Ghost Country
Sara Paretsky
Random House Publishing Group
<p>Sara Paretsky's genius made Chicago private eye  V.I. Warshawski a household name.  Now the <i>New York Times</i> bestselling author explores an unseen corner of the city she loves.  In <i>Ghost Country</i> she has written a parable for the millennium, a powerful, haunting novel of magic and miracles, of four troubled people who meet beneath Chicago's shadowy streets--and of the woman whose mysterious appearance changes all of their lives forever.<br><br>They come from different worlds and meet at a time of crisis for all of them.  Luisa, a drunken diva fallen on hard times, discovers on Chicago's streets a drama greater than any she has experienced onstage.  Madeleine, a homeless woman, sees the Virgin Mary's blood seeping through a concrete wall beneath a luxury hotel.  Mara, a rebellious adolescent cast out by her wealthy grandfather, becomes the catalyst for a war between the haves and have-nots as she searches among society's castoffs for the mother she never knew. ...</br></br></p>