A Self-Absorbed Collection of all things In the Wind
This is where I stash odds and ends. The image to the left, by the way, is a page from an absolutely stunning scrapbook compiled by ukslim who has lots of quite brilliant images on Flickr.
reviews and readers' responses
The latest release from Barbara Fister, an academic librarian at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., is an understated crime-fiction gem. Conspicuously void of any explicit sexual acrobatics or stomach-churning violence, "In the Wind" is powered by a highly intelligent story line that underscores disturbing similarities between the counterintelligence practices of post-9/11America and those imposed during the Vietnam War era . . . Discerning fans of political mysteries and thrillers looking for a wildly thought-provoking whodunit should check out this surprisingly compelling read.
Paul Goat Allen, Chicago Tribune
I don’t require profundity from the crime fiction I read. While I always appreciate the kind of tight plotting, vivid
characterizations, and motional storylines that compel my participation with the author’s imagination, I don’t demand that the zippered pockets of my psyche be opened by some revelation during the experience. Sometimes a vicarious adrenaline rush, the pure fun of clever folly, or a well-chartered prowl through darkness is all I need. When I do find a book with elements that prod the reading into deeper relevance, I take note. If it can do so without obvious pedantic manipulation and without sacrificing any of the genre’s standard virtues, I usually count it among the best. Barbara Fister’s In the Wind ranks in this category.
The story explores the way fear, when it enters the social fabric, can become a vehicle of suppression and oppression . . . What follows is a fast-paced, multi-layered investigation that smartly parallels our contemporary, post-9/11 culture of paranoia with the counterintelligence-fueled instability of the Vietnam War era. Anni is drawn into a conflict that involves members of a white supremacy group, a radical faction of the American Indian Movement, the FBI, and the Chicago PD. By forcing engaging, sympathetic characters into situations that threaten their personal or ideological securities, Fister explores the interplay between the perception of radicalism and the conception of civil liberties. This is an intriguing book that rewards on every level!
Rebecca Tatham, Crimespree Magazine
Fister writes thoughtfully from Anni's perspective about the oppressed: Native Americans, easily intimidated new immigrants, people struggling with mental illness, and homeless derelicts written of by society. . . . In the Wind is a tough, engrossing story where the good guys can be the bad guys, and political passions from the Vietnam War and erosions of civil liberties under the Patriot Act come together with enough ambiguity to blur the lines. All in all, it makes one glad to know the underground is still alive.
Verna Suit, Mystery Scene Magazine
Chicago PI Anni Koskinen investigates a case ranging from the Vietnam era to a current FBI manhunt in Fister's explosive follow-up to 2002's On Edge. . . . Fister expertly brings the turbulent past into focus . . . The Windy City already has plenty of fictional PIs, but they'll have to make room for the gutsy and appealing Anni Koskinen.
.
. . Fister skillfully guides the reader through the past and present,
all the
while raising the stakes until the truth is revealed in an emotionally
compelling resolution . . . I'm sure that Fister will
be compared to Sara
Paretsky, with the two authors both centering their books on strong
females
working in Chicag. However, Fister doesn't come off second best in such
a
comparison and has created a work that is unique. Hightly recommended.
Maddy Van Hertbruggen, Reviewing
the Evidence (5/12/08)
When I reviewed Barbara Fister's first book, ''On Edge,''
in 2002, I said ''Her writing has the kind of truth to it that comes
from being smart and aware in a hard world, and this book, in addition
to being a thrilling mystery, has plenty to say about our society." The same can be said of her second book, ''In the Wind''. . . It's a good read that balances admiration and cynicism about activists in today's world.
John Orr, San Jose Mercury News (6/15/08) Full review at Triviana.
Andrea Sisco, Armchair Interviews (6/08)
Anni is an engaging and complicated character: prickly, independent, and loyal to a fault. Solid supporting characters, an intricate plot, and uncomfortable parallels between post-9/11 and Vietnam-era civil liberty issues cause this well-written novel to linger after the final page.
Lucinda Surber, Stop, You're Killing Me (6/10)
Everything I could want from a mystery novel (it rings the archetypal changes - Grafton - Paretsky - Bowen - Hillerman, even), the solid plotting and the never-quite-stock characters and the pervasive sense of humor and compassion leavening the darkness, and a goodly dash of social justice and anti-corruption rhetoric to boot, without ever crossing the line into didacticism. That sounds a bit flip, but what I mean to say is: I Really Really Really Like This Book. I'm looking forward to reading its sequel soon.
Maribou at her Livejournal page (5/10)
Anni is a fascinating and well-developed character, whose life, family and friends contain plenty of rich fodder for future outings. In the Wind is a very good read indeed: if you enjoy series such as Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone, Sara Paretsky’s V. I. Warshawski, or Marcia Muller’s Sharon McCone, you will certainly find a great deal to like in Anni Koskinen, who can more than hold her own in this company.
Maxine at Petrona (5/10)
interviews and whatnot
I take the Page 99 Test, part of Marshal Zeringue's amazing Campaign for the American Reader (which also compiles interviews in a feat of inexaustable enthusiasm for books)
Author Snapshot in January Magazine in which I reveal (again) that I am an anarchist
Mysterious Musings interview with Julia Buckley
Once Upon a Crime interview with Lori Lake
Interview by Sandra Ruttan with Tom Piccirilli because we three are parents to triplets - books released on the same day
A nice preview of In the Wind in Express Milwaukee by someone who probably shares my politics.
Robert C. Hahn profiles mysteries set in the Windy City in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and thinks maybe I should be making a career change to writing full time. He also says "Fister has endowed her series character, Anni Koskinen, with a rich background and given her supporting cast the depth and breadth that promise to sustain a lengthy series. . . . Fister draws vivid parallels between the extra-legal responses of the FBI during that fractious period of the seventies and similar restrictions on civil liberties today. In addition she delivers a solid plot and characters that one looks forward to meeting again and again in future cases." Well, that made my day!
what booksellers are saying
As in her brilliant 2002 debut (On Edge/Dell
pbo), Fister, from the get-go, demonstrates her command for
establishing strong characters. And Anni is a pistol. In one of the
opening scenes, she is about to be confronted by two men on the street
and proceeds to, well, beat the crap out of them. Turns out that
they're feds who have been tailing her.
Gary Schultz of Once Upon a Crime
Barbara's
second mystery is excellent. Former cop and newly minted
private detective Anni Koskinen takes an early morning phone call from
a local priest. A woman is going to come to Anni for
help. The woman at her door is known locally as a popular
grandmotherly figure at the local parish. Unbeknownst to Anni
and the community, Rosa is a wanted FBI fugitive - wanted of murdering
an FBI while she was a member of a racial American Indian movement
organization. That is just the first 20 pages. In
the Wind is complex and engaging. I highly recommend it!
Terri of Booked for Murder
Terri of Booked for Murder