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(3.00) - 2,961 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Running from a proposal of marriage from Sheriff Paul Davidson, Anna Pigeon takes a post as a temporary supervisory ranger on remote Garden Key in Dry Tortugas National Park, a small grouping of tiny islands in a natural harbor seventy miles off Key West. This island paradise has secrets it would keep; not just in the present, but in shadows from its gritty past, when it served as a prison for the Lincoln conspirators during and after the Civil War. Here, on this last lick of the United States, in a giant crumbling fortress, Anna has little company except for the occasional sunburned tourist or unruly shrimper. When her sister, Molly, sends her a packet of letters from a great-great-aunt who lived at the fort with her husband, a career soldier, Anna's fantasy life is filled with visions of this long-ago time. When a mysterious boat explosion-and the discovery of unidentifiable body parts-keeps her anchored to the present, Anna finds crimes of past and present closing in on her. A tangled web that was woven before she arrived begins to threaten her sanity and her life. Cut off from the mainland by miles of water, poor phone service, and sketchy radio contact, and aided by one law-enforcement ranger, Anna must find answers or weather a storm to rival the hurricanes for which the islands are famous.
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"Nevada Barr crosses time and characters with an early relative's letters about her life on Garden Key at the end of the Civil War and Anna Pigeon's current temporary assignment on the Dry Tortugas. As usual, Barr's storyline probes not only the setting, the mysteries that abound there but also the changes that Anna experiences. Underwater explosions mix with past intrigues and the perpetrators of each era are slow to emerge. This is an older book in the series, published in 2003, but it holds attention and provides a delicious read for any point in time."
— Arletta (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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Nevada Barr can write rhapsodic passages about America's beautiful parks and cobble up page-turning whodunits that will keep readers guessing…"---Denver Post
Flashback Listener Reviews
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" Meh. Least favorite of this series so far... the mixture of "letters from the past" and modern drama just didn't work for me at all. The letters were poorly written; I didn't buy the historical accuracy, blah blah blah anyway; of course I still read it, but, it's not a standout by any means. "
— Megan, 2/6/2014 -
" Listened to this series on audio. I like the park ranger Anna Pigeon and the descriptions of various national parks. This one took place in the Florida Keys. Nevada Barr added a historical aspect to the novel with Anna Pigeon reading letters from an ancester who was stationed at the same location after the Civil War when it was a Union prison. The artiface was ok, but contrived. "
— Ruth, 1/18/2014 -
" one of my guilty pleasures - reading the Anna Pigeon series - a thriller type book, but you also get to learn about national parks. This one takes place at Ft. Jefferson, where the LIncoln conspirators were incarcerated "
— Martha, 1/14/2014 -
" There are two stories going on simultaneously in this book. I was having troubles keeping track, so I'd read several chapters in one of the stories, then several chapters in the other story. This was not my favorite book, but I liked/not loved it. I appreciate Barr's ability to work Anna in so many different circumstances, and her ability to stay "cool" and get the job done, despite the many dangers she finds herself in. "
— Carol, 12/29/2013 -
" This was a great whodunit that included a historical aspect to it. Having been asked to cover for a supervisory ranger on leave in the Florida Keys, Anna finds herself involved in a situation that doesn't exactly make sense at first. There are hallucinations involved as well as letters from a great great aunt that were left to her sister, Molly. As always Nevada Barr keeps you guessing until the very end. "
— Perlinda, 12/19/2013 -
" Barr does a great job with settings in her Anna Pigeon mysteries - this one also brings in a lot of Civil War history. One of my favorites in this series. "
— Mary, 12/15/2013 -
" The tape version was very well done. The story(s)was a little weak. Worth a listen, but I'm glad I didn't take the time to read it. "
— Rich, 11/30/2013 -
" This book drove me crazy. It alternated chapters between the past and present. I read every other chapter, then went back and read the ones I'd skipped. It was too confusing to skip back and forth constantly. It was like reading 2 books (that were parallel) but too choppy for me. "
— Cindy, 11/28/2013 -
" This book was so-so. It has a good main character but I didn't care for how the story continued to "flash back" to another story that happened a long time before. "
— Laurie, 11/5/2013 -
" Nevada Barr is wonderful in this book as usual! "
— Aldebaran, 10/22/2013 -
" Not my favorite Anna Pigeon installment, but OK. "
— Lorna, 10/21/2013 -
