even though the bank had a community lending policy.
She is in an office building that is scheduled for demolition and one day finds a homeless woman and the woman's three children living in the basement of Vic's building. The woman tells her she's hiding from an abusive husband.
A parallel story is when Vic is invited to a retirement party at a wealthy person's home. She witnesses the mistreatment of the children by both the husband and wife.
I enjoyed the story and the points the author was making about irregularities in the construction industry, bribery of officials, abused women and troubled children from wealthy and impoverished families. Even with the many subjects of discussion, the author does a good job in balancing the topics so the reader can follow a complex plot with ease.
V.I. Warshawski is a gutsy woman who stands up for what she believes.
She is in an office building that is scheduled for demolition and one day finds a homeless woman and the woman's three children living in the basement of Vic's building. The woman tells her she's hiding from an abusive husband.
A parallel story is when Vic is invited to a retirement party at a wealthy person's home. She witnesses the mistreatment of the children by both the husband and wife.
I enjoyed the story and the points the author was making about irregularities in the construction industry, bribery of officials, abused women and troubled children from wealthy and impoverished families. Even with the many subjects of discussion, the author does a good job in balancing the topics so the reader can follow a complex plot with ease.
V.I. Warshawski is a gutsy woman who stands up for what she believes.
May 24, 2017
This was an audiobook . . . and I almost gave up on it several times. I've heard good things about the author and the series -- about how groundbreaking the character, a female private eye/former lawyer, V.I. Warshawski, was when the series started in the 1980s. I heard about how accurately it catches the atmosphere of its location, downtown Chicago. So I stuck through the end but can't say I enjoy it or that I have any enthusiasm for starting another in the series.
V.I was illogical and extreme in her dedication to the case. Her computer was wiped, the building her office was in was condemned, her home burgled, her taxes were due, her bank account was empty, her person attacked and yet she kept on single mindedly working and risking everything, with no prospects of financial compensation.
Book was a bit dated, too -- sometimes it can be interesting, when a book is written at the moment of transition to cell phones and web surfing, but this one just felt old, especially with some of the attitudes expressed in it.
V.I was illogical and extreme in her dedication to the case. Her computer was wiped, the building her office was in was condemned, her home burgled, her taxes were due, her bank account was empty, her person attacked and yet she kept on single mindedly working and risking everything, with no prospects of financial compensation.
Book was a bit dated, too -- sometimes it can be interesting, when a book is written at the moment of transition to cell phones and web surfing, but this one just felt old, especially with some of the attitudes expressed in it.
May 7, 2016
Unfortunately Tunnel Vision follows the path of almost every other book in this series. Vic sticks her nose in where it doesn't belong, she offends everyone she knows, she makes the obligatory pro-abortion editorial comments, fights the cops, commits B & Es and as usual does so badly, gets shot at, gets beaten up, and has her apàrtment broken into while investigating corruption that is way too difficult to follow.
On the bright side the Mary Louise Feely character shows signs of developing into something worthwhile. Too bad that's about the only good thing that can be said about this otherwise tortuous read. I realize it's fiction, but V.I. is simply unbelievable. She would have lost her license long ago along with all of her friends.
On the bright side the Mary Louise Feely character shows signs of developing into something worthwhile. Too bad that's about the only good thing that can be said about this otherwise tortuous read. I realize it's fiction, but V.I. is simply unbelievable. She would have lost her license long ago along with all of her friends.
February 5, 2021
Wow! So much happening in this book.
Corruption, murder, mystery, V.I. getting hurt, patched up, then right back out there trying to solve the current problem; find missing children!
V.I. being wrongly accused of hiding a young girl twice! The officer/Detectives were so f-ing rude!
The men never treat V.I. with respect!! Why don't they believe her? Rawlings tries to coddle her, tries to keep her from doing her job. He doesn't respect her abilities at all. None of them do, even when she turns out to be right time after time!!
Vic is one bad ass female! A Very strong character. She keeps facing the adversity, taking the disrespect, and solving crimes/murders/mysteries.
Corruption, murder, mystery, V.I. getting hurt, patched up, then right back out there trying to solve the current problem; find missing children!
V.I. being wrongly accused of hiding a young girl twice! The officer/Detectives were so f-ing rude!
The men never treat V.I. with respect!! Why don't they believe her? Rawlings tries to coddle her, tries to keep her from doing her job. He doesn't respect her abilities at all. None of them do, even when she turns out to be right time after time!!
