Tunnel Vision: A V. I. Warshawski Novel

I've read many reviews who fault Paretsky on the believability of this book - but I say who cares? Vic Warshawski isn't meant to be realistic (a real PI would never be as interesting!) Vic is the kind of character everyone can relate to - she's fast and tough, but thoughtful and very kind hearted. Her escapades in Tunnel Vision - including a run in with a rather large aeroplane and a fight with a Romanian muscle mountain - are engaging, exciting and fabulous to imagine. Paretsky is one of the very best crime/thriller writers around today! If this is the first Paretsky you have read - the others are a must!!!

This is my first exposure to Sarah Paretsky. I thought that Tunnel Vision was a first rate mystery. The details in the underground scenes were fantastic. I felt like I was really there, just steps behind the flood. It was so vivid it was terrifying. I can see those chicago tunnels yet! Sarah Paretsky has a good head for technical detail, good as Crichton et. al., hell, good as any man, writer or otherwise. This is by no means a gentile "ladies tea party mystery. "V.I. Warshawsky is tough yet desireable, one cool lady detective. Highly recommended.

Sara Paretsky's character, V.I. Warshawski, is a tough-talking; tender-hearted; justice-seeking; single-minded woman who is approaching middle-age and beginning to feel it. I can really identify with the "beginning to feel it" part, which is part of the reason I find her so engaging. Her tactics may not always be perfect, but her heart's always in the right place!In Tunnel Vision, once again, she goes after the truth taking her friends, her dogs, her police contacts, and her neighbor/protector, Mr. Contreras along with her. She discovers the truth, too, but only after putting herself and her closest personal relationships at great risk. I don't think she's meant to be believable 100% of the time, after all this is fiction. V.I.'s just supposed to be cool. And she is.

Sara Paretsky has packed a huge amount into a single novel, probably enough for 4 or 5 thriller movies. I've had the same sense of surprise with another of the V.I. Warshawsky novels -- after 30 or 40 pages to be only that far into it. The behaviour of many if not most of the men in this book is implausibly stupid, serving perhaps as an inexcusable excuse to examine abuse and inhumanity between and among the sexes. V.I.'s tendency to argue unproductively with most of the other characters in the novel is annoying at times, too, but there's always a lot going on, continuous plot motion, and plenty to think about. And it's nice to have a PI who doesn't pull out a gun and threaten to blow the bad guy's head off if he doesn't come across with the information. This is a slow read and a good one.

although i am not a big v.i. warshawski fan i found this story better then most of the previous books. v.i. can be over bearing to the point of unbelievable, in this she was a little more believable. definitly worth reading