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Body Work
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Body Work
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Body Work
Audiobook (abridged)7 hours

Body Work

Written by Sara Paretsky

Narrated by Susan Ericksen

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

"The thing about Sara Paretsky is, she's tough-not because she observes the bone-breaker conventions of the private-eye genre but because she doesn't flinch from examining old social injustices others might find too shameful (and too painful) to dig up." -The New York Times Book Review

"Doctors take days off-why not PIs?" V.I. Warshawski demands. But when America's hardest-working private eye goes clubbing, a stranger is shot and dies in her arms.

V.I. has been visiting Club Gouge, Chicago's edgiest nightspot, where a woman known as the Body Artist turns her naked body into a canvas for the audience to paint on.

The show attracts all kinds of people, from a menacing off-duty cop to Ukrainian mobsters and Iraq war vets-and V.I.'s impetuous cousin, Petra. A tormented young painter shows up, too, and the intricate designs she creates on the Body Artist drive one of the vets into a violent rage.

When the painter is shot, the cops figure it's an easy collar-PTSD vet goes off the rails, stalks then kills young woman. But the vet's family hires V.I. to clear his name, and the detective uncovers a chain of ugly truths that stretches all the way from Iraq to Chicago's South Side.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateAug 31, 2010
ISBN9781441893918
Unavailable
Body Work
Author

Sara Paretsky

Sara Paretsky is the author of twenty books, including the renowned V. I. Warshawski novels. Named 2011 Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, and a recipient of the Cartier Diamond Dagger award given by the British Crime Writers’ Association, she is president of the Mystery Writers of America. She lives in Chicago.

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Reviews for Body Work

Rating: 3.610576810576923 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

208 ratings33 reviews

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  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    An interesting set-up with a Body Artist being used as a communications channel between crims, but some improbabilities and uneven pacing undermine the narrative - as does the author's need to restate things that have already been established. Not compelling enough.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Strange art person. Familiar bad guys.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I've been a fan of Sara Paretsky for many years, and was looking forward to this book. I'm glad to say it did not disappoint. V.I. gets involved in a tangled tale of murder, drugs, PTSD and performance art that starts when she holds a dying woman in a parking lot. Lots of action ensues but there are also thoughtful moments about family, devotion and duty. Overall, well-written and a satisfying conclusion. On a side note, I did not receive my ARC. However, I did receive a hand-written note from the publisher apologizing for that fact along with a finished copy. Very nicely done, Putnam.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I loved this book so much, it's vintage V.I. Warshawski. but the whole artist posing nude in front of people kinda... skeeved me out, lol. IDK how she could do that, I couldn't possibly connect with her because of this, and it felt disjointed because of this problem. Also, the niece was a PAIN. but aren't they all...? lol SO glad they are in the present, and using all the latest technology to find the missing/hiding. But the culture references annoy me as well.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I read several of Paretsky's early books about V.I. but quit reading them a few years ago after finding some of the middle ones somewhat repetitive and boring. I enjoyed this recent Warshawski saga very much and recommend it for mystery fans. This look at a more mature V.I. was as entertaining as she was when Paretsky first introduced readers to her. I prefer mysteries set in Europe because they provide an opportunity for "arm-chair travel", but this story was very entertaining and interesting. I find this Paretsky novel better than recent ones by Sue Grafton, but not nearly as good as P.D. James's Adam Dalgliesh mysteries or Cynthia Harrod-Eagles's stories of Bill Slider.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Not quite as gripping as usual, but still a good read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Aide Memoire: pub. 2011. Body Artist, Iraqi war vet with PTSD, Nadia Guaman. Usual V I Warshawski. Very good read, though.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I wanted to love this book, I really did. After all, I've spent almost half my life reading and loving Sara Paretsky's V I Warshawski series. When I started reading the series, VI was older than me. Twenty-five years later, she's now younger than I am. Go figure.

    But as much as I wanted to love it, I found this a chore to read. It didn't excite me. I didn't want to read it in one go. I could probably have stopped reading it at any point without regret. I finished it because that's what I do, notwithstanding my general view that life's too short to read anything but the best books. I also finished reading it because, well, it's a Sara Paretsky, and it's VI and I've spent a lot of quality time with them over the years.

    There's no doubt that Paretsky writes well. She can craft a sentence with the best of them. She knows a thing or two about character. Although the resolution in this particular novel was rather strained, the ability to suspend disbelief is part of the job description of a crime fiction reader, so any weakness in the plot in forgiveable. Plus, there's the fact that this is an iconic series. All of that counts for something and means that I give the book two stars rather than one.

