Liberty falling

Park ranger Anna Pigeon has left Colorado's Mesa Verde National Park for New York City to help her sister Molly recover from severe pneumonia. After visiting hours, Anna stays with her friend, Patsy Silva, "in the shadow of the great lady herself," and becomes friends with the staff that keep Liberty and Ellis Islands running smoothly. Then ghosts, thefts, a collapsing building, accidents--and, eventually, murder--plague the islands. Like a fuse leading to a bomb, the connections that Anna finds among these events provide an exciting conclusion to this seventh Anna Pigeon novel. Anna and her diverse supporting characters are believable, sympathetic, and darkly humorous; mystery and personal story lines are surprising and suspenseful. Barr offers accurate, vivid scenery, from Miss Liberty's grandeur to the haunted and ominous unrestored buildings on Ellis Island, a place so isolated and crime-ridden that city streets seem safe and bright by contrast. Barr is one of the hottest mystery writers going right now, and her latest will only add to her momentum. --John Rowen

Tenacious park ranger Anna Pigeon leaves the country wilderness for the wilds of New York City, where her sister Molly is hospitalized, in this seventh installment of Barr's popular series (Blind Descent, etc.). Although Anna is on leave, she gets involved in the investigation of two murders. An unidentified child falls to her death from the Statue of Liberty. The main suspect dies. Anna is attacked. An actress is fatally bludgeoned on Ellis Island. Anna's conviction that these events are connected leads to a cross-country search for a right-wing fanatic. As expected with Barr, the narrative teems with memorable characters-among them Charlie DeLeo, the caretaker of the Statue of Liberty's torch, and Anna's former lover, FBI Agent Frederick Stanton, now smitten with Molly. Though Barr ties up the many subplots in an action-packed finale, the mystery is slow to develop and there's little doubt that Molly will recover. Barr's atmospherics remain potent, however. Her evocation of the isolated, exotic nature of the two famous tourist attractions is a particular treat, bringing home how nature is inexorably reclaiming buildings and records a stone's throw from bustling Manhattan. Mystery Guild main selection; Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternates. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

YA-With her New Yorker sister critically ill, park ranger Anna Pigeon is staying with a fellow U.S. Park Service employee on Liberty Island and commuting back and forth to the hospital. When Anna becomes involved with two suspicious suicides at the Statue of Liberty, her own life becomes endangered. While the atmosphere of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty is vividly created, the story never quite jells. It bogs down in dealing with Anna's sister's illness and her feelings for her ex-boyfriend, now her sister's fiance. Also, this book does not have the intensity of the previous titles in the series, which had wilderness settings. There does not seem to be much here to attract YAs.-John Lawson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Park ranger Anna Pigeon heads east to New York City to be with her dangerously ill sister. She bunks with a Park Service buddy at Liberty Island, where the majestic statue and the abandoned buildings of Ellis Island are a backdrop to a series of unexplained and tragic events. Anna's intense curiosity and her sympathy for the victims lead her to investigate two untimely deaths of "jumpers" and bring her to the attention of unsavory villains. As her sister slowly recovers, Anna makes peace with an old boyfriend, soon to be her brother-in-law, and puts together the disparate clues that bring her to the violent climax. Barbara Rosenblat is comfortable with the role of Anna, and her interpretations of the other characters is equally flawless. Expect an interesting look at our favorite monument, a puzzling mystery, and an accomplished reader. Recommended.--Juleigh Muirhead Clark, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Lib., Williamsburg, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

What does National Park Service Ranger Anna Pigeon do on her own time? She goes to New York, of course'bedding down on Liberty Island, the speck of land the Statue of Liberty shares with thousands of tourists each day and has pretty much to herself each night. Staying with fellow ranger Patsy Silva in order to be close to her psychiatrist sister Molly, hospitalized at Columbia Presbyterian with pneumonia, a kidney infection, and more, Anna thinks her biggest headaches will be Molly's grave illness and Anna's need to deal somehow with FBI agent Frederick Stanton, the ex-boyfriend who deserted her for Molly. But darker trouble is already brewing. An unidentified 14-year-old girl who jumped to her death from the parapet around the statue's base has sent James Patchett, the guard who was pursuing her, into deep depression. Why was the girl more willing to die than to have Patch, who thought she was a pickpocket, catch her? Why has her backpack disappeared? And why hasn't anyone claimed her body? As Molly Pigeon shuttles in and out of Intensive Care, pausing only long enough to encourage Anna's romance with surgeon David Madison, more casualties pile up on Liberty Island, including two who leave behind cryptic messages that Anna's convinced would tie half a dozen mysterious portents together'if only she were wise enough to decipher them. Though Barr works her customary magic with the eerily deserted nightscapes of Liberty Island, they're just not as arresting as the Lechugilla caves (Blind Descent, 1998) or the wild scenes of any of earlier six adventures. Score a mere double this time for the Park Service's answer to Mark McGwire.

