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!
Rating:
Summary: Don't change a thing, Nevada Barr!
Review: Nevada Barr is quite simply one of the best mystery writes today, and Firestorm is no exception. I think this is one of her best works yet. She's funny, gritty, and realistic. Those who are looking for a puff piece mystery should stick with Agatha Christie, because Nevada Barr is all about realism.
Rating:
Summary: Fireside Chat
Review: Nevada Barr's Firestorm was the first Anna Pigeon novel I read, back when it first came out. Her writing style moves me to purchase each new book as it comes out. This is an exceptional story of murder and sleuthing. I would suggest it to anyone. Also, her other novels are quite exciing. Making a park ranger into a detective is brilliant writing.
Rating:
Summary: Firestorm is a blast
Review: One of Nevada Barr's best! Hair-raising & gripping with enough smoke from forest fires to fill our nostrils. We meet Ranger Anna Pigeon again, this time serving as a medic to the fire crews & as if fighting fire & wind isn't enough someone winds up with a dagger in their back & Ranger Anna stumbles hot on the trail of both fire & murderer. As always Nevada Barr tells a torqued & tense yarn! END
Rating: 
Summary: Much peril but not much park
Review: Overall, this is good, exciting read. It's the fourth book in the Anna Pidgeon series and was nominated for an Anthony award. The plot focuses around a firefighting crew that is caught in a firestorm. (A tender topic here in Colorado where memories of the Storm King tragedy are still fresh.) When the crew emerges from their shelters, one member is dead with a knife in his chest. The same snow storm that caused the firestorm prevents rescue. Anna and her small group are stuck on a mountain with both the peril of killer weather and a murderer. The bulk of the book is a mix of survival and Anna trying to uncover each person's background and activities during the firestorm.There's much to like in this book. The sense of danger and peril gives this book an edge that's been missing in earlier books. Anna's fledgling romance with Fredrick grows in a long distance manner. The firefighting crew is a most interesting and ecclectic bunch. The layers of possible motives are both interesting and plausible. It misses a fifth star for a couple of reasons. First, there's almost nothing about Lassen Park in the book. One of the things I loved about the earlier books was the sense of the park Barr instilled in each book. This story could have taken place almost anywhere in the west that has a hot spring. Anna also does the fingercounting of possible suspects a few too many times. Bottom-line: A solid exciting read that most will enjoy. Probably not the thing to take with you if you're going camping in a high fire risk area. Nor is it a book for people wanting insights for an upcoming trip to Lassen.
Rating:
Summary: Latest Anna Pigeon double punch:forest fire & murder mystery
Review: The firestorm that rips through the forests of northern
California is a killer, but it didn't stick the knife in the
dead firefighter beneath the silver tent intended to protect
him. As the rescue squad clears a path to reach them, park ranger Anna Pigeon and fellow survivors endure burn
injuries, hunger and the cold. Meanwhile, Pigeon and FBI
agent Frederick Stanton trade clues via radio about the
homicide and the future of their relationship. Barr
evokes the unpredictable terror of a flash fire
and the tragedies people inflict on each other.
Rating:
Summary: A suspensful thoughtful thriller to the end
Review: The realism of the characters in this book is amazing. The way Ms Barr draws upon the strengths and weakness of each character keeps you wanting to read more. This is the first time I have really been able to see characters materialize and become human. Ranger Pigeon had her hands full this time but as usual overcame some terrible times to right the wrong. Good job.
Rating:
Summary: This is a book worth reading!!!
Review: This book is a real treat. Nevada Barr has a real gift for writing the reality of nature. She tells of the real life as a park ranger and all the and doesn't sugar coat the dismal parts. Her plots are enthralling and will keep you reading. This book tells of the experiences Anna Pigion has while being trapped on a mountian after a fire. It skillfully describes the injuries sustained and how, as the medical ranger, she must treat those injuries. This book is great!
Rating:
Summary: good mystery, exciting situation
Review: This is an excellent mystery about a group
of firefighters who are stranded on a mountaintop
after discovering a murder. The novel is
as much a survival story as a murder mystery,
which gives the story an added intensity.
The human side of the story is reasonably well-done, and the murder itself is puzzling
and unusual. Also, it's a locked-room mystery -- in its way.
Rating:
Summary: Smokin'...
Review: This is the second Anna Pigeon novel I have read, and my only consolation for being such a latecomer to Nevada Barr's writing is that I can occupy myself with her backlist while waiting for new books. So many mysteries are either not very mysterious, or clunkily written, or feature annoying characters, that I was delighted beyond belief when I finally found Anna Pigeon and realized she is a real person, and Nevada Barr is a real, skillful, writer. Not everyone can make you giggle, hold your breath, and mutter a sympathetic "ew" in the space of a couple of pages. Barr's characters, marooned by a forest fire that practically rises to the level of a character itself, have to contend with injuries, filth, hunger, and the knowledge that one of them killed one of their colleagues in a most creative manner. From the "shake and bake" (which is really something) to the final solution, I was riveted. This is an extraordinarily imaginative take on a classic locked room mystery. I didn't figure it out until the end, and I was gravely hampered because my list of those I didn't want to have done it had gotten so long. You can really get to know people when you're stranded with them in the mountains, and that's what happens here. Even if Barr wasn't so ingenious at devising murder plots, I'd read her work. She's amazingly good at creating hard-headed, soft-hearted characters who try to do the right thing -- most notably, Anna herself.
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