Bleeding Kansas

The newest bestseller by Sara Paretsky, who is the author of the V.I Warshawski series is a departure from her usual Chicago industrial crime novels. This book follows the lives of several farming families in a Kansas valley who have lived in the same area for several generations.

This books tries to handle storylines of the Iraq war and religious fundamentalism, which sometimes seem surreal and not connected to the central part of the story. These parts seem to have been added for the lack of anything more interesting to make the characters behave the way the author wants them to, and to provide convenient endings to plotlines.

Paretsky has very pared down and concise writing, somehow that same writing style that pulled the V.I Warshawski books together so effortlessly fails to work in this scenario. The book feels overly descriptive and the characters remain lifeless though sometimes their activities are entertaining. Most certainly not one of her better books.