" Wow, you get two stories for the price of one in this Barr outing. I thought this was one of her better books. I really enjoyed the 19th century story involving Anna's Aunt Raffia. I always enjoy the history involved in these national park tales. Recommended! "
— Jeff, 4/18/2013 -
" OK- I didn't lke the parallel story framework "
— Peter, 3/28/2013 -
" I listened to it as an audio book as I was driving. Very exciting. I will read more by this author. "
— Peggy, 11/29/2012 -
" Fun quick read. I am hoping to go the Florida Keys sometime and this book actually didn't make it sounds that great (except the snorkeling). I really don't like reading series in the middle so not knowing the AP history was kinda annoying but I enjoyed the historical flashbacks and both mysteries. "
— Elizabeth, 11/22/2012 -
" This was a chore to get through, just didn't get it until the very end, and the ending wasn't great. "
— Lisa, 11/12/2012 -
" This was interesting with parallel stories going on, but I didn't like it a much as some of her other books. "
— Cindy, 11/2/2012 -
" I got lost and felt like poor Anna, losing track of time -- in the truest sense of the word. "
— Susan, 6/18/2012 -
" I keep my copies of Nevada Barr to reread ever three years or so. The mystery is good but the details are an education. The characters are all well developed. It works well as a stand-alone, but contributes to the story line of the series. "
— Ann, 5/3/2012 -
" I liked the dual stories in this book, and it is about one of my favorite periods in history - the Civil War. "
— Jeannine, 2/25/2012 -
" A National Park Service ranger as a main character / heroine holds appeal for me. My wife recommended Barr's Winter Study but that wasn't readily available on digital audio. I feel the series has great potential. "
— Dave, 8/26/2011 -
" this book was an interesting blend of current day and civil war era stories. I really am enjoying Nevada Barr as an author. "
— kathryn, 8/12/2011 -
" Good use of the parallel historical story, here, which is a handy device when your main, contemporary plot is a little thin. Not saying anything more. "
— Ryan, 4/30/2011 -
" This book was so-so. It has a good main character but I didn't care for how the story continued to "flash back" to another story that happened a long time before. "
— Laurie, 4/18/2011 -
" Thus far, this has been my least favorite book in the Anna Pigeon series. The dual storyline didn't work for me, and I really had trouble getting into the story. "
— Julie, 4/6/2011 -
" Interesting tactic, not her usual. The underwater scenes in this one were more terrifying than in A Superior Death. "
— Dharma, 3/30/2011 -
" This was not my favorite Barr book. I don't know if I just didn't connect with the park or what it was but I didn't actually ever finish it. I usually finish her books in 2-3 days. I don't expect to love every book my favorite authors write but it was still disappointing. "
— Sara, 3/22/2011 -
" two books in one, two tales in the same place, one civil war era, one current, somehow intertwined, interesting "
— Thomas, 3/22/2011 -
" i usually like her mysteries set in National Parks, but this seemed filled with overblown prose, awkward sentences. "
— Karen, 1/3/2011 -
" This book drove me crazy. It alternated chapters between the past and present. I read every other chapter, then went back and read the ones I'd skipped. It was too confusing to skip back and forth constantly. It was like reading 2 books (that were parallel) but too choppy for me. "
— Cindy, 11/5/2010 -
" You heard it before..the one about the book you couldn't put down? <br/>The dishes and the dust bunnies had to wait until this one was finished! "
— Leila, 10/18/2010
About Nevada Barr
Nevada Barr was born in the
small western town of Yerington, Nevada, and raised on a mountain airport in
the Sierras. Pushed out of the nest, she fell into theatre, receiving her BA in
speech and drama and her MFA in acting before making the pilgrimage to New York
City, then Minneapolis. For eighteen years she worked on stage, in commercials
and industrial training films, and doing voiceovers for radio. During this time
she became interested in the environmental movement and began working in
National Parks across the country during the summers. Woven throughout these
seemingly disparate careers was the written word. Nevada wrote and presented
campfire stories, taught storytelling, and was a travel writer and restaurant
critic. She has won both the Agatha and Anthony awards for best first mystery.
About the Narrators
Joyce Bean is an accomplished audiobook narrator and director. In addition to having won several AudioFile Earphones Awards, she has been nominated multiple times for the prestigious Audie Award. Equally adept at narrating fiction and nonfiction, and she also narrates audiobooks under the name Jane Brown.
Barbara Rosenblat, one of the most awarded narrators in the business, was selected by AudioFile magazine as one of the Golden Voices of the Twentieth Century. She has received the prestigious Audie Award multiple times and has earned more than fifty AudioFile Earphones Awards. She has also appeared in film, television, and theater, both in London’s West End and on Broadway.