Pretty good mystery about 50's communist blacklist and ties to current terrorist scare and paranoia.

A complex plot with multiple characters and relationships which are sometimes hard to follow. The story is set in an America suffering from post 9-11 paranoia and involves characters closely involved with the Mccarthyism witch hunts of the early 1950s. Warshawski literally stumbles over a dead body of a black journalist, who has been digging into the McCarthy era, whilst researching a famous black dancer. He uncovers secrets some want kept buried and the rich and powerful involved are adept at keeping their secrets. A sub-plot is a young Egyptian on the run, whose visa has expired and in post 9-11 America that tags him as a terrorist. ( )

The cast of convoluted characters, e.g., the innocent Egyptian boy accused of / mistaken for a terrorist, the snotty rich teenage girl, the suburban blue bloods with their mixes of relationships, homosexual lovers, marital infedelity, black inner city journalist, stereotypical racist reactions, etc., all were a bit too much for me. I never got into the characters, the dialog between them, nor the believability of the story. ( )

Wow. You would think Sara Paretsky had a crystal ball and could look into the future of America with this book.

"Blacklist" taking place in a post 9/11 America where everyone who is a Muslim is automatically a terrorist is starting to wear on VI. Due to her protesting during her college days, she knows what a slippery slope the US is in right now with allowing The Patriot Act to allow the government to spy on its citizens all for the great good of security. When VI is asked by one of her long-standing clients to look into his mother's accusations that someone has broken into their old home, VI comes across a dead journalist/writer. And it looks like his investigations into a pioneer in the African American art scene during the Red Scare in the U.S. has run into an America that is ready to do whatever it can in the name of terrorism.

I loved this book and it in turn broke my heart while reading. VI can be self righteous. But you definitely (or I did) get where she is coming from. You can see parallels to what the US did back in the 50/60s to those who they claimed where Communists to them saying anyone with brown skin is automatically an enemy. VI ends up running into a powerful publisher and a character who reminded me a little too much of Glen Beck while I was reading.

We get the usual cast of characters in this one. We also have VI feeling lost now that her lover Morello is in Afghanistan investigating the Taliban. She makes a lot of comparisons to her being Penelope and him being Odysseys. I would have to say though that no one puts VI in the corner, so it was a bit much to have her being all fire and brimstone towards anyone who is blocking her ability to figure out who murdered this journalist to them being all weepy over the state of her love life.

The ending shocked me (in a good way). I wish that sometimes Paretsky would do what Sue Grafton does with her Kinsey Millhone detective books and write an epilogue. I hate things being left twisting in the wind.
( )

The plot was interesting, but the wrap up took a bit long in my opinion. I'd also have liked to see the murderer at least be arrested by the end of the book.

The theme of V.I. having to deal with children from a family involved in her investigation is wearing a bit thin for me by this third go round of it.

Other plot points and themes involve:
-race relations (both now and in the past). Are black victims treated differently than white victims? Are black suspects/minority suspects treated differently than white suspects?
-how views on homosexuality have changed over the decades
-the witch-hunt for Communist and Un-American activities
-the fear present in America after 9/11 and how many viewed Muslims at that time
-the upper class and how they treat those they perceive as "lower" than this class

I liked the putting together of the puzzle of what the reporter had found and how he found it. I thought the atmosphere of shortly after 9/11 was well represented--though I don't know how long after it is was--it must have been long enough that Darraugh could put a small plane up into the air without it being challenged by any authorities.

I missed Lotty and Max (who has only one scene in this book) making appearances. Mr. Contreras's role was also mostly absent in this book. ( )