Back to the Beginning

Many of us have been reading/listening to Ms. Paretsky' novels for years. It was great to be able to go back and hear it all from the beginning for the first time. Great book and great listen. Thanks.

18 people found this helpful

I love narrator Susan Erickson - Great Series

What did you love best about Indemnity Only?

I took a shot at this writer ONLY because of the narrator. I have found that Susan Erickson has a great way of building a story especially if the story line is exceptional. I Loved this book and am now on #6 with plans to download ALL of them. Great story line.

Have you listened to any of Susan Ericksen’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

LOVE HER and this compares very well with RD Robb The Eve Dallas Series which I am an avid fan of.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

YES

11 people found this helpful

Early Paretsky

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I enjoyed this but Sara's books have gotten better over time
I

Would you recommend Indemnity Only to your friends? Why or why not?

yes

Have you listened to any of Susan Ericksen’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes, not as good as others but good

Was Indemnity Only worth the listening time?

yes

7 people found this helpful

Edge of my seat

I really enjoyed this. It had me on the edge of my seat all the way through. Loved Ericksen's performance as always. She's one of my favorite narrators. This is the first of Paretsky's books I've gotten to and it won't be the last. I just wish audible had them all.

6 people found this helpful

Like watching an 80s Detective Show

The story is good, and of course Susan Erickson's performance is amazing as usual. One has to remember that this book was written in the 1980s, and it really feels like watching an old 80s detective show.

With that in mind, since I actually remember the 1980s firsthand, it is interesting to notice how attitudes and technology have changed. It's funny to think that it wasn't that long ago, when people's lives could be put in danger if you actually left home so that you missed a call. Of course there is also the rampant misogyny at odds with changing attitudes and values, that were indicative of the era.

I plan to listen to more of the serious, and it will be interesting to see how the characters progress if the series keeps up with the contemporary timeframe of when each book was written.

3 people found this helpful

Love V.I. Warshawski

What did you love best about Indemnity Only?

I have read all the Sara Paretsky V.I. Warshawski books. I am going through the series again a combination of reading and audiobooks. I love the lead, she is a rich character and could be my friend. This series is a little hard to listen to as to the richness of the story. Don't multi-task. Just listen and enjoy. I found myself going back in the narration because I was lightly listening and got lost (this is where listening/reading via Whispersync helped.)

Have you listened to any of Susan Ericksen’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Susan Ericksen is one of my favorite narrators. It's pretty much guaranteed that I will enjoy the book if she is narrating.

3 people found this helpful

Loved the movie.

Had never realized the movie was based on these books. I loved listening to this. Some of the characters were in this one and I see some are in the next book. Almost wish Kathleen Turner was reading them after being introduced to her in the movie. This book is great. Has her sassy attitude and her interactions with everyone she meets can almost make you start cracking up and people look at you funny. Overall a very good story.

2 people found this helpful

Very Enjoyable!

Would you listen to Indemnity Only again? Why?

Thought it was a

Have you listened to any of Susan Ericksen’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

Any additional comments?

Although the story was simple and direct it was exactly what I was looking for. Relaxing and to the point. No brain surgery required!

2 people found this helpful

Great woman detective!

Any additional comments?

V.I. Warshawski is a great character. She is such a smart aleck that she had me chuckling aloud at times. I can appreciate her sarcasm. Fantastic narration by Susan Ericksen, as always. Although I had to keep reminding my self at the beginning that I wasn't listening to an Eve Dallas story. The only thing that annoyed me as I listened was the overuse of the characters' names during conversations. I hope this was a first time author mishap that is corrected as the series goes on. I can't wait to listen to the next in the series.

1 person found this helpful

3 ½ stars. Slightly above average.

Typical PI mystery series told in first person.

VI is a female private investigator. She is often short on money to pay her bills. A few times I thought I have no idea what I would do if I were the investigator. Then VI did something, and I was impressed. She is tough physically. For example, a bad guy has a gun, she jumps him, breaks his arm, rolls to the floor, and grabs the gun. The result is some good investigating ideas and some pretty good action scenes.

There were two sex scenes referred to, no details. They were written similar to “We entered the bedroom. Next morning we had coffee.”

PROBLEMS:
In real life thugs may swear in every sentence, but I’ve heard authors should cut down on that in writing fiction. The phrase “God damn it” was used a bit too much for me.

Two main characters were McGraw and Marshall. I kept getting them confused because the names were similar, both starting with the “ma” sound. This is minor, but it would have been better if one of them had a name starting with a different letter, like Adams or Baker. It might not have bothered me as much in the physical book. But it required effort on my part in the audiobook, frequently thinking “now which one was that?”

NARRATOR Susan Ericksen:
The dialogue has a lot of anger, yelling, shouting, and screaming. This should be ok when reading the physical book. But it was jarring as an audiobook when the narrator read those lines. Her voice was a little irritating to begin with, and then worse when she yelled. A different narrator with a softer voice might have been better.

THE SERIES:
This is the first book in the VI Warshawski series. So far there are 15 books in the series.

Genre: PI mystery

8 people found this helpful