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Critical Mass

Paretsky, Sara. Book - 2013 None on shelf No requests on this item Community Rating: 4 out of 5

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"New York Times-bestselling author Sara Paretsky's brilliant protagonist V.I. Warshawski returns in another hard-hitting entry, combining razor-sharp plotting and compelling characters with a heady mix of timely political and social themes. V.I. Warshawski's closest friend in Chicago is the Viennese-born doctor Lotty Herschel, who lost most of her family in the Holocaust. Lotty escaped to London in 1939 on the Kindertransport with a childhood playmate, Kitty Saginor Binder. When Kitty's daughter finds her life is in danger, she calls Lotty, who, in turn, summons V.I. to help. The daughter's troubles turn out to be just the tip of an iceberg of lies, secrets, and silence, whose origins go back to the mad competition among America, Germany, Japan and England to develop the first atomic bomb. The secrets are old, but the people who continue to guard them today will not let go of them without a fight"-- Provided by publisher.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

fast-paced submitted by camelsamba on June 24, 2014, 12:47pm The plot was engaging but parts made me cringe. I did not enjoy the sections that are full of foul language and brutal violence, but I suppose they were realistic for their settings (meth houses, etc.) Just not my favorite thing to read, you know? Overall, though, I enjoyed the story. There were times when I wanted to shake V.I. and say "what's wrong with you? you are missing >this< connection!!!" But I suppose if I were exhausted, or had been in a shoot-out, or dug through a hazardous meth-production waste pit, then I might forget certain salient details as well. I suppose that approach is more realistic than the mysteries where the detective (or cozy-style faux-detective) makes giant leaps of logic based on things the reader isn't privy to. And it's not like I figured out every detail, but on occasion I made the connection before she did.

I first heard about this book on Science Friday, and requested it from the library right away. I was expecting more connection to atomic bomb development (I had just finished _Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon_ so had atomic race on the brain), but the historic plot was more about the development of early computers. I must say that the plot twist with Martina was not at ALL what I was expecting!

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PUBLISHED
New York : G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2013.
Year Published: 2013
Description: 465 pages ; 24 cm.
Language: English
Format: Book

ISBN/STANDARD NUMBER
9780399160561
0399160566

SUBJECTS
Warshawski, V. I. (Fictitious character)
Women private investigators -- Chicago -- Fiction.
Chicago (Ill.) -- Fiction.
Mystery fiction.
Suspense fiction.