Hardball

Sara Paretsky Press Reviews

'Sara Paretsky is on top form ... HARDBALL is a haunting novel, skilfully combining power politics and intensely personal events'
Joan Smith, Sunday Times

'Within a racial melting pot, Paretsky hits her own personal best; HARDBALL takes the thinking woman's detective to a new level of excellence'
Financial Times Weekend

'HARDBALL is a big, chewy, old-fashioned yarn about a P.I. looking into a sprawling, decade-spanning web of police corruption. But when it's this entertaining, there's nothing wrong with that at all'
Metro

'She is writing with the kind of passion for social justice that inspired Chandler and Hammett ... a narrative as gripping as it is emotionally wrenching.'
Joan Smith, The Sunday Times

'A strong, well-constructed novel, firmly founded in Chicago and its politics, past and present. Paretsky's plot combines racism, police corruption and family secrets - including Warshawski's - and the lost idealism of the 1960s provides a haunting backdrop. Some crime series grow stale over time, but there's no sign of fatigue here. This is partly because the recurring characters continue to develop and engage the reader, and partly because of the moral intelligence that informs the writing.'
Spectator

'Details are so rich and the dialogue so snappy that the mystery whizzes by.'
Guardian

'Packed with social themes and moral energy, held together by humor, compassion and sheer feistiness, this novel shows why Paretsky and her heroine are such enduring figure in American detective fiction'
Publishers Weekly (starred)

'With the creation of V.I. Warshawski, Sara Paretsky did more than anyone to change the face of contemporary women's fiction.'
Express on Sunday

'Tough, complex and moving, Paretsky is still at the top of her crowded genre.'
Bookseller

'The thing about Sara Paretsky is, she's tough ... she doesn't flinch from examining old social injustices others might find too shameful (and too painful) to dig up ... it's a distinct pleasure to hear her unapologetically strident voice once again'
New York Times