Hard Time

V.I. Warshawski #9

by Sara Paretsky, Jean Smart (Performer), Sonja Hauser (Translator)

Among the first, and perhaps the most compelling, female private investigators of contemporary fiction, Sara Paretsky's incomparable character V. I. Warshawski at last returns to the page in her first full-length appearance since 1994's Tunnel Vision. Hard Time is the work of a master--a riveting novel of suspense that is indisputably Paretsky's best V.I. Warshawski novel yet. Multimedia conglomerate Global Entertainment has purchased the Chicago Herald-Star, forcing the paper's staff to scramble to stay employed. Reporter Murray Ryerson, V.I.'s longtime friend and sometime rival, manages to reinvent himself as the host of a television show on Global's network.

On her way home from a party celebrating Murray's debut, V.I. almost runs over a woman lying in the street. Stopping to help, V.I. soon learns that her Good Samaritan act will drop her squarely in a boiling intrigue. In a case that forces her to go head-to-head with one of the world's largest providers of private security and prison services, a case that exposes dark hidden truths behind the razzle-dazzle of the entertainment industry, V.I. will be ahead of the game if she gets out alive.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Thriller, Detective, Audiobook

495 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 22, 1999

About the author

Sara Paretsky is a modern American author of detective fiction. Paretsky was raised in Kansas, and graduated from the state university with a degree in political science. She did community service work on the south side of Chicago in 1966 and returned in 1968 to work there. She ultimately completed a Ph.D. in history at the University of Chicago, entitled The Breakdown of Moral Philosophy in New England Before the Civil War, and finally earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. Married to a professor of physics at the University of Chicago, she has lived in Chicago since 1968.

The protagonist of all but two of Paretsky's novels is V.I. Warshawski, a female private investigator. Warshawski's eclectic personality defies easy categorization. She drinks Johnnie Walker Black Label, breaks into houses looking for clues, and can hold her own in a street fight, but also she pays attention to her clothes, sings opera along with the radio, and enjoys her sex life.

Paretsky is credited with transforming the role and image of women in the crime novel. The Winter 2007 issue of Clues: A Journal of Detection is devoted to her work.

Her two books that are non-Warshawski novels are : Ghost Country (1998) and Bleeding Kansas (2008).

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars for a hard edged story of high level corruption at a private prison. V. (Vic) I. Warshawski is a private investigator in Chicago, Illinois. She is on the way home from a party when she almost hits a woman lying in the street. She swerves to avoid her and crashes her car into a fire hydrant. She and her friends try to save the dying woman, but the woman dies shortly thereafter in the hospital. Even though Vic was breathalyzed negative, she threatened with an arrest the next day on a trumped up hit and run charge.
This gets Vic to investigating how the woman came to be lying in the road severely injured and comes up against powerful people who try to destroy her.
Hows she manages to solve the mystery and overcome the powerful enemies is a thrilling story. There are scenes of sexual abuse and violence, so this may not be appropriate for cozy mystery fans.
Two quotes:
Vic describing a relationship: "It's true that Murray and I once had a fling, but that was history so ancient there weren't even any archaeological remains to look through."
Wealthy neighborhood: "Each house--if that's what you call something with twenty rooms and four chimneys--was set so far back behind trees and fences that you saw only fragments of facades or gables."
I read this book in 4 days.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Review
Number 9 was a definite hit in the VI Warshawski thriller and mystery series by Paretsky Sara. Hard Time starts off with a bang... VI almost hits someone while driving, then realize it's a dead body in the road. And although she does the right thing, because of her past issues with some of the police in the department, despite her father having been close with them, they determine she was the culprit in the hit and run. And VI ends up in prison -- that's the hard time. Now that she's hit a new decade, VI's finally realizes she needs to act a little closer to her own age, but this prison stint is something she can't quite avoid at first. And when she realizes there are a few cover-ups, she stays in prison to try to figure out what's going... hopefully her attitude won't get her beaten up too many times. Paretsky hits her stride in this installment, bringing home strong language, intricate prison details and a really strong attachment for readers to wanting VI to solve this crime. I'd choose this one potentially as a starter if the first two don't appeal to you, but I always recommend reading in order if you plan to commit to the whole series -- or even think you might. Enjoy!

