Rating: 
Summary: A good read
Review: I have been waiting a long time for the next VI novel, and I was not disapointed! Wise-cracking VI is sticking to her guns and is still as gutsy as ever - and it was good to meet up with her again.Also, it is good to see a different point of view from the typical mystery novel these days; novels that inaccurately portray all cops as model citizens who got into police work to protect and serve, all prison guards as honest churchgoers with impecable motives, all prisons as "country clubs" for those held there, and all prison inmates as not only guilty, but also intrinsically evil "animals" with no prospects of rehabilitation. Just because a person is incarcerated does not mean that they deserve to be raped, beaten, and abused by employees of the system...yet this happens with some regularity (and occasional fatal consequences). Thank you, Sara, for reminding us that it's not always the way our politicians tell us it is!
Rating: 
Summary: Fairly Disappointing
Review: I have read all of the other books in Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski series, and like many readers, after waiting many years, I eagerly anticipated this new entry in the series. While I enjoyed reading it, in the end I found it rather disappointing. On the one hand, "Hard Time" has everything that made her other novels such a success: expert plotting, great writing, descriptions of place that are so good you feel as if you are there, an ability to explore social concerns without hitting you over the head, and, most important, real and well-depicted characters. On the other hand, "Hard Time" has a number of flaws that contribute to its lack of success. In her previous novels, Paretsky has demonstrated that the is a master a creating full-blown, three-dimensional characters, with one exception: try as she might, she has a very difficult time with the bad guys. Here that flaw is magnified, with all of the bad guys being cardboard clichés (the rogue cop; the power-hungry, money-hungry corporate executive; the unscrupulous journalist; the sadistic prison guard; etc.). There is a running joke in the series about people being unable to pronounce her last name: in this novel, all of the good characters can pronounce it on first hearing, while all of the bad characters never get it right, no matter how many times they hear it. I expect greater depth of character than that from such an accomplished author. Even her trademark - exploring contemporary social issues and giving a voice to the downtrodden and marginalized members of society - here comes off forced and at times heavy-handed. For example, Warshawski is forced to spend several weeks in a women's prison, and she succeeds admirably in exposing the injustices and inequalities of the penal system. However, she strives so hard to paint the women prisoners in a sympathetic light that she makes them appear like angels. They are all there because of society's injustice, because of the oppression of the poor and minorities; none of them seem to be there because, well, they did something wrong. For example, the main appeal to her series character, V.I. Warshawski, is her intelligent, wisecracking outlook on life. In "Hard Time," that attitude has completely disappeared, and she comes off as dour, bitter, whiny, and depressed, to the point where she becomes, frankly, very annoying. I read an article recently where Paretsky compared herself to Dickens. She certainly is, like Dickens, a great storyteller, and she does favorably compare with Dickens in her ability to portray social injustices in a fictionalized setting, but in none of Dickens's novels, even his darker later works, does he present a set of characters that are so universally angst-ridden. Sara Paretsky has demonstrated outstanding talent in the previous books in this series, and that's perhaps why I found this book to be such a disappointment. I for one hope that she takes less time in presenting her next novel, and that she takes the burden from V.I. Warshawski's shoulders and lets her be the intelligent wise-cracker that her readers have come to know and love.
Rating:
Summary: I really loved this book
Review: I just want to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I like reading about the good fight V. I. is fighting and all the hardships she has to endure. My life is quite tame so that makes it all the more interesting for me to read about it in a book. I couldn't put this book down; I found it to be adventurous and suspenseful. I've read all the V. I. books and this one is my favorite. I'm so glad she's back!
Rating:
Summary: Dubious ideas
Review: I liked some things about this book, however I am astonished by liberal ideas that Paretsky tried to squeeze in. Why is being rich bad? Why should everyone help an illegal immigrant? Why should we support illegals? Half of prison contingent is illegal, so let them work, they came to this country, broke our laws, and why should they not be punished for it? How come good neighborhood and beautiful houses are shameful, but criminally entering this country and stealing from people are not shameful? I think that Paretsky has some perverted sense of justice. I did not like a lot in this book, and I think that maybe better editing was needed. This was not supposed to be a book with social doctrines and divide and split ideas. It was supposed to be easy mystery/detective story.
Rating:
Summary: Could have been better
Review: I was alittle disappointed in this book. It seemed to drag on and on and the story was very preditable.
Rating:
Summary: A quick, easy read
Review: I'm a big fan of Sara Paretsky so I was excited to see that she has a new book out. Hard Time was a great read and I had no idea what was going on "behind the scenes" until the very end. I love when you feel you know the characters, and I was quite involved from the very beginning.
Rating:
Summary: Sara-Thanks for bring VI back!!
Review: I've been reading VI Warshawski stories for years, actually after I saw the movie. Though at first I thought her characters (in the early books) were two dimensional, I feel in love with the way the stories read. With Hard Time, Sara brings us back to Chicago with VI having a new office, no man in her life, and not too far past when Burn Marks ended. She does a wonderful job in showing us two ends of life from the very rich to the very poor. I enjoyed the fact that Sara was able to make you smell and breathe the environment in which VI was living in prison, as well as the various establishments of the rich-of which VI didn't feel comfortable at and that came across well. I absolutely loved the book and hope that there will be a new one coming out soon.
Rating: 
Summary: Breaking rocks
Review: It has been a while since V. I. has been working the streets of Chicago. She hasn't gotten any smarter or mellowed in her time away. She got some money and actually has an office, but it is still V. I. This time round she needs some editing and a shrink's couch. Give it a rest, chill woman, it is time for some real change in your life and storylines.
Rating:
Summary: Breaking rocks
Review: It has been a while since V. I. has been working the streets of Chicago. She hasn't gotten any smarter or mellowed in her time away. She got some money and actually has an office, but it is still V. I. This time round she needs some editing and a shrink's couch. Give it a rest, chill woman, it is time for some real change in your life and storylines.
Rating:
Summary: Worth the wait !
Review: Just when I thought Sara Paretsky would never write another V.I. Warshawski novel "Hard Time" hit the stores. It was one of the best mysteries I read in 1999. I hope Ms. Paretsky's fans don't have to wait so long for V.I.'s next adventure.
| 
