High country

Four young park workers have gone missing from Yellowstone, and park ranger Anna Pigeon is called in to go undercover. As she ingratiates herself with staff and speaks to park visitors, she hears rumors about a goldmine. Surely there's no gold in them thar hills, but Anna's ranger instincts kick in. Soon she's backpacking into the wilderness, where she endures what is certainly the toughest 72 hours of her life, physically as well as emotionally. And when it's over, she is still not sure she has solved the mystery. Anna draws on all her survival skills and moral courage to stay alive here, and Barr's plot allows for some intriguing complications before things draw to a close. But what's best is Anna herself: a smart, physically fit, vulnerable heroine in her middle years, who is still surprisingly ordinary. She loves her fiance, adores her pets, and respects and loves the parks, where she can breathe the great air and relish the spectacular scenery--after the criminals are on their way to jail. This is one of the best entries in a long-running series that seems to increase its audience with every outing. --Stephanie Zvirin Copyright 2003 Booklist

The serene snow country suddenly turns deadly for Anna Pigeon in Barr's riveting 12th novel to feature the intrepid National Park Service ranger (after 2003's Flashback). On assignment to locate four young park employees who went missing in a fierce storm, the 50ish Anna is working undercover as a waitress at Yosemite's Ahwahnee Hotel, where she must deal not only with an exacting supervisor and a surly head chef but also share a dorm with 20-something roommates. Evoking the stunning beauty of the park in winter, Barr contrasts the relative safety of Yosemite Valley with the surrounding Sierra Nevada mountains into which Anna treks in search of the missing kids. Danger crackles like ice on the frozen lake where she finds a partially submerged plane loaded with drugs. Attacked by vicious poachers, Anna flees into the absolute, terrifying darkness for an ordeal that will keep readers eagerly turning the pages. So well done is this nail-biting sequence that the resolution can come only as something of a letdown. Barr has a true gift for outdoor writing, using the lush snow as natural cover for the violent life in the wild as well as among the park's human custodians. Anyone contemplating a nice winter hike will think twice after entering the wilderness with Anna, but her fans always come back for more. (Feb. 9) FYI: Winner of both Agatha and Anthony awards, Barr is also the author of an inspirational memoir, Seeking Enlightenment... Hat by Hat (2003). (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Adult/High School-A fast-moving, action-packed, gory mystery-adventure. On loan to the staff in Yosemite National Park, Ranger Anna Pigeon goes undercover as a waitress to determine why four young staff members have disappeared without a trace. Readers will smile at her challenge to live in a dorm with messy, teenage, party-loving roommates. Her clues take her on an overnight hike where she comes face to face with foulmouthed villains, and it becomes a fight for survival of the fittest against both man and nature. As Anna reviews her clues and ponders her next moves, Barr effectively summarizes the story for readers. Descriptions of the park scenery add to the enjoyment of the mystery. Although more vicious than the others in the series, this is a must purchase for Anna's fans.-Claudia Moore, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

This latest installment in Barr's popular Anna Pigeon series (after Flashback and Hunting Season) finds the ranger undercover as a waitress at the famous Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park. Four seasonal workers have been missing for two weeks, and not even a professional rescue team can scrounge up a clue. Are they AWOL, or is it foul play? Anna waits tables, plays mom to a couple of twentysomething roommates, takes flak from the dining room manager, and deals with bullies before striking out on her own to figure out what has happened. The gossip among hotel staff and visitors is that there's a gold mine in the Sierra Mountains. Barr's even pace and deft characterizations will please series fans while winning her new readers. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 10/1/03.]-Nanci Milone Hill, Lucius Beebe Memorial Lib., Wakefield, MA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Back from her sojourn among the ghosts of 1865 (Flashback, 2003), Anna Pigeon, everyone's favorite park ranger, is, well, waiting tables at the Ahwahnee Hotel. Three weeks ago, four young people--rock climber Dixon Crofter, trail crewmember Patrick Waters, Ahwahnee hostess Trish Spencer, and summer intern Caitlin Bates--vanished from their jobs in the Yosemite National Park. Did they go hiking and get lost in the surrounding wilderness? Did the brutal snows that followed cut off their return? Or did they meet a more sinister fate? Looking for answers, the National Park Service has sent Anna to the Ahwahnee, the park's legendary hotel, to work undercover as she quizzes impressionable witnesses like hotel maid Mary Bates and tilts with oversized egos like head chef James Wither. Soon after Anna's arrival, she and Mary find four unlovely squatters with threadbare cover stories roosting in Dix's vacated shelter, and a stoned restaurant busgirl, whom Anna's brought back to life after she stopped breathing and collapsed, entertains a menacing hospital visitor she refuses to identify, though it's obviously Trish's no-account brother. All these complications unfold within a series of claustrophobic little rooms, and it's a deep relief when, halfway through the tale, Anna finally takes to the high-country trails to meet dangers Barr's eager fans will welcome. Even more appealing than the carefully clued mystery and the exhilarating survey of Yosemite is Barr's matchless control of fictional space, from wide-open to grave-narrow. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