About Me
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by. Note: All written content is my original creation and copyrighted to me, but the graphics and images were linked from other sites and belong to them. Many thanks to their original creators.

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[Phrynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Number 9 in the series and I really liked this one! The tone was a lot less introspective and at last V.I. Warshawski has realised that she needs to be a little more careful about putting her friend's lives at risk.
In the previous book Vic turned forty and decided she might need to slow down a little and not get into so many violent confrontations. In this book she seems to have forgotten her own advice and ends up in some of the worst situations she has ever been in. As usual she ends up hospitalised and recovering from injuries which would put an end to most of us.
But hey, it is just a story and an excellent one at that! Over five hundred pages which disappeared in no time. Highly recommended:)

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good thriller with a realistic ending to what happens to rich, politically connected corrupt villains. V.I almost runs over a woman on a road one night and wrecks her car. She then gets involved in a case with corrupt police, a private prison the equivalent of Amazon TV and ends up in prison.

A good story if a bit farfetched with her escape from the baddies and walking into an obvious trap!

[Anastasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard Time by Sara Paretsky is the 9th book in the V.I Warshawski Mystery series. Returning home following a party celebrating reporter Murray Ryerson's television debut, Pribate Investigator V.I. Warshawski narrowly misses a woman lying in the street snd becomes embroiled in a case involving the largest provider of security and prison services. An enjoyable and captivating thriller. I like that V.I. is becoming more concerned regarding involving her friends and putting them at risk, although she still does not seem to care as much for her own safety and suffers her worst injuries. V.i is smart and tenacious as ever but I think I would have enjoyed the book more without all the violence and her injuries and without the crooked cop.

[JoTownhead · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the most hard-hitting VI Warshawski novels. A random event leads VI to the interlinked world of politics and big business, with graphic insights into Chicago's prison system. VI's strong investigative skills and nose for a cover-up draw her in deeper and deeper. An often uncomfortable read but well worthwhile for the satisfying denouement.

[aPriL does feral sometimes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I REALLY wanted to give 'Hard Time' five stars because I BELIEVE! - in Sara Paretsky, in Paretsky's and her character V. I. Warshawski's causes - but the plot is a tad bit pushed into a shape to suit VI 's usual masochistic response to everyone's usual complete lack of faith and belief in her except for for her old neighbor, Contreras. There also is the usual addition of a couple of new characters who support her, but can't be open about it. Ok, ok, it's a winning formula for this series, but since I'm reading the books in order, what I'm really starting to crave is the introduction of a peer or lover who adores, respects and supports Warshawski as much as Contreras, but is the same age as her and HELPS her. I'm also craving that the Chicago establishment give this independent woman the benefit of the doubt on her current case obviously due her because of her past successes.

Sigh.

Warshawski almost hits a body in the street and wrecks her car to avoid running over the poor dying lady. She initially has no thought to investigate or make a single rude remark, but for some reason the police start a campaign of deadly harassment, abuse and wrongful imprisonment. One of the police detectives, Lemour, shows a particularly sadistic bent in hurting Warshawski, which forces her over the wall in clearing herself of whispered suspicions of drug dealing as well as saving her rapidly sinking detective agency because her clients are mailing her letters of dismissal. With legal expenses mounting, and the police planting drugs in her office and beatings coming at her right and left, she makes a desperate decision to search for answers inside a privately run prison/jail instead of bailing out.

Prisons are horrible places. Even VI can't whip up any true spunk while inside. This is a stomach turning, sad read. I even found it difficult to review.

[Larry Bassett · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is mostly a story about VI serving time in jail and the experience of women who are imprisoned. My mother went to jail a couple of times when she was a grandmother because of civil disobedience in opposition to nuclear weapons. So women being in jail is a special interest to me. What my mother learned from being in jail, was that women in jail are almost always poor.

I am listening to this book in the audible format about a dozen years after I first read it. It was published in 1999.

