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Title: A stretch, but not a successful one
Review: It's hard not to be disappointed when one of your favorite authors aims for the sky and misses utterly. This attempt at magical realism is so badly conceived that I wonder what Paretsky could have been thinking. The magical elements hit us over the head, rather than hinting at an alternate reality.The characters were all unlikeable and the main character, a ghostly re-incarnation of a Sumerian goddess, was absolutely grotesque. I found myself almost rooting for the fundamentalist church people who have evil designs on the goddess.Not that I wish Paretsky stay pigeonholed in the mystery genre, but I wish she'd get back to doing what she does so well--created well-paced mysteries with moxie and heart.
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