    It may just be that VI is tired. God knows, she's been beaten up and narrowly faced death so many times it's a wonder she's not crippled with arthritis and hunched up in a corner with PTSD. She's just not that interesting anymore. Furthermore, her neighbour Mr Conteras is increasingly annoying and I wanted to slap the incredibly irritating cousin Petra.

    I'm glad I finished this book. Mostly I'm glad because I can start reading something else. I'm kind of sad, too, because I won't look forward to the next VI Warshawski. I may still read it, for old time's sake, or in the hope that my lack of enthusiasm for this particular episode in VI's life says more about me than it does about the skill of VI's creator.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Paretsky manages to handle current topics in this book (the Iraq war, military contractors, gay issues) without being grating or preachy. It's a pretty solid page-turner with plenty of red herrings and interconnected clues, and while I never quite came to love V.I. as a character, she gets the job done.

    (Side note: she gets knocked unconscious at least once a book. After over a dozen books, she should have skull like a dropped puzzle and be unable to tie her own shoes by now.)
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Not bad. I didn't really get into the characters much but it was an enjoyable read.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    This was my first V. I. Warshawski novel and will probably be my last. I was bored, and couldn't take any of the characters seriously, least of all the detective. The story moved slowly and the spaces between the "action" where the characters live were just too mundane. Something has to fit in between the stuff that moves the plot along, but I skipped several tracks and one whole cd and still kept up with the story.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Thrilling mystery with the clues scattered about fairly. Realistic in that Vic Warshawski sometimes gets the stuffing knocked out of her and that in the end she helps her client but can't bring the bad guys down. Good read. Recommended
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    V. I. Warshawski's back in form after some series drift with this investigation into a performance artist that leads into a tale of suffering families, the Iraq war, the Russian mob, and corporate shenanigans. Prickly and overdefensive as she is, V. I. has great instincts and real heart. There are welcome appearances from some old friends, and two new ones in the form of V.I.'s young cousin and her cellist lover. I'd also like to commend the publisher's customer service for sending me a hardback when they saw that I hadn't received the promised Early Reviewers ARC.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I love Sara Paretsky's V. I. Warshawski series so a warning is in order that you won't read anything bad in this review. I've read every book in the series, and it just gets better and better. They're set in Chicago, a city I love, and I only wish there was a little more Chicago in the novels. For one thing, V.I. is maturing, begrudgingly and full of complaints, but maturing anyway. She's around 50 now, but that isn't stopping her from trying to do everything she did 20 years ago. V.I. is tough as nails, but she is loyal to her friends and family and determined to keep them safe. Her downstairs neighbor, Mr. Contreras, and her doctor and friend, Lotty, do their best to keep V.I. safe but it's an impossible mission. I must say V.I. is a little less reckless than she used to be, but she still barges in where anyone else would think "wait a minute, I shouldn't do this."All of the books have their funny moments, partly because V.I. can see the humor in situations, but this one is totally wild in many places. For instance, after V.I. is injured by the bad guys, she wants to retrieve an item from a man who is sort of an unknown quantity. Her protectors won't let her do it alone, so she shows up with Mr. Contreras, her cousin Petra, the dogs (Mitch and Peppy), the sister of a murder victim, and a couple Marines. It's like a three-ring circus. The neighbors also get involved and they're a bunch of characters. By the end of the scene I was in stitches.The story centers on a body artist - a woman who appears on stage nude but covered with paint and wearing a very skimpy thong. (Actually I supposed there isn't any other kind.) She allows people in the audience to paint whatever they want on her body. The show is a huge hit but the woman is a mystery right up until the end of the story. Veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan and several other types of people are also involved. Sounds confusing but this is a story that is not only mysterious, it also brings up important issues about our veterans.One change in V.I.'s life is that she has a boyfriend that seems to be a keeper. He is a musician who lives in her building and so far he seems perfect for her, except that he can't stand the sight of blood.I highly recommend Body Work as well as the rest of this series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I happily spent the weekend holed up with my old friend VI Warshawski. I'm not going to pretend I can write anything objective about any of the books in this series. VI is aging well, getting beaten up less, still getting involved in things that end up with her taking down big businesses. In many ways it the same old thing as always, but personally I think there is plenty of life in it yet.