Vic is one bad ass female! A Very strong character. She keeps facing the adversity, taking the disrespect, and solving crimes/murders/mysteries.
February 9, 2014
This is the 8th book in the V.I. Warshawski series, and I really liked some things about this one--V.I.'s fierce protectiveness of some children she fears are caught between two abusive parents, her work for the homeless, and other issues she champions. But there are several things I did not like about her as well, and some of the dialog seemed very contrived and unlikely. And sometimes the plot got so convoluted it was hard to know who was doing what. I have liked this series overall, and hope the next one is something I enjoy more.
November 13, 2020
This one was not very good.
May 7, 2021
If a book can’t hold your attention, is it your fault or the book? Not sure who to blame, but I kept falling asleep during this murder mystery.
December 29, 2024
1994
As is probably usual in her books, the story takes place in the present time. Brief reference to the terrible troubles in Yugoslavia at that time. Also the embargo on trade with Iraq.
Another reader says the network of deep, deep tunnels underneath downtown Chicago, and the time they flooded, is a real thing that happened.
Whether this book is one of the better books in the series or not doesn't bother me. Each of Paretsky's books has many aspects, several of which are bound to interest me. As in other books, corruption in Chicago/Illinois politics is there, the influence [too much] of the rich and powerful on police commissioners' and judges' decisions... Class is prominent in this book, racism a minor theme, battered women [better to say domestic violence or violence against women?] an important theme. Dysfunctional families.
Lots of violence that VI gets caught up in in this book. And she does a LOT of 'breaking and entering', sneaking into people's houses and offices to find evidence. The important thing to her is to be able to figure out what the heck is/was going on and who and WHY certain crimes took place; she's not with the police and seems much less concerned with evidence that would hold up in court in order to actually convict the criminal[s]. Usually, too, V I is working against a pressing deadline, e.g. someone who may soon be killed by the bad guy[s] if she doesn't act quickly.
This habit of 'breaking and entering', and other not-legal things V I does, form one of the themes of this book. Her lover at this time, Conrad [a police officer/detective], keeps calling her on it. He also disapproves of her almost never telling him in advance when she is going to do something dangerous; sometimes it's because she knows he'll try to stop her from doing it but sometimes just because she is accustomed to planning her own activities and it often doesn't occur to her to ask someone's help. [Although in this book, not only Mr Contreras but even Max gets to go along with her on one or another of her dangerous missions.]
Whether V I's 'breaking and entering' pattern is justifiable or not does not get resolved in the book; we can continue to discuss it.
I experience what other readers did about there being more characters than I could keep track of. Some get a sort of personality, some remain murky and unremarkable, making them even harder to keep track of.
I suppose one could remark that most of the bad guys in the book are in fact male, and the women are more well-rounded, some of them doing bad things yet having redeeming qualities. I had not stopped to think about this when reading other books of hers.
As is probably usual in her books, the story takes place in the present time. Brief reference to the terrible troubles in Yugoslavia at that time. Also the embargo on trade with Iraq.
Another reader says the network of deep, deep tunnels underneath downtown Chicago, and the time they flooded, is a real thing that happened.
Whether this book is one of the better books in the series or not doesn't bother me. Each of Paretsky's books has many aspects, several of which are bound to interest me. As in other books, corruption in Chicago/Illinois politics is there, the influence [too much] of the rich and powerful on police commissioners' and judges' decisions... Class is prominent in this book, racism a minor theme, battered women [better to say domestic violence or violence against women?] an important theme. Dysfunctional families.
Lots of violence that VI gets caught up in in this book. And she does a LOT of 'breaking and entering', sneaking into people's houses and offices to find evidence. The important thing to her is to be able to figure out what the heck is/was going on and who and WHY certain crimes took place; she's not with the police and seems much less concerned with evidence that would hold up in court in order to actually convict the criminal[s]. Usually, too, V I is working against a pressing deadline, e.g. someone who may soon be killed by the bad guy[s] if she doesn't act quickly.
This habit of 'breaking and entering', and other not-legal things V I does, form one of the themes of this book. Her lover at this time, Conrad [a police officer/detective], keeps calling her on it. He also disapproves of her almost never telling him in advance when she is going to do something dangerous; sometimes it's because she knows he'll try to stop her from doing it but sometimes just because she is accustomed to planning her own activities and it often doesn't occur to her to ask someone's help. [Although in this book, not only Mr Contreras but even Max gets to go along with her on one or another of her dangerous missions.]