This riveting novel of suspense focuses on the female private investigator, V. I. Warshawski, whose fight against crime starts when she tries to avoid running over an already battered woman lying in the middle of the road. The mystery of this battered and discarded woman takes her into the pampered world of a Hollywood star, and into a woman’s prison from where she barely manages to escape alive.

________________-
Hard Time is the ninth book in the Warshawski series but the first one to be published in five years. Author Paretsky has written and published a couple of books in that time but not in this series. But since I am reading the series in order about fourteen years later, I didn’t have to wait five years. In fact I just finished #8 less than an hour ago. My, how time flies!

I am intentionally reading two books in the series back to back to see if that increases my enjoyment watching our heroine go through her life. At the end of the last book she turned forty, lost another boyfriend (Excuse me, she calls them lovers.) and took on a part time partner in her private detective work.

So, the story is that it is two years after the end of the last book that was actually published five years ago. I like following the real world calendar but I guess that is asking too much in the world of fiction. And V.I. still has her TransAm sports car that is now ten years old; but she kicks off this new book by driving it into a fire hydrant. Long story. She also has proof of moving into a new age: a cell phone. She has a new office location since they razed the old building. But, get this, she has dial up internet. That should slow things down.

Another change: the quality of the book itself has taken a step up. Same publisher but larger size and fancier jacket. And, of course, in day-glo orange/red so it stands out on the book racks. It doesn’t say NY Times Best Selling Author on the cover however. That tagline appears on books later in the series. And, in case you were wondering, the promo for this book says “.. the work of a master – a riveting novel of suspense that is indisputably Paretsky’s best V.I. Warshawski novel yet.” Got to be true, right?

The book starts with V.I. getting involved with a situation that you suspect is going to turn into a major event that will be the pro bono (that’s legalese for free) case that will take her away from any effort that might earn her some money. V.I. doesn’t mess around. She can go from zero to sixty in 7 seconds (like a Pontiac TransAm) on a case that interests her and pays her nothing. These free-bees definitely make the most interesting stories so maybe she has a deal with Paretsky for a cut of the book profits.

V.I. often has interactions with upper class people with considerable wealth in relation to her work as a private investigator. She has a working class background. Class and income differences are very evident. Interestingly enough, the rich people often turn out to be the bad guys.

#9 is a much better book than #8 or #7. I was almost immediately interested in the case V.I. hooked into that was to occupy most of the book. She always asks a lot of questions, and I was asking the questions right along with her and was puzzled by the responses. That makes for a good mystery.

Poverty often plays a role in the Warshawski series as it does here as poverty is set against the very wealthy class. What is added as a new aspect here is prisons, specifically a woman’s prison that this operated by a private, profit making business. I have been interested in prison and jail issues for quite some time, more so since my mother has been jailed twice for nonviolent civil disobedience. She talked about the women she met when she was in jail. Mostly they were very poor. I am not sure if Hard Time has succeeded in educating very many people about the issues of poverty and prison. For most of us, these are just concepts that we hear about. Using Warshawski as our tour guide, Paretsky does her best to take us into both worlds and we see that they have a significant overlap. However, the world of the jail does seem over the top violence, unsanitary conditions and sexual assault. The depiction of the women in jail as powerless does come across vividly. It was easy to hate the jailers who were the real bad guys.

V.I. continues to age. She turns forty-four in this book. Her mother died when she was forty-six.

“My arms are sore. My hamstrings ache. I can hardly walk across the room. I’m getting old. I hate it. I hate not being able to count on my body.”

This is just a fiction, mystery/crime book. How serious to I want to take it? Maybe I just need to realize that Warshawski is a cartoon super hero and go with the flow.

“…It’s the same story with you every time. You can’t bear to be scared or beaten, so if someone threatens you, you have to take them on, no matter how big they are.”

Being in jail gives Ms. W some time to reflect on her life as well as come up against some women who are just as rough as she is. And it gives us readers something to think about and maybe understand her better.

I had always been big for my age and I had learned early … how to defend myself in the rough neighborhood where we grew up. But the year I was sixteen I roamed the streets looking for fights. It seemed as though … I couldn’t feel anything unless I was feeling physical pain. After a while even the biggest boys stayed away from me: I was too crazy. I fought with too much insanity.

