Firestorm

Rating:
Summary: Exceptional
Review: I don't understand why this book isn't at the top of the bestseller list. Anna Pigeon is a ranger with the National Park Service. She is currently serving as security and EMT at a fairly routine fire in the Lassen Volcanic National Park when things suddenly go to hell in a hand basket. The firestorm scenes are absolutely riveting. The characters are all very well developed. Some are easy to love and some are easy to hate. There is plenty of sophisticated, witty humor sprinkled throughout. Some of it made me laugh out loud. The landscape descriptions were the next best thing to being there. And tying it all together is a whopping good murder mystery. I probably shouldn't make comparisons but I will. Nevada Barr has Sue Grafton beat by a mile

Rating:
Summary: Captivating, Stunning, Amazing.
Review: I have read all of the Anna Pigeon mysteries and this one is one of my favorites. Nevada Barr creates amazing characters, brings us to incredible settings, and never once let me off the edge of my seat.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent read
Review: I picked up Firestorm, by Nevada Barr, on the recommendation of my niece, and I didn't put it down again until it was finished.
This sort of thing used to happen quite frequently, but this is the first time in years that I've found a book to be so instantly and continually absorbing. This isn't only a great mystery, it's a great book. Even neater, she's written more of 'em!

Rating:
Summary: Great rainy day read
Review: I read mystery novels to pass the time. Most of them are not great fiction, or particularly realistic. However, Firestorm completely consumed me.

I have worked as a field biologist around rangers and wildland fire fighters. I know what these folks are like, what a fire camp is like. I think this is why I was so pulled in! The descriptions are incredibly accurate, the characters - a lot of them I swear I have met, from the slimey resources guy to the hard bitten crew cheif and the various camp followers.

I hardly ever cry while reading a mystery novel - its 'cartoon blood' after all, but I cried for the poor young man stuck in the face of the firestorm, knowing he could not survive.

A great read, a great ending and throughout a sense of awe for the forces of nature. Not bad at all!!!

Rating:
Summary: I anxiously await the next Nevada Barr mystery in paperback.
Review: I tried one Nevada Barr book and then another and another, just like eating chocolates! I love mysteries set in places I have been and hers are. I have never been in a firestorm, so the vicarious adventure is enough plus the added agony of trying to find the murderer before he finds her! Her stories keep me up all hours because I can't lay them down.

Rating:
Summary: Fire and Ice, Love and Hate
Review: I've read all of Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon mysteries (*Liberty Falling* the latest), and though I always enjoy them, this remains my favorite stand-alone. The descriptions of the firecamp are fascinating (I loved the "shake-n-bakes") and I thought the characters more convincing than usual in her works. I particularly enjoyed the unusual ending.

Rating:
Summary: "Firestorm" a real page-burner!
Review: Maybe it was the timing--I started reading it just as Oregon's fire season got into full swing this summer--but this is Nevada Barr's best book to date! Suspense abounds, not just related to the murderer and motive, but also whether the firefighters will survive nature's onslaught of fire and ice. A must-read for all mystery lovers

Rating:
Summary: OUTSTANDING!!!!!
Review: Ms. Barr writes better than Patricia Cornwell ever could. Anna is a real person with a sense of humor, however wry it may be. This story is excellent in the setting, the telling, the setting. And as in each of Ms. Barr's books, you learn about the park, and those who "people" it. Caught and stranded by a stange set of circumstances, fire and weather, the firefighters (Anna is one of the firefighting team) discover that there is a killer among them. Anna must discover who and why in the grittiest set of circumstances. Excellent story, brilliantly told, Outstanding book.

Rating:
Summary: Anna Pigeon is caught between a firestorm and a murderer
Review: National Park Service Ranger Anna Pigeon has been temporarily detailed to help with fire control on the drought-ridden Cumberland Island National Seashore. A plane crash changes Anna and her peers from patrol to action as they quickly work to put out the ensuing flames before a disaster strikes. The dead pilot patrolled drug trafficking form the air while his passenger was the island's only law enforcement official. .......Preliminary analysis by investigators into the plane crash seem to lead them to think sabotage occurred, but who was the target? Was it the pilot or his passenger? Or was it someone else who the passenger replaced at the last moment? Anna decides to do a bit of sleuthing on her own to learn who was the intended victim and who did it. However, Anna does not yet realize that by conducting her own personal inquiry, she has placed herself in danger because no one will interfere with the culprit's plans for the island's treasures. ......Anna Pigeon is one of the top female sleuths today because she is not superwoman breaking down doors or smashing heads with single bound. Instead, Anna is a thinker, who works her way methodically through her cases. Endangered Species is a fabulous read because of Anna, an interesting who-done-it, and the beautiful scenery off the Georgia coast. Fans of female sleuths should read Nevada Barr's latest tale (and her previous works) because it is that good. This author, unlike some big name writers, never disappoints her fans and deserves a spot on the best seller lists. ......Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Hot, Hot, Hot in Barr's best novel - a 'locked room mystery'
Review: Nevada Barr has 2 books that are closed to "locked room" mysteries - that is, where the action and events are in a tightly controlled environment. Firestorm has it's events in the middle of a firestorm, on a mountain top where rescue is delayed. (Blind Descent is the other - inside a subterranean cave.)
Barr's description of the firestorm, and being trapped inside of a tiny fireproof tent are gripping! The murders are solved by Frederick and Anna. Frederick is working on the outside, and supplies info to Anna via hand radios. Anna uncovers facts and fights the growing tension between survivors who are trapped on the mountain together.
There are suspects galore - but I was totally surprized by the identity of the true murderer and Anna's judgement call in handling the murderer.
This is probably one of Barr's best novels - a "hot, hot" read!