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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Some
Murder investigation; moderate hardboiled violence; historical atrocity referenced
Language
Some
Moderate language
Sexual Content
Barely any
No significant sexual content
Substance Use
Barely any
Minimal substance use
Emotional Intensity
A lot
Strong psychological intensity; Holocaust history; Cold War nuclear legacy; personal danger for V
What this book is about
V.I. Warshawski is asked to find a missing Chicago scientist, and the search pulls her back through time — to the tragic fate of Jewish physicists in Nazi Austria and to Cold War-era nuclear secrets that still have the power to kill. One of Sara Paretsky's most ambitious novels, Critical Mass weaves contemporary Chicago noir with a sweeping historical mystery about science, survival, and the long shadow of the Holocaust.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Holocaust themes
Cold War nuclear secrets
Murder
Reader Verification
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