/*Starred Review*/ Park ranger Anna Pigeon has left Colorado's Mesa Verde National Park for New York City to help her sister Molly recover from severe pneumonia. After visiting hours, Anna stays with her friend, Patsy Silva, "in the shadow of the great lady herself," and becomes friends with the staff that keep Liberty and Ellis Islands running smoothly. Then ghosts, thefts, a collapsing building, accidents--and, eventually, murder--plague the islands. Like a fuse leading to a bomb, the connections that Anna finds among these events provide an exciting conclusion to this seventh Anna Pigeon novel. Anna and her diverse supporting characters are believable, sympathetic, and darkly humorous; mystery and personal story lines are surprising and suspenseful. Barr offers accurate, vivid scenery, from Miss Liberty's grandeur to the haunted and ominous unrestored buildings on Ellis Island, a place so isolated and crime-ridden that city streets seem safe and bright by contrast. Barr is one of the hottest mystery writers going right now, and her latest will only add to her momentum. ((Reviewed December 15, 1998)) Copyright 2000 Booklist Reviews

Having tackled New Mexico's Carlsbad Caverns in Blind Descent (LJ 3/15/98), National Park Service ranger Anna Pigeon now confronts the wilds of New York City. In between hospital visits to her critically ill older sister, Anna flees crowded Manhattan for Liberty Island, where she's staying with a fellow ranger, and Ellis Island. However, several mysterious incidents the fatal fall of a teenager from the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, the apparent suicide of a policeman accused of pushing the 14-year-old girl, a series of physical attacks on Anna compels her to find answers. On a personal level, Anna also has to control her jealousy as she realizes that her former boyfriend is in love with her sister. Barr, a former park ranger, combines a plausible, intriguing plot with a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at Liberty and Ellis Islands that few tourists see. One minus: Barr's tendancy to overdescribe sometimes slows the action down. Still, this will be in demand. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 11/1/98.] Wilda Williams, "Library Journal" Copyright 1999 Library Journal Reviews

Tenacious park ranger Anna Pigeon leaves the country wilderness for the wilds of New York City, where her sister Molly is hospitalized, in this seventh installment of Barr's popular series (Blind Descent, etc.). Although Anna is on leave, she gets involved in the investigation of two murders. An unidentified child falls to her death from the Statue of Liberty. The main suspect dies. Anna is attacked. An actress is fatally bludgeoned on Ellis Island. Anna's conviction that these events are connected leads to a cross-country search for a right-wing fanatic. As expected with Barr, the narrative teems with memorable characters-among them Charlie DeLeo, the caretaker of the Statue of Liberty's torch, and Anna's former lover, FBI Agent Frederick Stanton, now smitten with Molly. Though Barr ties up the many subplots in an action-packed finale, the mystery is slow to develop and there's little doubt that Molly will recover. Barr's atmospherics remain potent, however. Her evocation of the isolated, exotic nature of the two famous tourist attractions is a particular treat, bringing home how nature is inexorably reclaiming buildings and records a stone's throw from bustling Manhattan. Mystery Guild main selection; Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club alternates. (Mar.) Copyright 1999 Publishers Weekly Reviews

YA-With her New Yorker sister critically ill, park ranger Anna Pigeon is staying with a fellow U.S. Park Service employee on Liberty Island and commuting back and forth to the hospital. When Anna becomes involved with two suspicious suicides at the Statue of Liberty, her own life becomes endangered. While the atmosphere of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty is vividly created, the story never quite jells. It bogs down in dealing with Anna's sister's illness and her feelings for her ex-boyfriend, now her sister's fiance. Also, this book does not have the intensity of the previous titles in the series, which had wilderness settings. There does not seem to be much here to attract YAs.-John Lawson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.