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Summary: Sara Paretsky takes a new direction.
Review: I picked up GHOST COUNTRY at the library when I was in a mood for a quick, non-threatening read. That is not what I found. Instead of V.I Warshawski's take charge and sort out the problem and tie up all the loose ends fun read, GHOST COUNTRY was a book that would cause me to think and question. It was a time I didn't want to think about the problems and my role in their cause and cure. But, I know Gail Russel and her work at Sarah's Circle and was intrigued, so when the time was right I went back to find out what Ms. Paretsky had to say. I rembered TUNNEL VISION and her concern with the homeless. But GHOST COUNTRY is about much more than a look at people without housing, it is a look at individuals and how they come to be homeless how the parts of society, which I am part of, interact with the homless. The book plot is a compilcated mix of personalities, events and social institutions and their effects on each other. I will recommed it to my book group because Ms. Paratsky has written a book that requires the reader to think and question. The questions are not easy and the answers even harder. But my book group is an interesting mix of intelligent thinking women who stretch each other to move out of our comfortable thinking ruts. I hope that Ms. Paratsky continues to write about V.I., but that GHOST COUNTRY is followed by books that will stay in my mind and cause me to question what I believe and how I react toward others and the part I play in all I do. It is not a "pleasant" story. She is not Clyde Edgerton in WALKING ACROSS EGYPT, asking what is the role of the Church, what do young people need to be sucessful adults, what gives adults a state of grace. Instead Ms. Paretsky colors her story with some disturbing images, but she is not without hope and redemption.
Rating: 
Summary: REMARKABLE!
Review: I picked up this book not expecting much and was blown away asa result. Fact/Fiction, after the last page I wasn't cure, only thatMs. Paretsky had weaved a remarkable story with myth and reality equaly distributed.
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Summary: strange and bewildering - where is she going with this story
Review: i started to read this book because i have enjoyed other books by the author (and because my husband didn't like it by the end of the first chapter). it is difficult to 'get into the story'. in a strange way though, i felt compelled to continue reading it and find out what happens in tne end (which was anticlimatic in my opinion). i couldn't help but wonder what characters in the book reflect those of the author, as indeed, those of use who read alot know that the author's personality and some traits are reflected in their characters. in comparing it to john grishams novel 'the street lawyer' both authors are trying to present the plight of the homeless but i believe that grisham made a greater contribution in that a solution of sorts was presented. this is one weird story.
Rating: 
Summary: Ghost Country
Review: I was very disappointed with this book. I love the V.I. books and was ready to take on a new Paretsky book, but now I realize that it's best to stick with the familiar mysteries. This book promised to be challenging and for lack of a better adjective wonderful. I found that this book should be listed under horror and poorly written at that. Sara Paretsky should stick with what she is best at and that is the V.I. Mysteries.
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Summary: Ghost Country is a fabulous, breath-taking book
Review: I wasn't sure I would like a book by Sara Paretsky that wasn't about V I Warshawski, but Ghost Country is an absolutely wonderful novel. It deals with some of the toughest issues of our times, including the way in which religion is used as a cloak for mean-spirited of public policy making. The characters are so vivid and believable I was sorry to have to bid them good-bye. I especially liked the character Starr, who never speaks and acts as kind of a foil for the wishes and fears of the people around her. You can interpret her as a psychotic street person, or as a manifestation of the divine, depending on the biases you bring to the novel. I miss V I, but I hope Paretsky writes many more books as deep and challenging as this one.
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Summary: Probably Meant for a Different Audience (4 1/2 stars)
Review: If you don't like books where the strange happenings are not completely explained away or everything isn't swell and cozy at the end, don't bother. If you're bothered by books where the male characters are mostly jerks aren't your cup of tea, skip this one. If you insist that your lead characters be likeable and nice, forget it. However, if you're willing to suspend your disbelief and won't run away from a book that forces you to face the problems of the homeless and the abused, this book is well worth your time. I'm only sorry that the author didn't bother to show why her male characters became such unpleasant persons, as she did for the most of the female characters. It doesn't seem fair. Of course, this book is about unfairness. I was deeply drawn into the story, but I'm a fan of science fiction, fantasy, and horror/supernatural books as well as mysteries. I think this book would probably be more appreciated by fans of those other genres. Ann E. Nichols
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Summary: A truly unusual offering from Ms. Paretsky. Thank You!
Review: It took me months to finally start reading this book. I wasn't sure I really wanted to read something "different" from Ms. Paretsky's regular books. I found this book very difficult to get into at first, but I kept reading and I am so glad I did. The characters are very well defined and each is very different. I was pleased to find that none of the characters was all bad or all good. The heroes had flaws!! When I finished the book I sat still and quiet for about 20 minutes and just thought. What makes seemingly good and normal people behave in such ways? How would our society handle such a situation? Would we persecute Christ if he walked on our earth now? Would He be with the homeless and the mentally ill? Of course He would and that made this book all the more interesting and thought provoking. If someone picks up this book expecting Ms. Paretsky's normal smart mouth P.I. type of character they will be very disappointed. If however they pick it up with an open mind and want to read a very well written and thought provoking book they will be as pleased as I was. Thank you Sara Paretsky for a great read.
Rating: 
Summary: A stretch, but not a successful one
Review: It's hard not to be disappointed when one of your favorite authors aims for the sky and misses utterly. This attempt at magical realism is so badly conceived that I wonder what Paretsky could have been thinking. The magical elements hit us over the head, rather than hinting at an alternate reality. The characters were all unlikeable and the main character, a ghostly re-incarnation of a Sumerian goddess, was absolutely grotesque. I found myself almost rooting for the fundamentalist church people who have evil designs on the goddess. Not that I wish Paretsky stay pigeonholed in the mystery genre, but I wish she'd get back to doing what she does so well--created well-paced mysteries with moxie and heart.
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Summary: Tom Wolfe Does/Did It Better!!!
Review: It's hard to imagine someone talented enough to create V.I. creating such cardboard characters bumping into each other in a plot of cobbled together events. Social awareness, puleeeeezzz!?!The premise of events losing their contextual settings was handled in a truly irritating manner. An unpublished author would never have gotten through a publishing house door with a manuscript containing these ill-defined characters: a tyrannical grandfather, pompous religious zealots, over- and underachieving siblings, and corporate/legal "suits." This novel made it impossible to care, even about the homeless, and that is a tragedy. For a masterful handling of the plot line Sara Paretsky was attempting to stretch into, reread the classic over a decade old, The Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe. Sara, please return to V.I.! Thanks.
Rating: 
Summary: Looking for another detective/mystery? This isn't it.
Review: Looking for a novel that puts you into the lives of several some homeless women and the lives of people who are somehow touched by them? This is a good one. I loved parts of the novel, mainly, the way Paretsky weaves "miracles" into the plot, much like a truly American version of The Milagro Beanfield War or Like Water for Chocolate. I found the book hard to put down, mostly because I wanted to know WHY the characters were acting/thinking the way they were. I wanted to know what was behind the doctor's obsession or the church people's fear. I was disappointed in this area, as Paretsky seemed to fall short in developing a couple of characters. I also missed the wonderful descriptions of Chicago that I got in the V.I. novels.
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