Part of V.I. Warshawski, book 14
First published 2010
V.I. Warshawski decides to take a rare night off at Club Gouge, Chicago's most provocative nightclub. The venue features a Body Artist who transforms her skin into living art for audience members to paint on. The eclectic crowd includes an intimidating off duty police officer, Ukrainian criminals, Iraq War veterans, and V.I.'s impulsive cousin Petra. A troubled young artist arrives and creates elaborate patterns on the Body Artist's skin. Her work triggers explosive anger in one of the veterans. When someone shoots the artist, she bleeds out in V.I.'s arms. The police quickly settle on their suspect: a PTSD afflicted veteran who they believe stalked and murdered the woman. The veteran's family refuses to accept this explanation and hires V.I. to prove his innocence. Her investigation reveals a web of disturbing secrets that connects the battlefields of Iraq to Chicago's South Side neighborhoods. V.I. must navigate between dangerous mobsters, traumatized soldiers, and corrupt officials to uncover what really happened that night at Club Gouge.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, action
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Chicago, Club Gouge, Iraq, South Side
Period: 21st-century
443 pages · Hardcover · G.P. Putnam 's Sons
Content warnings: graphic-violence, mental-illness, war