Total Recall

I've read all of Paretsky's books and am a long time admirer. This is up to her usual standard. Her plotting and her characters are carefully conceived, the setting well realized. Viva Paretsky! Now if she would only turn these mysteries out with greater frequency....

I enjoyed this book from start to finish, couldn't put it down, didn't want it to end. Why can't I give it 10 stars? V.I. Warshawski has become a mature woman with a realistic lovelife and real friends. It was a pleasure to spend time with her (although I'm worried she's going to starve to death; she never seems to eat anything). The complex insurance and "recovered memory" scam she is "detecting" was interesting and I never doubted any of it. Plenty of blood, gore, action and surprises. As usual I enjoyed the Chicago scenery, especially the occasional notes on the Cubs.The story of Lotty, finally revealed after all this time, makes perfect sense. I always wondered what her "problem" was, as no doubt did Paretsky. I think Paretsky handled it well, revealing it as if Lotty is telling her the story, which in the end it turns out, she is. Why do so many people think less of a book because it's a "mystery?" This is as good a novel as many pieces of "literature" I've read, and way better than some of those lyrical and tedious first novels reviewers go nuts over.

After I stayed up to finish this page-turner, I started it all over again, just to savor the clever ways Sara Paretsky builds a story and the rich interplay between the characters. Like her gutsy detective V.I. Warshawski, Paretsky is not afraid to take risks. The risks pay off in this tightly plotted tale in which characters drive the story. From the first novel in this series, Paretsky has given the supporting cast of characters around V.I. life and depth. Gabriella and Tony Warshawski, Mr. Contreras, Murray Ryerson, Bobby and Eileen Mallory, the guys down at the police station, mean-spirited Aunt Rosa and daffy Aunt Elena, even the valiant golden retrievers Peppy and Mitch enrich these mysteries with their human (and canine) quirks. V.I.'s friend, mentor and mother-figure, Dr. Lotty Herschel, a solid, opinionated and compassionate little woman, takes center stage with great presence for part of this novel, allowing Paretsky to show us the background of this complex character. We got more hints about Lotty and Max in Paretsky's short story collection "Windy City Blues." This is an even more satisfying study of character, though it is certainly not lacking in action. While giving us strong characters, action and intricate plots, each of Paretsky's books also explores challenging moral ground. Her mysteries are literature. I buy each one in hard cover, because I know my grandchildren will enjoy them fifty years from now as classics.

As a mystery writer with my debut novel in its initial release, I have been enjoying Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski novels for years. I am glad she has resumed writing them, especially TOTAL RECALL. In many ways, TOTAL RECALL is Lotty Herschel's book. Lotty is V.I.'s friend and mentor. Lotty is the closest thing to a mother V.I. has. In several chapters, Lotty takes central stage and returns us to those horrible days of Holocaust. In time present, a man named Paul Radbuka has surfaced making startling claims regarding his conection to Lotty and her companion, Max. V.I. begins to investigate this man and his claims at the same time she is involved with an insurance investigation involving a black man named Aaron Sommers. As the story progresses, the reader learns much about Lotty, her past, and the horrors of Nazism. Ms. Paretsky also links Holocaust reparations to the issue of reparations for slavery. TOTAL RECALL is an excellent novel addressing some most serious themes. Excellent book.