Rating: 
Summary: Two of my favorite entertainments in one book!
Review: This is the first Nevada Barr book I have read (or listened to). I love a well-written mystery novel, and am also an avid camper and nature lover. This book had it all for me! Ms. Barr's beautiful descriptions of Glacier National Park, her insight into animal habits and behavior and her deftness in weaving a suspensful plot were a joy. I wasn't able to figure out the end - which is always one of my primary measuring sticks for a good mystery. Barbara Rosenblat is one of my favorite audio book narrators. Her ability to portray each character, whether male or female, young or old is truly amazing.
Rating: 
Summary: Ending almost made up for the rest of the book!?!
Review: This particular addition to Barr's collection of mysteries is not on par with her usual concise and interesting stories. Barr has one of the most unique inputs into the mystery genre--with a protagonist who has a job that many of us nature lovers would give eyeteeth for if we did not have families and previous commitments that we cannot abandon. I purposely pick up Barr's books because they give me an insight into her day job, and into the national parks I may never get an opportunity to explore. This book is not as well done as her others. I felt as if she were floundering through the entire book until the last couple of chapters. The ending is extremely satisfying and the explanation for the presence of a larger than normal grizzly in the lower 48 was along the lines of what I was thinking even at the very beginning of the book. However, novels should not just a means to the end, literally, and the journey to the ending should be just as understandable and intriguing as the ending itself. Usually Barr can deliver, but this book failed in this journey. I usually force myself to finish the books (unless the book lacks any worth at all), and in this case I was glad I did because of the great ending. Since every writer should be allowed to fall short once in a while, I will excuse the written shambles in this book and continue to read Barr's works. Her many other mysteries have consistently been good stories, so perhaps her muse took a leave of absence for this one! :-) Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh
Rating: 
Summary: Another really good addition to this series
Review: This series is one of my favourites, and this last one is better than the previous--I didn't care for Deep South as well. Which means not a whole lot since Ms. Barr's worst books are twice as good as most other authors' best. All of her books have been on my keeper shelf since the first one, and I'm picky about what goes on that shelf. Her writing ranks up there with Dana Stabenow and Tony Hillerman, and those two are exalted company. Another reviewer complained about the copy editing, and that's something I notice generally. I saw no problems here. The reviewer sited a page five exchange where Anna says "How you do?" in response to an introduction. That's not a typo, that's colloquial speech. I suspect that other things the reviewer found were probably in the same vein. Read this book, you'll enjoy it. If you haven't read this series before you could read this one as a stand alone, but it's best to read them in order, as Anna does go through some growth and changes during the series.
Rating:
Summary: Boring and Long? Or Long and intriguing?
Review: When I first saw this book it looked like a book with all of the blood and gore. I had expected to just jump right into a story about campers in the woods being mauled by a bear. When I started reading, it was totally different. When I wasn't thrilled with the beginning of the book I wanted to go and get my money back because the book didn't seem interesting whatsoever. I gave up on the book after that. Then I saw it there laying on my floor and felt that I had to read that book or I was going to hate myself for buying it and letting it pile up dust. Once I had that attitude it seemed a little easier to read. At first it seemed to be dragging on and on....until I got to the end of chapter 3. Then things started getting interesting. The book I thought I had gotten for blood and gore instead turned out to be a mystery. It had a few slow parts and some longer chapters. On the other hand the parts went by fast and it seemed I had just barely turned a few pages and I was in a new chapter. There were only a few parts that I would have changed but all-in-all it was a great book! I highly recommend it to anyone who thinks they've figured who did it, how, and why then suddenly get a curve ball and start over again.
Rating:
Summary: Boring and Long? Or Long and intriguing?
Review: When I first saw this book it looked like a book with all of the blood and gore. I had expected to just jump right into a story about campers in the woods being mauled by a bear. When I started reading, it was totally different. When I wasn't thrilled with the beginning of the book I wanted to go and get my money back because the book didn't seem interesting whatsoever. I gave up on the book after that. Then I saw it there laying on my floor and felt that I had to read that book or I was going to hate myself for buying it and letting it pile up dust. Once I had that attitude it seemed a little easier to read. At first it seemed to be dragging on and on....until I got to the end of chapter 3. Then things started getting interesting. The book I thought I had gotten for blood and gore instead turned out to be a mystery. It had a few slow parts and some longer chapters. On the other hand the parts went by fast and it seemed I had just barely turned a few pages and I was in a new chapter. There were only a few parts that I would have changed but all-in-all it was a great book! I highly recommend it to anyone who thinks they've figured who did it, how, and why then suddenly get a curve ball and start over again.
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