Blind Descent (Anna Pigeon Mysteries): Amazon.co.uk: Nevada Barr: Books

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Synopsis

Forced to cope with her claustrophobia and to use all the skills she has developed above ground, park ranger Anna Pigeon enters the dangerous Lechuguilla Cavern in New Mexico's Carlsbad Cavern National Park to attempt a rescue and learns who she can trust and who can be saved.

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Customer Reviews

19 Reviews

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

4.3 out of 5 stars (19 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book yet in a great series., 5 May 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Blind Descent (Hardcover)

_Blind Descent_ shows Nevada Barr's protagonist, park ranger Anna Pigeon, continuing to struggle and grow as a character. She's battled with alcoholism in the past and has always had a tendency to come off as a bit cold and unfriendly. In the new book, Anna shows signs of coming out of her shell and warming up a bit.

When a friend of hers is injured in a caving accident in New Mexico's Lechuguilla Cavern, a little-explored network of caverns adjacent to Carlsbad, Anna, already on the scene as an information officer, is persuaded to don caving gear and make her way to the scene. Once there, she is confronted with a semi-delirious friend who suggests that the accident may not have been so accidental, prompting Anna to begin her own informal investigation, which very quickly becomes more serious, following a cave-in and rock slide that injures the rescuers and kills Anna's friend.

The real strength of this novel lies in Barr's vivid descriptions of claustrophobic spaces and underground wonders. Anna is no caver, though she does grow to have a certain appreciation for the subterranean. The writing does a great job of capturing her fear and uncertainty as she first enters the cavern, on her way to comfort her friend. Barr also does a memorable job of describing her growing comfort with the cave during a return visit later in the novel.

Beyond this, the novel effectively shows Anna Pigeon growing and maturing as a character. Anna has always been very complex, some might even say unlikeable. In this book, she comes more into her own, as she overcomes her own fears to enter the cave for the first time, and later, as she pursues her investigation at the risk of her own safety.

It's a great pleasure to sit down with each book in this series, just to see what Barr will come up with next for her character, although the novelty of her national park settings may be wearing off somewhat. Toward the end, Anna even seems to be reconsidering her dedication to her park ranger's job.

The on! ly frustration is having to wait for the next book to see what will happen! Very strongly recommended--if you have the chance, this is definitely a series to be read in order.

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2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting caving descriptions, uninteresting mystery, 20 Mar 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Blind Descent (Hardcover)

The first part of this novel which focuses on a cave rescue was very interesting, but it descended into tedium after that. The main character was very bland and the mystery hardly heart-pounding. The second half of the book was slow and dull and even when the mystery was solved, it hardly seemed worth a novel length story. If I hadn't bought the book (in hardcover) I would not even have bothered finishing it.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Barr just gets better and better..., 30 Jan 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Blind Descent (Hardcover)

Each Anna Pigeon mystery is better than the last. I can't wait for the next book in this excellent series!

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