Tunnel Vision: A V. I. Warshawski Novel

by Sara Paretsky

Book Overview

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

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0440217520
• ISBN13: 9780440217527
• Release Date: May 1995
• Publisher: Dell
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 4.3" x 7.1"

Customer Reviews

Paretsky at her incredible best!

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!!!

Not a ladies mystery

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.

One of V.I.'s Best!

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.

Delivers good value in a mystery

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.

one of paretsky's better storiew

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