• Total Recall

  • V. I. Warshawski, Book 10
  • By: Sara Paretsky
  • Narrated by: Sandra Burr
  • Length: 15 hrs and 52 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (368 ratings)

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Total Recall  By  cover art

Total Recall

By: Sara Paretsky
Narrated by: Sandra Burr
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Publisher's summary

In Total Recall, Sara Paretsky brings together several disparate plots in one gripping story. This powerfully suspenseful novel confronts the machinations of a vast and corrupt industry that trades on the victims of Nazi terrorism; the strange and dubious phenomenon of "recovered memory;" and a personal story that brings V. I. Warshawski into the long-buried past of her dearest friend and mentor, Dr. Lotty Herschel.

Lotty was a child of nine when she came to England in 1939 as a refugee from Austria. Having lost her entire family to the Nazi terror, she grew up and completed her medical training in London - and there fell in love with a fellow refugee. She ended the affair when she discovered she was pregnant and bore the child in secrecy, giving it up for adoption. Now, that long-held secret may be exposed.

At a national conference in Chicago on Jews in Modern America, a man with recovered memories makes a dramatic appearance and claim - and his name brings consternation to Lotty. V.I. is retained to find out whether or not he is a surviving relative of Lotty's. It's a search that meshes stunningly with the pursuit of another case she is on - for what she uncovers, to her great peril, is brutal insurance fraud on an international scale.

Total Recall is Paretsky's most spectacular achievement to date, and takes V.I. to new heights of gusto, guts, passion for justice - and risk.

Catch all of our V.I. Warshawski titles.
©2004 Sara Paretsky (P)2004 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about Total Recall

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

My favorite Sara Paretsky

I found this story to be emotionally satisfying, believable and gripping to the end. I have listened to it many times. This seems to me to be a deeper character study of the people who fans of Sara Paretsky have come to know.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Narration does no favors to this book

Sandra Burr is just fine for some characters, but not for a street smart, tough as nails investigator. Susan Ericksen is perfect for the job. Jean Smart was certainly adequate. Sara Paretsky is one of my favorite authors, but I'll read the others narrated by Burr. For the book....another great story. Characters strong, VI as gutsy as ever. Great book!

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

V.I. Characterization is Awful

I purchased this one accidentally. I meant to get Hard Time which is narrated by Jean Smart. When I fired this one up the other day, I was in for a shock. Sandra Burr, who unfortunately seems to have narrated quite a few V.I. Warshawski audiobooks (which means I'm going to miss out on a lot of them), makes Vic sound like a wide-eyed little girl, or a Stepford Wife. The edge, the wit, and the tough as nails femininity is completely absent. She makes Vic sound like she's on mood stabilizers, and the mood of the story is ruined. When V.I. gets into a heated discussion with one of the other characters, she "shoots back" with a retort, but she could have been talking about how nice sunny days are when the sky is blue. Yes, it's that bad. Unless you're really hard up for a V.I. Warshawski novel, I suggest you skip this and pick up the ones by Jean Smart. Smart nails Vic perfectly.

(*Reposting this as some of my reviews seem to have been disassociated from my Audible account.)

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Wrong voice for V. I.

I've been listening to this entire series and was already disappointed that the last book was narrated by an actress (Jean Smart) instead of Susan Ericksen. Sandra Burr's voice is to high pitched for V.I. and her neighbor. This caused me to pay less attention to the story and therefore enjoy the book less overall.
Despite that, it was nice to get a background on V. I.'s "family"

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The history and mystery of loss and pain

Perhaps my favorite mystery ever. Mystery is supposed to involve the twists and turns of the unsaid, the buried, the never faced. The tenderness and intensity of Vic's love for Lotty and the care with which she pursues the source of her anguish is exquisitely presented. As always the actual plot twists together from different, seemingly unrelated sources, and this is just the price we have to pay for a good story, I guess. I'm so glad I ignored some of the reviews of this book and actually downloaded it. It did more than get me through a bunch of exercise sessions. It led me to reconsider the carefully suppressed pain of my own parents who were from an entirely different place and circumstance.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Narration ruined book

I completely agree with reviewers that expressed the narration of this book destroyed who the V.I. character is. Very unfortunate choice. Really disappointed, as I had previously greatly enjoyed listening to the V.I. books.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

I love the entire VI Warshawski series.

Would you consider the audio edition of Total Recall to be better than the print version?

I used Whispersync to enhance my listening/reading enjoyment. I've read all the series but am going through the series again since it's been a while.

Who was your favorite character and why?

VI of course.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

Overall for me the narrator's voice is "too nice." After listening to all the different V.I. voices in order I like Susan Ericksen, Kathleen Turner (movie), Jean Smart, Sandra Burr.

The pace matched the way I was reading the story so it worked for me. Sandra Burr just didn't have Chicago south side toughness. The accents were off for the characters in my mind anyway.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Loved the history

Very good story. Griping at times. Not happy with a the new narrator. Liked the 1st one the best. I don’t think she coveys VI hostility and anger well. Subdues the tone. But overall I enjoyed in part bc of the history entangled in the story. Did not like how the story did not really tie up that man calling himself Paul Rabuka story.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Detailed

Interesting story but the details and repetition was boring at times. Some of the events were unrealistic. I like many of the other books by Paretsky better.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good story

But this narration destroyed who VI is. If this was the first book I’d listened to in this series, it would be the last. Character is ruined.

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