Rating: 
Summary: Catch the killer... if you can.
Review: Anna Pigeon is independent, strong willed, determined, and a very good observer; all of these qualities are necessary for a good sleuth. She is a Park Ranger who follows clues to find the truth like she were filling in a crossword puzzle, which I'm addicted to. So, when a rogue mountain lion kills, she must find the animal... however, she finds a murderer who will kill anyone in the way of a clandestine enterprise. No matter where the clues of a mountain lion attack leads her, Anna follows her instinct and logic; it's quite a treat to "read her mind" as she does. After being lured into a death trap, she knows she is on the right track. There are many suspects and motives, and the details are rich as only one who has been there can describe. That's what makes Nevada Barr's books so good -- she is a park ranger.
Rating: 
Summary: A thrilling read!
Review: Another great writing from Nevada Barr. A book that is hard to stop and put down.
Rating:
Summary: Mystery, Park-Ranger Style
Review: I judge mysteries on how fast they hook me. And I was hooked on "Track of the Cat," the first in Barr's Anna Pigeon series, within one page.The fascinating plot revolves around the intrigue and in-fighting among the park rangers on the border between Texas and New Mexico. Who knew? Even among diehard environmentalists such as Anna and her coworkers, political pettiness exists. That's why, when a fellow ranger is found supposedly murdered by one of the park's protected cougars, Anna goes from 1 to 10 on the rage meter. She doesn't believe it's a lion kill--and she knows that the intricate politics and age-old fighting between ranchers and rangers will result in a sanctified lion kill. Racing against time, Anna sets out to solve a murder that only she believes is a murder. The more she finds out, the more sinister the seemingly beautiful and pristine canyons and mountains become. Two more rangers disappear...and are ultimately found dead. Just what is going on, and how can Anna stop it? The solution, which comes at the very end of the book, is completely unexpected, and quite satisfying. Barr's talent does not stop with the mystery, however. Her unique ability to draw the reader completely into Pigeon's milieu is seemingly effortless. I could feel the intense heat of the Texas desert, feel the rocks under my feet, feel the need for water as Anna and I hiked miles and miles through wild and achingly beautiful country. I felt that I was there alongside her, sweating with the heat and the knowledge that a crazed murderer was stalking us. Take this book with you to the beach, to the mountains, to the pool, or just sit under a tree and sip some iced tea. It's a quick, fun, and fascinating read for any mystery lover!
Rating:
Summary: A desert thriller
Review: I loved the descriptions of the west Texas terrain, and the tough character of Anna Pidgeon in this unusual mystery. Anna, a park ranger who escaped NYC after the death of her husband, discovers "accidents" are happening a little too frequently at Guadeloupe Mountains National Park. The descriptions of her and her fellow NPS employees is fascinating. I also loved the relationship she has with her psychiatrist sister, whom she frequently calls back in NYC. The end scene is terrific, as the killer is unveiled and Anna struggles to save her own life in the middle of nowhere. And I loved the way Anna serves justice in the end.
Rating:
Summary: A desert thriller
Review: I loved the descriptions of the west Texas terrain, and the tough character of Anna Pidgeon in this unusual mystery. Anna, a park ranger who escaped NYC after the death of her husband, discovers "accidents" are happening a little too frequently at Guadeloupe Mountains National Park. The descriptions of her and her fellow NPS employees is fascinating. I also loved the relationship she has with her psychiatrist sister, whom she frequently calls back in NYC. The end scene is terrific, as the killer is unveiled and Anna struggles to save her own life in the middle of nowhere. And I loved the way Anna serves justice in the end.
Rating: 
Summary: yecch...
Review: I picked this book up because I was running out of decent mystery novels, and figured I was primed to love it given my obsession with the outdoors as well as mysteries.
It only gets two stars because I actually made it through.
And I only got through it because I had nothing else to read.
I know Nevada Barr is a "name," and judging by the number of her books stocked in my local bookstore, a popular one. But I could list the things that are wrong with her writing for...well, let's just say more space than Amazon is going to give me for this review. Her prose is bad. Her imagery is unlively (and if you're going to write about a landscape like Anna Pigeon's, you sure as hell ought to be able to write it). Her characters range from the merely flat to the utterly ridiculous (Anna's romantic progression through this book: "Oh, I am widowed and my life will never be the same without my husband" to "Oh, it might be fun to be a lesbian" [an out-of-the-blue idea the author never bothers to resolve] to "Let me have a fling with this random man, who, by the way, has as much character as a cardboard cut-out").
Worst of all, she cheats. I guess mystery writers don't have an official code, but according to the Dorothy L Sayers model, Thou Shalt Not Give the Detective Clues Not Given To The Reader. A mystery novel is no fun if the puzzle isn't there for you too. Of course, if Nevada Barr had given us all the evidence she gives Anna Pigeon, there wouldn't be a mystery to have a novel about. Her cheating merely covers up her inability to produce an engaging and puzzling plot.
This was a pathetically sub-par book for the amount of attention it and its sequels have received. If you're looking for an amazing female detective, check out Laurie R King's two series, one about Sherlock Holmes' feminist partner Mary Russell (as unlikely as it sounds, and more than good enough to make up for it), and the other about San Francisco cop Kate Martinelli. If you want a book about living in the desert, I'd suggest Edward Abbey's _Desert Solitaire_ (it even has a brief appearance by a dead body), or his hilarious eco-terrorist adventure _The Monkey Wrench Gang_.
Anything but this.
Rating:
Summary: Off track with this Kitty
Review: I was tempted to toss this book into the trash after reading the first two paragraphs that pronounced God dead and the character Anna master, oh, excuse me, mistress of the earth. But then I begin to wonder just what kind of point was this author trying to make. I forced myself to trudge forward with the novel and found the story line and characters quite novel. But too many times shivers ran down my back as the author pronounced, through the heroine, Anna, her hatred of people, especially those who believe in God. How can anyone who cares so much for plants and animals wish for "an Old Testament God to visit the peak with one of His famous scourges: a lightning storm that would blast the rock clean of cloying humanity"...
Rating:
Summary: A different kind of mystery
Review: My mother of all people recommended this book to me and I must say that if my mother and I can both be pleased by a mystery novel then so can you. It does not take long to get hooked on Anna Pigeon and her life as a Law Enforcement Ranger. This is a mystery like I have never seen. Nevada Barr is excellent at bringing to life the vivid detail of the SW United States and uses it wonderfully to spin her mystery. A must read!!
Rating:
Summary: Good!
Review: Nevada Barr is really the first mystery writer I've ever looked at, and "The Track of the Cat" is the first book I've read of hers. It's very good, and maybe a little old now since it was published in 1994. However, the time of publication does not matter in this case, for I loved the stark description of the national park where Anna Pigeon works. I enjoy her relationship with her psychologist sister who still lives in New York, and the unravelling mysteries surrounding the death of fellow ranger Sheila Drury and the disappearance of another male ranger. Unfortunately, the copy I had might have been missing some pages right near the end, so I don't know if I went through the entire story. Once again, read this and be enthralled with Nevada Barr's debut novel!
Rating:
Summary: I never saw it coming...
Review: She got me again. I can never figure out who the bad guy is! This is a great book and I highly recommend it.
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