Whether V I's 'breaking and entering' pattern is justifiable or not does not get resolved in the book; we can continue to discuss it.
I experience what other readers did about there being more characters than I could keep track of. Some get a sort of personality, some remain murky and unremarkable, making them even harder to keep track of.
I suppose one could remark that most of the bad guys in the book are in fact male, and the women are more well-rounded, some of them doing bad things yet having redeeming qualities. I had not stopped to think about this when reading other books of hers.
June 8, 2021
Taking so place in 1992 Chicago, Tunnel Vision is book 8 in the V.I. Warshawski mystery series. “V.I." - (only her closest friends call her Vic) is a lawyer and former public defender, now a self-employed Private Investigator. She is smart, tough and (mostly) fearless.
Warshawski’s friend from a charity that provides shelter for women and their children asks her for help in determining why her all-female building company’s recently approved building permit was revoked. What Warshawski uncovers is more than just politics. Then another volunteer is found lying with her head bashed in across Warshawski’s desk. The victim's young teenaged daughter has run away taking her 2 younger brothers with her, thus she becomes suspect #1. But Warshawski knows that the woman was an abused spouse herself and her husband is a well respected lawyer cloaked in his powerful contacts.
Vic is turning 40 and although she is trying to catch up with the modern world having gotten her first computer, she remains a holdout tenant in a building set to be demolished. She discovers that a young mother and her 3 sick children are living in the building’s basement, Warshawski attempts to rescue them and they disappear. When the city’s underground tunnel system is breached and begins filling with water, Warshawski goes in search of the young family and, in the process finds more than she bargained for.
Homelessness, spouse and child abuse, human trafficking, government corruption and money laundering are all a part of Tunnel Vision. It is my favorite V.I. Warshawski book to date. If you’ve read the others it can feel, at times, predictable. Still, this one is worth the read. The title of this one gave me pause as I’m claustrophobic and was worried that it’s content might freak me out. I needn’t have worried. There are some tunnels but an MRI is still scarier. Although it’s ideal to read the books in order, it is not critical. A fast, enjoyable and somewhat addictive series. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Favorite Quote: "You seem to reason with your endocrines instead of your synapses.�
#EmptyNestReader #instagram #TunnelVision #VIWarshawski #SarahParetsky #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagramalabama #bookstagrammichigan #bookreviews #bookreviewer #bookrecommendations #JuneReads #readalittlelearnalittlelivealittle #ebooks #librarybooks
#vestaviahillslibrary
Warshawski’s friend from a charity that provides shelter for women and their children asks her for help in determining why her all-female building company’s recently approved building permit was revoked. What Warshawski uncovers is more than just politics. Then another volunteer is found lying with her head bashed in across Warshawski’s desk. The victim's young teenaged daughter has run away taking her 2 younger brothers with her, thus she becomes suspect #1. But Warshawski knows that the woman was an abused spouse herself and her husband is a well respected lawyer cloaked in his powerful contacts.
Vic is turning 40 and although she is trying to catch up with the modern world having gotten her first computer, she remains a holdout tenant in a building set to be demolished. She discovers that a young mother and her 3 sick children are living in the building’s basement, Warshawski attempts to rescue them and they disappear. When the city’s underground tunnel system is breached and begins filling with water, Warshawski goes in search of the young family and, in the process finds more than she bargained for.
Homelessness, spouse and child abuse, human trafficking, government corruption and money laundering are all a part of Tunnel Vision. It is my favorite V.I. Warshawski book to date. If you’ve read the others it can feel, at times, predictable. Still, this one is worth the read. The title of this one gave me pause as I’m claustrophobic and was worried that it’s content might freak me out. I needn’t have worried. There are some tunnels but an MRI is still scarier. Although it’s ideal to read the books in order, it is not critical. A fast, enjoyable and somewhat addictive series. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Favorite Quote: "You seem to reason with your endocrines instead of your synapses.�
#EmptyNestReader #instagram #TunnelVision #VIWarshawski #SarahParetsky #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagramalabama #bookstagrammichigan #bookreviews #bookreviewer #bookrecommendations #JuneReads #readalittlelearnalittlelivealittle #ebooks #librarybooks
#vestaviahillslibrary
December 12, 2022
This entry in Sara Paretsky's series about stubborn and relentless Chicago private eye V.I. "Vic" Warshawski runs for more than 400 pages. The financial end of the mystery and Warshawski's efforts to tie a non-profit for the homeless to a GMO corn grower seemed repetitive to the point that I think perhaps 10 percent of it could be trimmed.
