Fallout: A V.I. Warshawski Novel

Title:  Fallout: A V.I. Warshawski Novel Author:  Sara Paretsky Genre:  Mystery, Thriller Length: 438 pages (paperback) Sensitive Content:  None Rating:  4 out of 5

Fallout is told from the point of view of VI “Vic” Warshawski, private detective. The setting begins in her hometown of Chicago, where we are introduced to Angela and Bernie who ask VI to find Angela’s missing cousin August, a film student/videographer.

The case quickly becomes more than it appears as that August and Emerald Ferring, former film star, have traveled to Lawrence, Kansas to film Emerald’s live story…but no one back in Chicago has heard from them. Vic takes on the case and travels to Lawrence to find the missing pair.

Vic quickly learns that she is an outsider in a small community; everyone knows everything that is happening in town. The town is still racially split. African American and whites to not venture to each other’s area of the city and very rarely mingle. It is difficult for Vic to gain the trust of the African-American residents as she is a white woman looking for two African Americans who have been accused of several crimes.

We also see a strong military presence due to the missile silo on the outskirts of town which remains from the Cold War era. What is happening on the base? Why does it appear that there is more personnel there than would be needed?

Some of the city’s residents, including local law enforcement, begin to trust Vic. They begin to see that while she appears to be causing trouble, her heart is in the right place. However, with the city still so divided, many people continue to keep their guard up.

One of the family’s that continues to distrust her is the Kiel family. Dr. Kiel is a researcher at KU. He and his wife Shirley have three adult children. The two boys left town as soon as they were able to due to their parents’ relationship. The youngest, daughter Sonia, remains in town but as been labeled as an alcoholic, drug addict, and mentally ill. Sonia’s parents do not visit her or even wish to discuss her with Vic.

With each answer that Vic finds, she encounters even more questions. Where are Emerald and August? Who did what? Who is related to who? Who can she trust? Who is tailing her? Tensions continue to rise as she had become involved in more than just her original missing persons case.

I really enjoyed this book. I haven’t read any of the VI Warshawski novels and felt that I was able to pick up this book as a stand-alone and have only a few pieces of history missing. There were many characters in the book and I felt that I was able to manage who was who the majority of the time. What makes this book so special? I truly didn’t know what direction everything was going. It kept me guessing until the end, like a good mystery should.

Note: The version I received was an Advanced Readers Copy so the content might vary slightly from the final publication.