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I started out vaguely irritated with this book, as Vic was being obnoxiously pushy, but by the end I was totally engrossed, and I do feel this is one of the best books in the V.I. Warshawski series.'Body Work' begins in violence, then delves into an increasingly puzzling tale of conspiracy, threats and matters of the heart. Two families, lives shattered by cruel acts, struggle to understand what's happening to them. It's up to Vic, her ditzy cousin Petra, and assorted other friends to uncover the truth so these long-suffering people can have some measure of peace.The base premise - an uber-pretentious performance artist - may annoy some. But that's really just a vehicle for the heart of the story. Paretsky does a great job at describing the respective families' anguish. She introduces some new side characters who are colorfully charming, which enhances the overall feel of the book. I think what really sold me was a particularly wonderful action sequence halfway through. It starts off a fairly standard thug assault scene when, in the space of two sentences and approximately 20 words, Paretsky changes the situation entirely. Looooved it! And things just got steadily more awesome from there.A great romp of a book, with real heart at its core.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    There is a body artist who works in a Chicago night club. She permits customers to paint her naked body on stage. Her image is posted on a web-cam which she later sells to the public.V.I. Warshawski witnesses an ugly incident when a young painter creates intricate designs on the body artist. An intoxicated man makes accusations and is asked to leave the club. Then, there is a shouting match between the man and painter, outside the club.That night, the painter is murdered and the patron is arrested and accused of the crime.Chad is a veteran who fought in Iraq. His father tells Vic that Chad suffers from PTSD but Chad's father doesn't think that his son would kill a defenseless woman and so he hires Vic to clear his son's name.Vick finds that the club owner had financial difficulites and borrowed money from Anton Kystarnik, a shady character. This loan gave Anton an in with the club.The plot is complex and tightly connected so that the reader is entertained.Vic hires a number of Iraq vets and the story takes an interesting turn when events in Iraq are detailed and there is question about the equipment that U.S. contractors are given.The characters are appealing, as one of the Iraq vets is staff sergeant Marty Jepson. Another old friend is at the scene when Mr. Contreras makes an appearance. His manner adds a realistic and personal touch.The novel is overly long and could stand a bit of tightening up. I rate this as 3 1/2 stars moving up from three stars due to the interesting plot and engaging characters.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I find myself having very mixed feelings about this book. Having not read any of Paretsky’s previous Warshawski novels I am unable to judge this book relative to others in the series. The writing itself strikes me as serviceable and the book unwinds at the pace that one expects in a thriller. I enjoyed the fact that Warshawski is depicted as a middle-aged woman whose personal life was as interesting and active as that of a man of the same age. I did, however, feel that the detective and those around her suffered from the Mary Sue syndrome. Warshawski has useful friends who have exactly the skills and knowledge she needs: she is always somehow able to afford the outside experts she needs to call in. And even more fortunately, the various villains of the piece always over-react and over-reach in ways that lead Warshawski to discover what is truly going on. Several minutes after finishing the book I realized that if the evil masterminds had simply sat back and done nothing Warshawski would have had nothing to investigate in the first place.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Chicago's V. I. Warshawski doesn't back down from a fight. She's a tough-talking private investigator, in the vein of yester-year's hard boiled hero, and a few bruised ribs (usually Warshawski's) and a little B & E are all part of the service.This time the action starts before there's even a client when a young woman dies in Warshawski's arms in the parking lot of Club Goudge, a trendy night spot featuring a controversial performance artist. Having witnessed and earlier altercation with the victim V. I.'s determined to find out what's really going on in inside that club, especially now that her niece works there.When the heckler, an Iraqi war veteran, is arrested for the murder his parents hire V. I. to clear his name. This isn't just a case of post traumatic stress disorder. Club Goudge is a front for something and the performance artist, who reveals all to the audience, is hiding more from V.I. than just her identity. Homophobia, secret messages, military contractors, and crimes tied to the war all play a part in the story behind the woman's death. A tough mystery for the tough as nails P. I.This is number 14 in the V. I. Warshawski novels and fans of the series will not be disappointed.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Private investigator V. I. Warshawsky begins the investigation of the death of a woman who dies in her arms outside a club from a gunshot wound. She's hired by one of the suspects father after he is found comatose from an overdose after the event the same night. The nightclub owner is unfriendly and doesn't appreciate the special attention V.I. puts into her place of business as the scene of the crime and threatens to fire V.II.'s cousin Petra if she oversteps her bounds.This is my first foray into a longstanding series. Not sure if I fall for the character. She seems to fall into a lot of dangerous situations that I wouldn't expect her to survive from especially with her impending age. The plots are definitely good. Entertaining enough and well played out to make out for character flaws. I will have to try another few in the series to see how things work out with the characters.