So that’s why she is the way she is! I think this is called serious character development. If you are going to read 15 books with the same protagonist, there sure better be some of that.

V.I. does end up “succeeding” in getting into jail and, of course, superhero that she is, continues her investigation there. Once again she miraculously survives beatings and extreme violence at the hands of jail personnel. Miracles are too rare to believe that they happen to V.I. at least once each book. In this book several times. Simply unbelievable but entertaining if you like action. The Warshawski series does not include those incredible car chases down pedestrian sidewalks, through busy intersections and down narrow alleys. But V.I. does manage to cheat death and we are all happy about that since we know she will be back in the next book in the series. But talk about post traumatic stress disorder!

This book is much better than the two preceding ones. Seems like Paretsky took some time away from the Warshawski series to do some other writing and there was a benefit to the series from being on pause. Hard Time does take a hard look through the eyes of others of V.I.’s apparent need to take extreme risks that endanger herself as well as others. This has been a characteristic of every Warshawski book. Since she always survives these risky actions, the book does take on a superhero flavor as she always comes out on top. She always lives to fight another day against the forces of evil in the city of Chicago. And so, as usual, we look to the next book in the series so see if V.I. can maintain a serious love relationship through an entire book while still overcoming all the odds against her.

As a relative newcomer to mysteries I have to remember that entertainment is high on the list of goals. If there is some illumination of societal ills, so much the better. I found Hard Time entertaining. This gives me incentive to continue to the next book in the series with the realization that I am catching up with the present time. This book brings the series back to four stars for me.

[Obsidian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not much to say here besides the fact that I really enjoyed this one a lot. We get to see VI go into the prison system in order to find out how an escapee from a woman's prison was found on a road in Chicago. We get to see VI and other characters go through some changes in this one due to a new age of American politics as well.

VI in this one is accused of a hit and run after she barely misses hitting a woman's body in the road. Though VI has her run ins with the law at times, she still doesn't know why the police are looking hard at her for this one. When she turns up details on the dead woman which ties her into a high profile private security firm, it becomes pretty clear that VI may not be able to get herself out of trouble in this one.

VI is a bit slower in this one. She is definitely feeling her age. She also feels a bit flat since her long time rival and friend Murray is now being pushed to do more public friendly stories and the era of print media has seemingly died in Chicago. What I think made me like this one a lot more is that honestly VI is left friendless in this one and has to survey by her own wits. Her assistant pretty much quits and blames VI for how she behaves which is why she is always targeted. And VI has a power crazed Chicago cop on her heels who is not going to stop until he has her arrested.

The book shifts gears though with it's smart insight into the prison system and how easy it is to abuse women behind bars. Some of the descriptions were stomach inducing.

I do have to say though I loved this book, I found most of the circumstances involved to be highly implausible. I have finished a bunch of the books in this series recently, and I do have to say that after "Fire Sale" I started to just feel a shift in quality. I constantly compare VI to my other favorite female private eye, Kinsey Malone. And I think what gets me the most is that VI is antagonistic towards everyone and even the police. With what she gets up to I am surprised she hasn't been arrested for how many times she gets involved in a police matter. And I just don't like how she treats others around her. That said, I would be a happy person if the character of Mr. Contreras would be written off from this series along with the two dogs that VI ends up bringing everywhere in the latest books.

[Mary JL · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read several of the V. I. Warshawski novels by Sara Paretsky. This is the ninth in the series, and very, very wel written.

V. I.---her fiends call her "Vic" is a very realistically drawn person. She is intelligent, strong, smart, tough--and yet has very human failings. As you read the series, her character is developed thouthough the books. (You can read them out of order--each will stand alone).

IN this novel, Vic is accused by a dangerous cop of vehicular homicide and ends up--on false charges---in a womens' prison. Her attempts to investigate what is going on in the prson endanger her life. Sara paretsky, the author, makes some good points about our criminal justice system.

Very highly recommended to any mystery fan. This one starts slow, but once Sara Paretsky builds up some steam, you are in for a real wild, exciting ride.

