(2014) Not her best in the series. A compelling story of Anna trying to rescue her friends who have been kidnapped by 4 evil men in the north woods of Minnesota. I had sympathy for all of the women, but the story just goes on way too long with too many implausible turns as Anna manages to stay hidden thru the entire book, jet manages to get 3 of the 4 men killed along the way. And even to the end where she manages to pick the last guy off at long range with a pistol. Really! And then when the organizer shows up, even he is dispatched in all be it clever way. Just too neat and tidy. I'm glad I'm done with that. KIRKUS: Park ranger Anna Pigeon faces down¥or, more accurately, hides from and bedevilsÂ¥an unusually dangerous criminal in upstate Minnesota's Iron Range.When you work in the national parks, what do you do with your time off? If you're Anna, you take a camping trip with your friends Heath Jarrod, a paraplegic who once saved your life, and Leah Hendricks, an outdoor gear designer, as well as their respective daughters, so Heath can test the latest equipment Leah's designed for other-abled campers. And if you're Anna, things quickly turn violent. A gun-toting heavy dubbed ?the Dude? confronts the party with three equally well-armed minions and announces his plan to kidnap Leah and Katie Hendricks and kill Heath and her adopted daughter, Elizabeth. Luckily for the women, Anna happens to have stepped out for a few minutes to spend some quality time alone with nature, and although the Dude has been informed that there's a fifth woman, he's easily persuaded that she canceled out at the last minute. So begins a prolonged game of cat and mouse in which Anna, unarmed and accompanied only by Heath's elderly dog, Wily, stalks the oblivious predators and their victims, watching for her chance to disarm or kill the small-time thugsÂ¥leering Sean Ferris, witless Jimmy Spinks and gangbanger Reg WatersÂ¥or grab the brass ring by neutralizing the Dude. The formula guarantees nonstop suspense (though not so much if you're convinced that Anna and her friends will survive), but Barr (The Rope, 2012, etc.), writing as usual with welcome delicacy and feeling, works a surprising number of variations on her theme, right up to the predictable but satisfying final twist.A tour de force that's both the most one-dimensional and the most satisfying of Anna's recent adventures.Pub Date: April 1, 2014ISBN: 978-0-312-61458-4Page Count: 368Publisher: MinotaurReview Posted Online: March 6, 2014Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2014

I read it in one day. Couldn't put it down. ( )

No true mystery. Friends Kidnapped during a camping trip has Anna using survival techniques to save them. paraplegic Heath also uses unbelievable strength both mentally and later physically to keep them alive. Leah and her daughter actually developed a personality as tensions increased. Although near to passing out from fatigue, gun wounds, Anna still maintains a cool head except when needing to have conversations with a dog coping with only 3 usable legs. Too many pages spent on moving slowly through a forest when each day seems like their last. ( )

Well, this one starts off with a bang.

Anna is in Minnesota, on a camping trip with friends Heath and Elizabeth, along with wealthy Leah, who designs outdoor equipment, and her daughter Katie. Leah had designed the current version of wheelchair Heath is using.

While Anna is out on the river nearby, a group of men take over the camp. With guns they direct where the women are to go and what they will do. Anna overhears some of this but is not in view of the kidnappers so she knows her best bet is to keep hidden and work out how she is to save her friends.

The kidnappers have a plan to move the group through the forest to a plane, and to then contact Leah's husband for ransom money. Their original plan had been easier because the group's original camp site had been closer to their destination, but it had been destroyed by weather. Thus they had followed on foot, hidden until they sprang.

It isn't long before the leader of the gang wants to off Heath and Elizabeth. He doesn't want to be burdened by a cripple and her daughter. But Katie speaks up, saying Heath is actually the wealthy one. For now they are safe. But they all know it's a matter of time.

Hence Leah speaks up. She can remake the wheelchair so it can be moved more easily through the woods, allowing Heath to keep up with the rest. She is given the tools to do the work and she sets to it.

Over the next few days Anna hides and keeps an eye on the group. She takes advantage of opportunities to create difficulties for the kidnappers without revealing her presence. But it's a tense time. There are too many of the kidnappers and they all have lethal weapons along with some short fuses.

True to form, Barr has crafted a suspense-filled mystery, one in which Anna is on the alert and threatened to be exposed at any moment. It's critical that she find a way to rescue her friends before they are murdered, yet she has few resources. Fortunately, she does have her wits and her outdoor skills. As in several other Pigeon mysteries, she relies on those skills to do what most of us simply could not.

It had me on the edge of my seat most of the time. Would they all make it out alive, and if so in what condition? And then there's the dog! I am always super sensitive to situations where a dog can be hurt or killed.

I have to admit that I thought this was an insane kidnapping plan. Even if the location were the original camp site it seemed overly complicated and involved too many people.

What I missed most was a better sense of the forest and the Iron Range where this takes place. I grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which is very similar country to much of Minnesota and I hoped for more details and hidden treasures, which are often a part of Anna Pigeon mysteries. Nevertheless, the story kept me going well into the night. Nevada Barr has much to answer for with respect to my sleep habits.
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Anna Pigeon, a ranger for the U.S. Park Services, sets off on vacation—an autumn canoe trip in the to the Iron Range in upstate Minnesota. With Anna is her friend Heath, a paraplegic; Heath’s fifteen-year-old daughter, Elizabeth; Leah, a wealthy designer of outdoor equipment; and her daughter, Katie, who is thirteen. For Heath and Leah, this is a shakedown cruise to test a new cutting edge line of camping equipment. The equipment, designed by Leah, will make camping and canoeing more accessible to disabled outdoorsmen.

On their second night out, Anna goes off on her own for a solo evening float on the Fox River. When she comes back, she finds that four thugs, armed with rifles, pistols, and knives, have taken the two women and their teenaged daughters captive. With limited resources and no access to the outside world, Anna has only two days to rescue them before her friends are either killed or flown out of the country. ( )