Author Sara Paretsky, who writes the popular V.I. Warshawski series, is afraid of the Patriot Act. So her new novel, Blacklist, has the heroine coming smack up against it. Good for Ms. Paretsky, what a great way to get a message out. Here's an interview with Ms. Paretsky in which she describes how the book came about. [link via Hamster.]

From Amazon:

Privilege, politics, and perfidy jointly propel the circuitous plot of Blacklist, Sara Paretsky's 11th novel featuring tenacious Chicago private-eye V.I. Warshawski. By the time this story runs its course, V.I. will have harbored an alleged Arab terrorist, resurrected the ghosts of America's 1950s anti-Communist hysteria, and questioned the integrity of a man she once admired "to the point of hero worship." In other words, it's a typical case for this hard-headed, sarcastic, and perpetually sleep-deprived sleuth.