Product Description

Cumberland Island, off the coast of Georgia, is a breathtaking setting for tedious fire presuppression duty. But Anna’s boring routine is shattered when two men die in a plane crash, victims of sabotage.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #211165 in Books
• Published on: 2008-11-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 305 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780425226858
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
As her legions of loyal readers know, Nevada Barr is not a stripper nor a Las Vegas lawyer; she's a former actress and National Park Service ranger who writes excellent mysteries set in the wilderness. Her alter ego, ranger Anna Pigeon, is once again called upon to be mentally and physically astute--this time on Cumberland Island, off the Georgia coast, where the ghosts of the millionaires who used to live there are being added to by a determined killer. As usual, Barr is best at creating believable scenes of action in a setting that is beautifully detailed but never romanticized. Past Barr books in paperback: Firestorm, Ill Wind, A Superior Death, Track of the Cat.

From School Library Journal
YA. Fans of park ranger Anna Pigeon have followed her from Lake Superior to Mesa Verde; now she takes them to Cumberland Island, Georgia. Part of a fire crew, Anna and her partner are first to discover the wreckage of a burning airplane, and Anna suspects sabotage. Back in civilization, her beau, Frederick, meets her sister, Molly, and discovers that she has all of Anna's good qualities, plus a penchant for city life that he shares, in contrast to Anna's love for the wilderness. The setting is an additional character as the island's lush vegetation, hot and humid weather, and abundance of ticks and chiggers add to and twist the plot. Remnants of once-grand homes of the wealthy dot the island, adding to the stench of decay and the vision of a dying Southern way of life. There is always one scene in Barr's books that remains forever etched in memory; this time it is when Anna hides in an old hog sty and becomes trapped when two of her suspects burn quantities of a marijuana crop. Unable to leave, she pays dearly for the unwanted high she receives. Even in tense situations, humor is apparent in the writing, which makes the reading enjoyable and the suspense more palatable.?Pam Spencer, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Barr's tough, likable park ranger heroine, Anna Pigeon, is back in another high-spirited outdoors adventure/mystery. Sent to isolated Cumberland Island National Seashore off the coast of Georgia on summer fire patrol, Anna is bored despite the natural beauty of the area. Then the seashore's local ranger and his pilot are killed when their small plane crashes on the island. When Anna and her crew investigate, they find the plane was sabotaged. Anna develops a list of possible suspects, including some of her own crew. When the killer is finally revealed, even the usually unflappable Anna is shocked by the desperate cold-bloodedness of the crime. Anna's no-nonsense view of life, unorthodox career, strong opinions, secret vulnerability, and soft heart make her unique among today's current crop of female sleuths. Readers like Anna, and they like Barr's engaging mysteries, which are as entertaining and thought provoking as they are fun to read. Emily Melton

Customer Reviews

Suspenseful, Fun
Nevada Barr is not above a bit of sly humor now and then, and in "Endangered Species," she indulged herself a bit, to our benefit.

In this adventure, ranger extraordinaire Anna Pigeon is on temporary fire-prevention duty at Cumberland Island National Seashore Park, off the Georgia Coast.

Wilderness-lover that she is, Anna is having some trouble with the habitat: ticks, chiggers, huge golden orb spiders, a mythically gigantic alligator who is not above taking a bite of a human, and all sorts of other creepy crawlies are part of the venue. And the people aren't much better. There's an equally creepy crawly and very surly biologist whose mission in life is to Save the Turtles (by helping them lay their eggs and get back to the sea safely), an impossibly pregnant and very weepy wife who may or may not be involved in nefarious deeds, two vintage WWII ladies who take no nonsense, and an adorable pet fawn named Flicka who thinks he's a dog.

It was only with Flicka that I took issue. Where was Barr's heretofore wonderful editor? This fawn is very much a boy--"Flicka," as anyone who read the book in childhood can tell you, is Swedish for "Little Girl." But enough trivia.

When a small plane crashes in the heavily forested part of the island, Anna and crew suspect sabotage. Is there a drug ring operating in this turtles' paradise? And if so, who is involved enough to want to murder the pilot and passenger? Anna sets off to solve the mystery--and winds up inhaling an entire huge cash crop of marijuana, truly one of the funniest predicaments in any mystery book I can remember in recent years. Our intrepid ranger is in grave danger, either from the criminals or from a terminal high, one isn't sure.

As for Anna's sometime swain, the FBI Agent once known in an earlier book as "Fred the Fed," we see another, less attractive side of this previously likeable guy. Can you say....Midlife Crisis? His sudden adolescent crush on Anna's sister Molly (whom we finally meet in person) is just...well, too too. Anna deserves better.

But I digress. This is a fast, fun entry in the Anna Barr series. Read and enjoy

A mysterious gender change!
As always, Nevada Barr, a former park ranger, delivers wonderfully vivid descriptions of the great outdoors; an abundance of colorful, well-drawn characters; a thoughtful and courageous female sleuth; an inside look at the National Park Service; and an intricate and suspenseful mystery. However, the most mysterious thing about "Endangered Species," set on an island off the coast of Georgia and involving the investigation of a plane crash caused by sabotage, is that the paperback has been extensively revised from the hardcover. Namely, a major character, an exceedingly unpleasant, repulsive person, has undergone a sex change! In the hardcover, Marty is a woman in her 50s; in the paperback, Marty is a man in his 30s. It's not just a matter of changing pronouns; dialogue and descriptions are altered too. For example, in the original version, Marty's long hair is "worn in pigtails like an aging Pippi Longstocking's"; in the revision, it's "worn in pigtails like Willie Nelson in his heyday." There must have been a compelling reason for such changes, since ordinarily paperback publishers don't even bother to fix obvious errors, such as referring to someone by the wrong name. I think the character works somewhat better as a woman, but whichever version you read, you'll likely find it a good, absorbing, entertaining whodunit.

Anna goes skinny dippin, cuts her hair, and loses her "Ex."
Anna is in the south again - but this time on one of the islands off the coast of Georgia. And she's not 'wrastlin' gators this time, it's turtles instead. There's a plane crash, Bambi (real name, Flicka), cannibus (marijuana), and more. She's still contemplating moving to Chicago to be with the distant Frederick, but that possibility seems to always be on the backburner. As usual, Nevada fights the good fight, goes skinny dipping, gets her hair cut, and is finally free of her ex-husband (in a hilarious manner), while discovering the the secrets of Cumberland Island's murders.