As I was reading my way through the pile of books next to the bed last summer, I came to Ghost Country by Sara Paretsky. Only a comment on the dust jacket hints at Paretsky's detective V.I. Warshawski. This one is different.

The difference may make or break this novel. It's not a detective story, though there are police officers in it. It's more a mystical morality tale. The dust jacket flack says it's an "extraordinary novel...[that] gives voice to the dispossessed...A magical, unforgettable story of myth and madness, hope and revelation..."

I'd call it more of a fairy tale or a Christian parable. The ending sets up the survivors for chances to live happily ever after. But those opportunities come only with sacrifice. There are some interesting characters, but I think Paretsky has overreached her grasp a bit. I don't buy all these characters. Granted, my grasp on reality is also tilted by my experience, but the struggling adolescent and the morbidly repressed lawyer and the confused young psychiatrist in this story are just a little more clueless, rigid, and bewildered and a little less complete than I wanted them to bećespecially in the dČnouement

At least this isn't a hard-boiled, tough gal, flee and fight macha adventure. Paretsky does put words together well even if all her ideas don't work for me. I would have read this one sooner if I'd known it wasn't a Warshawski novel. Find it at the library if you can. I think it's worth the time and effort, just not the money.