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Fallout

V.I. Warshawski 18

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Fallout

By: Sara Paretsky
Narrated by: Liza Ross
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V.I. Warshawski's impossible god-daughter Bernie convinces her to look for August, a young film-maker who has disappeared. The evidence indicates that he has gone to Kansas in the company of Emerald, an older black movie actress who wants to film the story of her life. Her search takes V.I. from the military base Emerald was born on, to the farm where she grew up outside a university town, ploughing up past and present-day secrets as she goes.

What is happening at the former nuclear missile site next door to the farm? What happened at the site in 1983, when students tried to stage their own version of Greenham Common? Everywhere V.I. turns she seems to be finding more trouble - with not a sign of August and Emerald. And then trouble turns to death...

(P)2017 Hodder & Stoughton©2017 Sara Paretsky Crime Thrillers Suspense Thriller & Suspense Crime Fiction Military
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Critic reviews

V.I. Warshawski is the perfect heroine . . . What [Paretsky] brings to the classic private-eye novel is something entirely original; a dry crackle of wit and a deep emotional sympathy with her characters
Fallout is the best yet in one of our genre's crucial, solid-gold, best-ever series. Paretsky is a genius, and she's never afraid to dig a little deeper
Simply superb! As a fan of V.I. Warshawski from the very beginning, I can say without doubt that FALLOUT finds both author and protagonist at the top of their games
V. I. Warshawski is one of my all-time favorite investigators. Doesn't get any better than this!
An astonishing tour de force - thrilling, moving, illuminating - from an author of matchless intelligence, craft, and power. This is why Sara Paretsky reigns as one of the all-time greats
All stars
Most relevant
As always, excellent story line, interesting and informative, especially for a Brit! The narrators voice was one of the most irritating I have ever come across. The different voices made for the different characters was consistant and clear. It was just the overall quality of the voice itself that I found so irritating it came close to being distracting. It did not sound like a confident, competent person, more like a very, very old person sifting through her recollections.

Irritating narrator

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Sleepless nights listening to the end. A real cliff hanger. Well read. VI at her best

excellent in Kansas

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Lisa Ross is superb narrator! What a story. Mr Contreras, Lottie and Max and the other regulars including the dogs are so familiar to me.

Paretsky NEVER disappoints!

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This story could have been told in half the time. I found the narrator's voice totally wrong for the character, she sounds too old, and her voice goes between two registers which is strange.
The bones of the story were OK, but by 4 hours in I started checking how much longer there was in the book..... Good God, another 10 hours? This is never a good sign as I realised that I am getting bored. There was such a lot of unnecessary padding that I felt I did well to stay with it until the end.

Tortuous and dragged out.

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Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I listened while doing my sewing. This meant I sometimes had to go back, as the voices were sometimes difficult to distinguish. The narrator's voice for V.I. didn't ring true for me.

If you’ve listened to books by Sara Paretsky before, how does this one compare?

I've heard dramatisations which I liked better - Audible - please get more dramatisations. Kathleen Turner's V.I. is excellent.

Would you be willing to try another one of Liza Ross’s performances?

Yes. I'd give her a second try.

Was Fallout worth the listening time?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

It's quite a long book, and well evokes Kansas where it occurs. The ending is a bit improbable, in my view, but hey, this is fiction.

Good, but the narration didn't work for me

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