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    V.I. Warshawski with her niece Petra. Petra is working in a club that features an artist known as the “the Body Artist” where patrons painting what they want on her nude body. Warshawski is asked to check out the club by her niece who thinks some strange things are going on. Soon, she is trying to save a woman who was just stabbed and eventually is hired to protect the name of an American soldier accused of the crime. This story has Vic getting beat up, not getting enough sleep and getting into too much trouble. Let’s see what she does in her next book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    V.I. Warshawski is back with her usual cast of characters, her junkyard dog determination to deliver justice, and a complex case where everything and everybody is involved. Vic is my favorite hard-boiled female sleuth, so I was a bit disappointed when I spotted the key element fairly soon in the book - certainly before she did. That said, I was pulled along, flipping pages as usual to the less-than-satisfying but realistic end.
    This time Vic is looking out for her younger cousin Petra (introduced in Hardball) who has taken a waitressing job in a nightclub featuring an act called "The Body Artist." Soon she is hired to clear an Iraq War vet, comatose with a drug overdose and accused of killing a woman who haunted the Body Artist's act. Vic soon learns that the dead woman's sister died in Iraq where she was working for a private defense contractor. The plot thickens, is stirred, and reaches its climax in another nightclub featuring the Body Artist.
    I would have been happier with a little less Petra and a little more Lotty and Max (two continuing characters), but the introduction of Petra has somehow released Paretsky's writing juices, and there is less blaming V.I. for being who she is and doing what she does. That's a good thing. My thanks to ER (and especially to Sonya who managed to get the publisher to send me a finished copy when my ARC didn't arrive)!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Another winner from Sara Paretsky with a very involved plot and a cast of characters so numerous you may need a scorecard to keep track of them all. Private detective V.I. Warshawski becomes involved in a shooting that occurs at a nightclub where her young niece, Petra, is working. The nightclub features a woman known as the Body Artist, who allows anyone in the audience to draw on her nude body. The woman who is later shot at the club has been drawing pictures on the Body Artist that incense an Iraq war vet in the audience. He is the obvious suspect, until he is later found unconscious. Various possible motives, links between characters, and Paretsky’s usual assortment of crooks and thugs begin to appear. I found Warshawski’s actions at the end of the novel rather hard to believe, but altogether a very satisfying book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It had been years since I’d read a V. I. Warshawski novel but it didn’t take long at all to get back into Vic’s life and to re-introduce myself to all the friends, family and acquaintances I knew from earlier books. I liked that. Although her niece Petra is a bit of whining pain that I would have liked a little less of. I found the story line dealing with the PTSD soldiers, contractors and the body armor is one that could be (is) real and happening today and that made the book more of a page turner for me. The drug dealer story line did not work as well for me. Thinking back the story could have done without that part but then the who/why of the Body Artist would have needed to be different. That character could have been created from something other than the tired old standby of drug dealers. She could have been more of an independent catalyst. A mystery even.The climax before the ending didn’t work for me. What I didn’t like was the Body Artist’s ‘last performance’ being what tied the things together for both story lines. Huh? Things got real loose there. Top secret meetings… why? Bring everyone together (and I mean everyone) at the ‘last performance’… again why? That said I will not give up on V. I. Warshawski, we have too much history.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    V. I. Warshawski isat it again. This being her 17th book, she is still one of my favorite characters. She has been retained tofind enough evidence to clear a young comatose vet chargedwith murder. Hold on to your seats, as this whirlwind, multi-tasking, private investigator begins her search, while dodgingbullets, thugs, and another murder that appears from the pastto intersect with this case. Hard hitting, page turning, action keeps the reader engaged to the exciting conclusion.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    V.I. certainly does know how to find trouble (or does trouble just find her?) and this time is no exception. An evening at a club leads Vic into a murky and dangerous case involving an angry Iraqi veteran turned scapegoat for a back-alley murder. Chad, the accused vet, is in a coma and his father hires V.I. to prove his son's innocence. What makes this series so enjoyable is not just the twisting mystery (which I can never seem to figure out). The characters are fantastic--diving into a V.I. Warshawski novel is like returning home to visit old friends with Vic as the driven, hard-boiled detective; Mr. Contreras as the nosy yet helpful neighbor; Lotty as the doctor who always patches Vic up; and who can forget the two dogs, Mitch and Peppy, who help keep V.I. sane and in shape (good dogs!).But Vic's getting older and getting beat up isn't like it used to be. No knock-down, drag-out fight one night and easy bounce-back day the next for her anymore. And she's found herself a nice, musical boyfriend who gets queasy at the sight of blood. I kind of got the impression he'd be much happier if she didn't do what she does, especially when she comes home to him covered in bruises or bleeding.Plus, she has to deal with her super-annoying young cousin, Petra. Petra bugged the crap out of me. If I were Vic, I would not be nearly as tolerant with her whining and manipulating. I think I would have kicked Petra to the curb. But that's not V.I.'s style. She's all about reforming the un-reformable and helping those who can't help themselves (or just don't want to help themselves), one of the reasons she's such a sympathetic main character. On the outside, she's a tough nut but inside, she's got a soft heart.Sara Paretsky keeps V.I. working hard and spins a great mystery, proving there's nothing stale in BODY WORK, the fourteenth novel of this series.