[Mikey B. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spoilers Within

A more appropriate title would have been “A Series of Improbable Events”. The characters are interesting and the premise good and mysterious. But why did this “Security” pursue Warshawsky in the first place? They get a t-shirt from Frenada to put on the dead body of the escaped inmate – why not go to Wal-Mart? Warshawsky goes into the CEO’s home computer – gets easily through the passwords and then sends incriminating emails – very baffling? The prison sequences are contrived and out of place. And why did the “Security” firm kill Frenada?

None of this adds up – too bad because the writing and the characters are clear-cut and lucid.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I broke my #1 reading rule on this book. I started far into a series, but I must say, Sara Paretsky gave enough background on some of the repetitive characters that I didn't get lost. The setting is in the city I call home, Chicago. The suburb talked about is one of
The three towns that made up my high school, so it was familiar. The information about a woman's prison was disturbing, but probably true in a very sad way. This book was a library Valentine Blind Date. Definitely not a romance novel but there is a lot of love in the storyline...some canine and some human. Thank you Margaret Heggan Library for a fun spin on Valentine's Day.

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won't review most of the books in a series, but I will pick out the best ones. This one is up to her usual standards, but has the extra bonus of sending V.I. to prison, giving the author and us a chance to look at how our criminal justice system doesn't work and rising incarceration rates for women.

[Alicia Albertos · Rating 3 out of 5]

a vore m’ha costat tant de llegir… sap greu pero de la pagina 100 a la 300 no val gens això, és pràcticament tot igual no avança en la investigació literalment ho diu ella diu tots els dies son iguals no hi ha descobriments nous… 200 pàgines taaaan fluixetes.

A partir de la 300 està molt xulo la trama de la pressó si hagués començat abans seria 🤩🤩 perquè és super dura i super dinàmica i veus com va aconseguint coses… great

el q no m’ha agradat gaire és la caracterització dels personatges perquè no n’hi ha o és molt feble, fins i tot la de la prota vull dir de sobte un dia diu q li agrada el morrell i au? sense preàmbuls? no ho entenc no. A mesura q avança el llibre un poquet més, tanmateix és tot prou superficial

[Steve Wilkerson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Paretsky. I've read quite a number of her 20 V.I. Warshawski novels. She is able to incorporate social commentary into mystery novels by creating a likeable character with whom the reader can identify and empathize. Warshawski gets herself involved in the defense of the little guy against abusive corporations and corrupt politicians. In Hard Times, her commentary is on privately owned prisons, the corporations who run them, the politicians who make them possible, and the death spiral of true journalism -- and throws into the mix, commentary on helicopter parents who try to live their dreams through their children. It's complicated, but that's Paretsky's skill as a novelist. She creates complex plots, throwing Warshawski into multiple situations which expose the abuses of the marginal by the powerful without becoming excessively preachy. She successfully uses the framework of the mystery novel to expose societal flaws and keeps Warshawski so involved in predicaments that the reader keeps reading to learn how she extricates herself from these situations and absorbs the reformist message almost unaware. Paretsky's stories are coherent wholes, a product of careful plotting and a careful balance between reformer and storyteller. Dickens is obviously Paretsky's literary progenitor, and Paretsky's novels bring to mind Shelley's famous statement that "poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world."

[LJ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hard Time - NR
Sara Paretsky
When V.I. swerves to avoid a body lying in the middle of the road, she never imagines that her search for the reasons behind the vicious beating death of Nicola Aguinaldo will take her from the upper classes of Chicago society to a long stint behind bars at a private women's prison overrun with sadistic guards and almost equally threatening inmates. Her investigation will fray her relationships with assistant Mary Louise Neely and old friend Murray Ryerson, but with the help of a Catholic priest, an investigative reporter (and possible new love interest) named Morrell, and, of course, her neighbor and friend, Mr. Contreras, V.I. finally makes sure that justice is done.

Neither the author nor the character have grown. This will be the last I read of this series.