/*Starred Review*/ Four young park workers have gone missing from Yellowstone, and park ranger Anna Pigeon is called in to go undercover. As she ingratiates herself with staff and speaks to park visitors, she hears rumors about a "goldmine." Surely there's no gold in "them thar hills," but Anna's ranger instincts kick in. Soon she's backpacking into the wilderness, where she endures what is certainly the toughest 72 hours of her life, physically as well as emotionally. And when it's over, she is still not sure she has solved the mystery. Anna draws on all her survival skills and moral courage to stay alive here, and Barr's plot allows for some intriguing complications before things draw to a close. But what's best is Anna herself: a smart, physically fit, vulnerable heroine in her middle years, who is still surprisingly ordinary. She loves her fiance, adores her pets, and respects and loves the parks, where she can breathe the great air and relish the spectacular scenery--after the criminals are on their way to jail. This is one of the best entries in a long-running series that seems to increase its audience with every outing. ((Reviewed November 15, 2003)) Copyright 2003 Booklist Reviews

Anna Pigeon waitresses undercover to discover why all those new, young park employees have gone missing. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

This latest installment in Barr's popular Anna Pigeon series (after Flashback and Hunting Season) finds the ranger undercover as a waitress at the famous Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park. Four seasonal workers have been missing for two weeks, and not even a professional rescue team can scrounge up a clue. Are they AWOL, or is it foul play? Anna waits tables, plays mom to a couple of twentysomething roommates, takes flak from the dining room manager, and deals with bullies before striking out on her own to figure out what has happened. The gossip among hotel staff and visitors is that there's a gold mine in the Sierra Mountains. Barr's even pace and deft characterizations will please series fans while winning her new readers. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 10/1/03.]-Nanci Milone Hill, Lucius Beebe Memorial Lib., Wakefield, MA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

The serene snow country suddenly turns deadly for Anna Pigeon in Barr's riveting 12th novel to feature the intrepid National Park Service ranger (after 2003's Flashback). On assignment to locate four young park employees who went missing in a fierce storm, the 50ish Anna is working undercover as a waitress at Yosemite's Ahwahnee Hotel, where she must deal not only with an exacting supervisor and a surly head chef but also share a dorm with 20-something roommates. Evoking the stunning beauty of the park in winter, Barr contrasts the relative safety of Yosemite Valley with the surrounding Sierra Nevada mountains into which Anna treks in search of the missing kids. Danger crackles like ice on the frozen lake where she finds a partially submerged plane loaded with drugs. Attacked by vicious poachers, Anna flees into the absolute, terrifying darkness for an ordeal that will keep readers eagerly turning the pages. So well done is this nail-biting sequence that the resolution can come only as something of a letdown. Barr has a true gift for outdoor writing, using the lush snow as natural cover for the violent life in the wild as well as among the park's human custodians. Anyone contemplating a nice winter hike will think twice after entering the wilderness with Anna, but her fans always come back for more. (Feb. 9)FYI: Winner of both Agatha and Anthony awards, Barr is also the author of an inspirational memoir, Seeking Enlightenment... Hat by Hat (2003). Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Adult/High School-A fast-moving, action-packed, gory mystery-adventure. On loan to the staff in Yosemite National Park, Ranger Anna Pigeon goes undercover as a waitress to determine why four young staff members have disappeared without a trace. Readers will smile at her challenge to live in a dorm with messy, teenage, party-loving roommates. Her clues take her on an overnight hike where she comes face to face with foulmouthed villains, and it becomes a fight for survival of the fittest against both man and nature. As Anna reviews her clues and ponders her next moves, Barr effectively summarizes the story for readers. Descriptions of the park scenery add to the enjoyment of the mystery. Although more vicious than the others in the series, this is a must purchase for Anna's fans.-Claudia Moore, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.