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I enjoyed this book over all, but my one complaint is the same one I've had through many of her books - Vic is always exhausted and never gets any sleep except for an hour or two here and there. Someone with that little sleep would not be thinking clearly much of the time - just when she needs it most. If we are supposed to admire her for her strong work ethic (that prevents her from getting enough sleep), I have to admit I'd be hesitant to hire her - I'd prefer a P.I. who has had plenty of sleep and is at the top of her game and whose thinking is sharp. That said, the story is interesting and the characters fairly well defined.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    There is a line in "Body Work" (BW) late in the story that really struck a chord with me - private investigator Vic has just summarized for a friend of hers what has been happening, who the bad guys are, how everyone is linked: "You may make sense to yourself, but it's gibberish to me". At this point in the book (page 391 out of 443)I was confused, had flipped back into the book a few times to clear things up or figure out who a character was. I still didn't have a clear picture of the links between two different sets of bad guys. It wasn't quite "gibberish" but it was close.I was attracted to BW because of a brief plot description I had read about damaged soldiers coming back from Iraq, and there was a very brief description of some body art that sounded a bit sexy, always a plus. I have read a few other Vic books by Paretsky but never got into the series. I read over 100 crime fiction novels a year, including many series that I am faithful to, including a number by women authors with women protagonists. And I'm from Chicago! And Paretsky is a good writer. So, in addition to the "gibberish" issue above how come there's no marriage ....I felt there was a lot of anger in this story, from a lot of the characters. I expected this from in-your-face Vic (and that characteristic has become tiresome for me) but I saw it in four parents of victims, neighbors of victims and suspects, bar owners, cops, Secret Service agents. Everybody's angry from the get-go.Once again, Vic gets beat up. It's happened in the other Vic's I've read. Does it happen in every Vic? Don't know, don't care. Am I susposed to be sympathetic? Well, for me it was just boring. Peter Spiegelman did this in at least two of his excellent PI books and I gave up quickly on that series. I don't think it's revealing a SPOILER to say that VIC doesn't, repeat doesn't, get shot in this book, but she does have two separate encounters with glass. Two! The Body Art scenes didn't work for me. Once explained, the whole point of it's being there felt really lame, like the author happened to see a body art show once and resolved to somehow work it into a book. And worst of all, it wasn't very sexy.There were other things I didn't care for, but why get picky. With most reviews I lead off with the things I enjoyed; unfortunately, for me, this experience was more about the things I did not enjoy. So what did I like? Paretsky does a very good job describing the "detecting". She obviously does her homework, researches very well, and translates that material very well for the reader. The storyline around war contractors was very interesting and I wish more of the book had stayed focused on that instead of drifting into other areas. The story was well-paced. Short, quick chapters move the action along very quickly. Descriptions of place are very well done and interesting. Will I read another Vic story? Likely not. Would I consider a new series character by Paretsky? Absolutely.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I think the author needed an editor in this latest work. About half-way through the book, I lost interest in what was happening with a throughly unlikable group of suspects. I have liked her work in the past...just didn't click for me.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Ms. Paretsky's writing gets stronger and stronger with each book she writes. She writes books with very tight plots, great characterizations and complicated mysteries, while at the same time she uses this medium to champion some of her more cherished causes. This book delivers all of that with a bang. V I is drawn into a murder investigation when a girl dies in her arms near a nightclub. Once she starts to try to find out what caused everything Vic encounters a very scary mob guy, a very greedy company and a coverup that ricochets right from Chicago all the way to Afghanistan. It takes almost everything that she has to try to resolve this one and to help two families who have been going through hell due to corporate greed. This is a long and complex book that touches on many issues, but Vic does triumph in the end with the help of her curmudgeonly neighbour Mr. Contreras, her zany niece Petra, her two Golden Retrievers and some much needed help from some very likable ex-marines.