[Nick Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

V.I. Warshawski is again up against the corruption of the powerful. The book opens with a publicity party for a TV station; it’s not Warshawski’s thing, but on the way home she finds a body in the road…of course, we know the conventions and know the death will have some connections with the great and good at the party. There are the usual cast of Warshawski’s friends and helpers, but an old ally is now mingling with the rich and respectable…but a new ally is found. Warshawski investigates and finds she is being leaned on by an irate police detective…and the forces against her seem overwhelming – she manages to avoid being charged with possession of drugs, but gets thrown into prison anyway…hence the title. As in the last book she befriends and protects the child of the abusive rich. There are new twists in the format, but overall it supplies the comforts we should expect. As I work my way through the Warshawski books, it amazes me that I am still entertained by them…sometimes even moved. It probably helps that I read them in thirty minutes units as I peddle on my exercise bike (and sometimes I’ve not noticed the time and peddled on beyond my thirty minutes)…and they are clearly written, the stories well paced – however, our enjoyment probably depends on us enjoying Warshawksi’s company: if you didn’t, I’m sure they would fall flat. As in the last Warshawski book, in the end, while battles are won, many of the powerful are so powerful that they do little more than make tactical retreats. But Warshawski struggles on to fight another day, even though she is very conscious that her body is getting older, the physical struggles harder.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sara Paretsky is probably the closest follower of Ross MacDonald among all the mystery writers working today, and that is praise on my part. In this outing, V.I. Warshawsky actually goes Lew Archer one better in the amount of physical abuse she endures in the course of solving the (very interesting) mystery presented in "Hard Time." I discovered I can actually follow V.I.'s movements using Google maps in a close drill down on the Chicagoland area. The plot is rarely contrived and never lags. The characters are fully fleshed out. This could have been a very dark episode of "noir," but Paretsky's protagonist has a wry sense of humor and a recurring supporting cast (humans and dogs) that add an element of "cozy" that I wish were less pronounced. No matter - I read this in 3 or 4 sittings.

[Jill Benson · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a LONG time since I read Sara Paretsky. And this was a great return. I like that Vic is struggling with her mid-life career and why she plunges into danger when others would hold back. It's setting up a next novel where the character really undergoes some changes. Love the Chicago setting, being a Chicagoan, although sometimes my understanding of the L and the towns does not exactly jive with the novel.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

When V.I Warshawski, while driving home one night narrowly misses running over a body in the street, she opens up a dangerous can of worms. She and her part time assistant who was riding with her call 911 for the ambulance and police, but the next thing V.I. knows she is being looked at for running the victim down and is assaulted buy a cop known for his over the line actions. It seems that V. I. has troubled some big wigs from Hollywood, the CEO of a local private prison and a state politician and they are out to get her. There is danger around every corner and V.I. in trying to get information on how the victim was killed continually puts herself in dangerous positions including doing time it that private prison. Sara Paretsky writes some good books..

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

No need for a detail critique of theme and foreshadowing here. Paretsky provides a solid, steady, smooth read. Paretsky's character, V.I. Warshawski, is the modern woman's perfect role model, using wit and physicallity to bring justice to Chicago's wicked outlaws. This one involves media conglomerates and their lackeys, hellish privatized prisons, latino textile workers and a youthful modern celebrity. Thanks for a nice breather and a thoroughly enjoyable and exciting read.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some reason, I stopped reading the V. I. Warshawski novels around 10 years ago. I picked up this one, published in 1999, at a used book sale and found it quite enjoyable. I think I'll try to catch up.

[Marieke Mulder · Rating 2 out of 5]

Goed plot, maar dat komt niet goed uit de verf.