The best part of the book, and what gives it its title, is when Warshawski plunges into Chicago's long-forgotten tunnel system seeking a missing witness who'd been hiding in her now-closed building, even as the river has broken through its containment and begun flooding the tunnel system. Her only helper is her 78-year-old neighbor, Mr. Contreras, who survived Anzio and never lets anyone forget it. Their harrowing journey beneath the city is an exciting read, and my main reason for recommending this book.
Our opera-singing detective is on the verge of turning 40, but she's got an active love life and a lot of energy, not to mention grit. A request to poke around in why a female-owned business lost its loan from a local bank leads her into a tangled tale involving a creepy law professor, his abused daughter, the aforesaid charity and a powerful U.S. senator.
Before it's over she's been knocked unconscious by thugs, locked out of her office by the building's owners, tailed by a rich kid who needs a major favor, shot at by a construction supervisor, arrested by the INS and nearly run over by an airplane. She also loses her lunch after discovering a woman kiled on top of her desk, brains beaten out by a souvenir baseball bat.
The story is from the mid-1990s, so there are dated aspects to it. Only a newspaper reporter sports a "car phone" (as if reporters were ever paid that well) and there's a scene in a gay bar that might have seemed amusing back then but now comes across as totally cringe-worthy. That said, I'm glad I read it and will look forward to working my way through the rest of the series too.
The best part of the book, and what gives it its title, is when Warshawski plunges into Chicago's long-forgotten tunnel system seeking a missing witness who'd been hiding in her now-closed building, even as the river has broken through its containment and begun flooding the tunnel system. Her only helper is her 78-year-old neighbor, Mr. Contreras, who survived Anzio and never lets anyone forget it. Their harrowing journey beneath the city is an exciting read, and my main reason for recommending this book.
Our opera-singing detective is on the verge of turning 40, but she's got an active love life and a lot of energy, not to mention grit. A request to poke around in why a female-owned business lost its loan from a local bank leads her into a tangled tale involving a creepy law professor, his abused daughter, the aforesaid charity and a powerful U.S. senator.
Before it's over she's been knocked unconscious by thugs, locked out of her office by the building's owners, tailed by a rich kid who needs a major favor, shot at by a construction supervisor, arrested by the INS and nearly run over by an airplane. She also loses her lunch after discovering a woman kiled on top of her desk, brains beaten out by a souvenir baseball bat.
The story is from the mid-1990s, so there are dated aspects to it. Only a newspaper reporter sports a "car phone" (as if reporters were ever paid that well) and there's a scene in a gay bar that might have seemed amusing back then but now comes across as totally cringe-worthy. That said, I'm glad I read it and will look forward to working my way through the rest of the series too.
January 27, 2022
When V.I. Warshawski sees something, she says something. Then she does something about it. Her theme song should be "Fools Rush In". Vic never hesitates to put herself in danger in her relentless pursuit of justice. Also, she never quits. Don't even think of firing Vic once she is on a case. Despite the fact that she is always desperately short of funds, Vic will continuing trying to solve a mystery whether she gets paid or not. This one starts out as a seemingly simple request. Lamia is an all-woman construction company that wants to build low-cost housing for single mothers. But at the last minute their zoning permit was pulled and the bank which was to provide financing backed out. Vic is asked to see if she can find out what happened. This is another one of her pro bono assignments. It should only involving calling her source at City Hall and paying him for the information. He takes the money and starts asking questions. Then her source tells her that this is too dangerous a topic to pursue and says he will return the cash. Vic is intrigued. She needs to find out who is powerful enough to put the lid on her investigation. Even after Lamia is offered a rehab job instead of the construction project that they wanted, Vic will not be called off. As usual, she makes enemies wherever she goes. And, as usual, thugs are trashing her apartment and threatening her life. Also, as usual, this is a great story. It involves murder, child abuse, wife battering, off-shore banks, graft and corruption at the highest levels of business and government. Another fine addition to the V.I. Warshawski series.
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