Barr, Nevada : Liberty Falling (Anna Pigeon Mysteries)

Liberty Falling (Anna Pigeon Mysteries)

EUR 3,10


Imagine Nevada Barr s delight in discovering that there is actually a national park right smack in the middle of New York City--Gateways Park, which encompasses Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. She could continue her splendid series about park ranger Anna Pigeon and still do some serious shopping at Bendel s and Berghdorf s, the kind of stores you don t find in the New Mexico cave setting of Blind Descent (her last adventure). The ploy works: Barr is probably the only mystery writer who could see a natural environment under New York s slick and sleazy skin. Anna is in Manhattan to look after her sister Molly, seriously ill with pneumonia and a kidney infection. Pigeon moves in with a ranger friend who has a place on Ellis Island. There s not much natural wildlife unless you count her feathered namesakes, but she still manages to find a lot to contemplate--especially the suspicious suicide of a teenage girl who leaps from Liberty s ledge, followed not long after by the security guard who tried to stop her. But Anna s snooping puts her own life in jeopardy. She survives several attacks and a near drowning--events as frightening as any of the fires, floods, and hurricanes from her past adventures. Barr neatly ties up her plot--ending with a brilliant chase scene across the waters from Manhattan to Liberty Island. What next for Anna? Is there a national park in Las Vegas? --Dick Adler

LIBERTY RISING, NEW YORK FALLING - Anna Pigeon needs lots of elbow room. New York City is not the place to get it. This is not one of the author s best efforts. Her style seems crabbed (and crabby!)when she cannot luxuriate in her rolling descriptions of open spaces and bare land. I couldn t get a sense of focus in the story. She traveled and traveled via subway, ferry, and cab, but was never pleased at where she d been or where she was going. There were a few too many characters and subplots to keep track of. I like Anna, her stream of consciousness chiding herself (she really thinks some bad thoughts), her humor and her sense of self and reality. I don t get bored with her skittishness toward romance, booze and intimacy. That s her. I wish she d at least be an ex-smoker. I d enjoy her remarks. It seems all contemporary female crime/mystery writers rigidly require their heroines not only to not smoke, but condemn, deplore, and excorciate anyone who does or has been in the room ahead of them. Ah well. In conclusion: I think it very plausible to write an entire book about a person you heartily dislike, but not a place. Anna s antipathy toward New York City could have been covered in a few pages. Repetition does not strengthen the argument.

An enjoyable read, turned me on to a new author. - This was the first Anna Pigeon mystery I ve read. I found it entertaining and suspenseful. I hate starting a mystery and having a good ideal how it will be resolved within the first hundred pages...no problem with that here!Barr s descriptive writing really give the reader a sense of the environment and I love her middle age, non-beauty queen heroine. After reading this book, I immediately ordered Deep South and liked it, too. However I am wondering if the lack of any significant female characters is a recurring theme in Barr s novels. I will be finding out as I plan to read more of them in the future.

Another disappointed fan - I am an Anna Pigeon fan and a very disappointed one. Nevada Barr s last two books have become overly descriptive and tedious. Liberty Falling is the worst to date. I read for entertainment, not to diagram sentences. Like a previous reviewer, I have wondered what happened to the characters Christina Walters and her daughter, Alison.I d like to think that these reader reviews have an impact. I m still interested in reading books like her earlier works but if Nevada Barr is tired of Anna Pigeon, then put her to rest.

Not her best, but still worth the read - This time Nevada has taken ranger Pigeon out of the wilderness and into the middle of New York City. (Which I guess is just another type of wilderness). This book did not grab me as much as her other but I still enjoyed it, It was better then most of the Trash I read.I also recomend: A Tourist in the Yucatan an excellent mystery/thriller!

What A Surprise! - When I first read the synopsis of Liberty Falling, I thought, New York? Nevada Barr? No way. How in the world can you compare New York City with the deep south, the western deserts, Colorado, and the northern lakes? Although she doesn t have the beautiful landscapes to describe, she makes up for it with a very good plot line and characters that are so life-like, it s hard to believe they don t exist in real life. (I would really like to know someone like James Hatchett Sr.) I liked Anna Pigeon in Track Of The Cat and I like her more with each addition in this wonderful series.




Liberty Falling (Anna Pigeon Mysteries)