[Linda Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

V.I. Warshawski meets the worst people and they usually end up trying to kill her. This story opens up harmlessly enough. Vic is at a media party being thrown by the powerful Global Corporation. They have just purchased the Chicago Herald-Star. Vic's sometime collaborator, Murray Ryerson, has had to give up his crime reporting to host a television program on Global's network. The party is being thrown to celebrate his debut show which featured an interview with Lacey Dowell, the star of a series of Global horror movies. Vic is enduring this media circus because a young fan is one of Lacey's groupies. When she is finally able to round up her companions and leave the party, the night takes a turn for the worse. On the drive home, Vic nearly runs over a battered woman lying in the middle of the road. Instead, she rams her beloved sports car into a fire hydrant. Vic, her partner, and the partner's foster child (fan of Lacey), wait for the emergency vehicles to arrive. The victim (who is dressed in a bloody Lacey Dowell tee shirt) is taken to the hospital but does not survive her injuries. Then someone tries to frame Vic on a hit and run charge. Then the body disappears from the morgue before the autopsy. And now Vic is on a mission. Find out who this poor woman was, what happened to her, and who was responsible. Vic has put herself into some dangerous situations, but this one might be the most lethal case she has ever tried to solve. Powerful men are willing to go to any lengths to end her investigation. But Vic cannot be stopped. Hard Time is a compelling and dramatic story that brought me to tears more than once. I love this series and I am reading it in the order in which it was written (cause that's how I roll). I don't know how she does it, but Sara Paretsky keeps raising the bar with each book. On to #10.

[Lissa Notreallywolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my second VI Warshawki book, read out of order, and if I really love the series I will return to read them in order. One thing I love about Good reads is you can look up series books and find the order even if your library catalog is less obliging. This was an impulse pick on my last run, but I loved it less than Body Work. One of the "fill in" points was learning how she lost her TransAM. This was a mystery she almost ran into and couldn't stop running through. She gets entangled in State politics, the prison system, a murder or two, and meets some stellar people in the Catholic Church. But it is a really upsetting book about police harassment, and graft. And then it moves on to a privatized prison-jail complex for women, and the reader is doing hard time with VI. Politically the book makes a very good point as to the lack of good sense (except economics) in combining jail and prison populations in the same facility-it overrides the innocent until proven guilty aspect of American law. It alos poses questions as to the oversight of for profit prisons. In this case the foreign speakers are channeled into a prison sweatshop making clothes, which the law permits when they are made for the prison system. Personally I have no clue as to what prisoners can make in my own state, aside from license plates, and what the rules are about for profit items made in the penal system. The best part of the book is that it piqued my curiosity about such matters.
The downside was the almost PTSD like effects that I as a reader had from VI's incarceration. I have never been arrested, never had a traffic violation, largely because prison is my worst nightmare. This was a very difficult read.

[Michelle Adamo #EmptyNestReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard Time takes place in 1999 Chicago. It is book 9 in the V.I. Warshawski mystery series. “V.I." - (only her closest friends call her Vic) is a lawyer and former public defender, now a self-employed Private Investigator. She is smart, tough and (mostly) fearless.

After officer Mary Louise Neeley decided that she was in the wrong line of work, she left the police force and began working part-time for Private Detective Warshawski. Returning home from a party hosted by Global Entertainment they narrowly miss hitting a woman who is lying in the street, an apparent victim of a hit and run. They stop to help and discover that the woman is alive, but just barely. This act of compassion leads Warshawski on one of the most daunting and dangerous investigation of her career. Warshawski finds herself having to prove that she was not the driver who hit the victim and trying to ascertain why some very powerful people want her out of their way.

Hard Times is Paretsky’s best novel to date (no, I don’t say this every time - sometimes I give her books 4 stars😉). A terrific plot along with a well-paced and engrossing mystery. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Although it may be ideal to read the books in order, it is not critical. A fast, enjoyable and addictive series. Police corruption, violence, abuse and forced labor in the prison system are all a part of the story.

#EmptyNestReader #instagram #HardTime #crimefiction #VIWarshawski #SarahParetsky #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagramalabama #bookstagrammichigan #bookreviews #bookreviewer #bookrecommendations #JuneReads #readalittlelearnalittlelivealittle #ebooks #librarybooks #vestaviahillslibrary

[Michelle Adamo #EmptyNestReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard Time takes place in 1999 Chicago. It is book 9 in the V.I. Warshawski mystery series. “V.I." - (only her closest friends call her Vic) is a lawyer and former public defender, now a self-employed Private Investigator. She is smart, tough and (mostly) fearless.

After officer Mary Louise Neeley decided that she was in the wrong line of work, she left the police force and began working part-time for Private Detective Warshawski. Returning home from a party hosted by Global Entertainment they narrowly miss hitting a woman who is lying in the street, an apparent victim of a hit and run. They stop to help and discover that the woman is alive, but just barely. This act of compassion leads Warshawski on one of the most daunting and dangerous investigation of her career. Warshawski finds herself having to prove that she was not the driver who hit the victim and trying to ascertain why some very powerful people want her out of their way.

Hard Time is Paretsky’s best novel to date (no, I don’t say this every time - sometimes I give her books 4 stars😉). A terrific plot along with a well-paced and engrossing mystery. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Although it may be ideal to read the books in order, it is not critical. A fast, enjoyable and addictive series. Police corruption, violence, abuse and forced labor in the prison system are all a part of the story.

#EmptyNestReader #instagram #HardTime #crimefiction #VIWarshawski #SarahParetsky #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagramalabama #bookstagrammichigan #bookreviews #bookreviewer #bookrecommendations #JuneReads #readalittlelearnalittlelivealittle #ebooks #librarybooks #vestaviahillslibrary

[Mimi V · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of a disappointment from the usually reliable Sara Paretsky. Hard Time has V I reluctantly dragged into a case when she comes across a young woman lying in the middle of the road and almost hits her. She finds herself attempting to prevent being charged with the unfortunate woman's death. This, in spite of the fact that one of her passengers that night was a retired cop.

As is usual with V I, she is not going to accept being threatened, beaten, jailed, beaten, shot with a stun gun, beaten...and, of course, eventually resolves everything to her satisfaction.

My disappointment stems from the book being too long, with too many attempts to shut her down. Piled on one after another, it became somewhat tedious. And the resolution itself, the end, was also too long.

I *love* Jean Smart. I delight in her recent hits and awards. But her voice is not suited to embody V I Warshawski, a woman who grew up on the south side of Chicago. I am glad that she didn't go for the SNL "da bears" kind of accent, but her southern lilt does not suit V I. She did do a good job with some of the other voices.

All in all, I wish I'd spent my time reading another Sara Paretsky V I book.

[Nranger7 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love V.I. and enjoy the familiarity of her exploits along with the interactions with her neighbor. However, the plot of this one didn't make much sense. After reading it, I still don't know how everything and everyone was connected.

I have a difficult time believing that a bad cop gets away with mistreating people especially when V.I.'s own father was a cop and she has a former cop working with her part time. Surely one of her contacts would intervene on her behalf. Nope. V.I gets beat and thrown in jail. Ridiculous.

I don't get what's going on with Murray or what an actress has to do with any of the nonsense V.I. is investigating. I don't get Frenada's involvement. Just very odd all around. The illegal scheme V.I. uncovers in prison was interesting, but again was ridiculous how she pulled it off. And I find it highly unlikely that she is the only white person in jail lol Pretty racist of Paretsky.

And don't get me started on the dog worship nonsense. Every time she brought up her nasty, misbehaving dogs I wanted to vomit. Especially how she whines about them having to be on a leash. Yes, your dogs need to be leashed. Your dogs are not special. Her cars must reek of wet dog with all the times she decided to take them "swimming". Gross

[Jennifer Robb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I have decided that I prefer the written version of Paretsky to the audiobook version of Paretsky since I didn't seem to notice the plot as much so in the written book as I do when I listen to an audiobook. (I will probably still end up with some of these as audiobooks only because I do like to have something to listen to in the car.)

Hard time as in "giving someone a hard time"--well, we know that's usually part of a V.I. Warshawski book. Hard time as in "doing hard time"--that's covered in this book as well.

Somehow, the Messenger children have ended up with former police officer Mary Louise Neely (despite the fact that their father is still around). Though I recall the previous book, I don't remember how that happened or why--and it's not really explained here. But we get a similar family dynamic as the last book with the Baladine family. Not very original.

V. I. is somewhat more conscious of putting her friends in danger due to her own actions, though she still seems to make unwise choices. At one point, her instincts are screaming "it's a trap" but she goes anyway--with predictable results.