Mystery Books Store
Blind Descent (Anna Pigeon Mysteries)
RRP: $7.99
Our Price: $7.99
You Save: $ ( % )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Avon
Author: Nevada Barr
Publisher: Avon
Average Customer Rating:
Our Price: $7.99
You Save: $ ( % )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Avon
Author: Nevada Barr
Publisher: Avon
Average Customer Rating:
Experimental feature: Order Blind Descent (Anna Pigeon Mysteries) from the UK, Canada, Germany or France by clicking an appropriate flag below.
Some items available at Amazon.com are not available in all countries.
Some items available at Amazon.com are not available in all countries.
Blind Descent (Anna Pigeon Mysteries) Description
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780380728268
ISBN: 0380728265
Label: Avon
Manufacturer: Avon
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 384
Publication Date: 1999-04-01
Publisher: Avon
Product Release Date: 1999-03-09
Studio: Avon
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780380728268
ISBN: 0380728265
Label: Avon
Manufacturer: Avon
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 384
Publication Date: 1999-04-01
Publisher: Avon
Product Release Date: 1999-03-09
Studio: Avon
Editorial Review of Blind Descent (Anna Pigeon Mysteries)
A would-be killer is drawing Anna Pigeon deep into the darkness-and closer to hell than she's ever gone before.
"Anna Pigeon, the intrepid National Park Service ranger in Nevada Barr's superb wilderness mysteries, has had some perilous experiences in the five novels that preceded Blind Descent, but none compares with this thrilling subterranean adventure in the underground caverns of Lechuguilla, 'a monster man-eating cave' in New Mexico's Carlsbad Caverns. When a fellow ranger is injured in a caving accident, Anna chokes back the willies of claustrophobia and joins the rescue team. Burrowing 800 feet below ground, she negotiates airless tunnells, gaping pits, vaulting caverns and silently flowing rivers, each hazard with a daunting name like Razor Blade Run or the Wormhole. At the end of the dangerous descent, she reaches her friend and hears her say, 'It wasn't an accident.' A would-be killer is drawing Anna Pigeon deep into the darkness-and closer to hell than she's ever gone before.
Customer Reviews of Blind Descent (Anna Pigeon Mysteries)
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Deep Subject
Review: Nevada Barr's BLIND DESCENT, the 6th Anna Pigeon mystery is not for the claustrophobic. New Mexico's Carlsbad Caverns is one of the most beautiful and mysterious of the National Park System. I'm not a spelunker, but have managed to find myself in several along with my camera. Tight spaces don't particularly bother me, but I've watched people freeze even in a mock up of a cave in a natural history museum. If you're one of those ease back in your best chair and let Nevada's vivid prose give you a vicarious experience. BLIND DESCENT is well worth the trip and her masterful plotting, red herrings, and convoluted paths to the exciting conclusion might cure your fear of closed places.
Nash Black, author of WRITING AS A SMALL BUSINESS and SINS OF THE FATHERS.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Let me out of here!
Review: Blind Descent is my introduction to the Anna Pigeon series, and a very satisfactory one it has turned out to be. My first impression of author Barr as a writer is a favorable one. She's literate (I know, all published authors are supposed to be literate, but that's not the case), intelligent, and excels at description, dialogue, and creating palpable ambience. Anna is an attractive heroine, but while her personality is finely drawn, other characters aren't as deep. As for plot, Blind comes across as an adventure that requires courage, with a mystery thrown in to stimulate curiosity. Having visited other caves (as a tourist), I was struck by the immediacy and precision of Barr's ability to capture the qualities of utter darkness, other-worldliness, and isolation.
I haven't granted Blind Descent with a fifth star because Anna comes across as dogged and determined but makes some stupid decisions and choices. Her bravery and daring I can buy, but it's too hard to accept that someone with her training and knowledge would not be willing to seek out the proper parties for professional assistance in uncovering crimes.
That aside, Blind Darkness is a well-written, original, and most enjoyable novel.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Claustrophobic
Review: I always enjoy Nevada Barr's novels. Once again Anna Pigeon finds herself in another dangerous situation, this one inside a vast underground cavern with some very tight spots. Great suspense!
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: High quality mystery from a gifted author
Review: Though I have read and enjoyed every Anna Pigeon mystery that preceded this book, this was by far my favorite. This is because Barr's skills grow with each novel and with each new mystery, her gifts as a writer begin to flower more and more.
One of the great rewards of serial fiction is watching a character grow and develop over the course of several novels. This leads to a depth that's not possible with stand-alone novels. It also presents a greater challenge to an author, a test that Barr is passing with flying colors. I've always found Anna to be a likable character but the more I get to know her, the more I like her. I have a vested interest in her and when she does something stupid, when she's in danger, I truly care what happens to her.
An enormous part of the appeal of this novel has to do with its setting. Anyone who has ever visited a cave and been treated to even a minute stretch of time in its absolute darkness will feel the same willies I felt while reading the cave passages. Even those who have never visited will be able to feel it and will relate to Anna's claustrophobia. The cold, calculating villain of the novel has nothing on the setting, on the cave that seems equal parts source of wonder and nightmare.
My only gripe with this novel was its end and that is what kept me from rating this one five stars. The ending was too abrupt for me and left me feeling like perhaps some of my pages were missing. Still, this is a pretty minor fault in a novel that is well worth reading, especially for those who enjoy a taut, well-written mystery with a cast of interesting, well-drawn characters.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: The best Anna Pigeon book I've read so far.
Review: Out of 5 or 6, this book strains less credibility than any of the other Anna Pigeon books I've read. Having visited Carlsbad, I could imagine the surrounding terrain, and the other world deep underground from the author's prose. Her descriptions of the caverns were excellent and the mystery more intense than most, especially the method of death for one of the victims. I admit, it was the 1st one of her books that I figured out why the murders were happening before hands, but I still didn't figure out the who done it until it was revealed deep in the bowels of the earth. The ending was quite abrupt, but that was in keeping with the entire book. I stayed up way past my bedtime reading this one.
Review Summary: Deep Subject
Review: Nevada Barr's BLIND DESCENT, the 6th Anna Pigeon mystery is not for the claustrophobic. New Mexico's Carlsbad Caverns is one of the most beautiful and mysterious of the National Park System. I'm not a spelunker, but have managed to find myself in several along with my camera. Tight spaces don't particularly bother me, but I've watched people freeze even in a mock up of a cave in a natural history museum. If you're one of those ease back in your best chair and let Nevada's vivid prose give you a vicarious experience. BLIND DESCENT is well worth the trip and her masterful plotting, red herrings, and convoluted paths to the exciting conclusion might cure your fear of closed places.
Nash Black, author of WRITING AS A SMALL BUSINESS and SINS OF THE FATHERS.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Let me out of here!
Review: Blind Descent is my introduction to the Anna Pigeon series, and a very satisfactory one it has turned out to be. My first impression of author Barr as a writer is a favorable one. She's literate (I know, all published authors are supposed to be literate, but that's not the case), intelligent, and excels at description, dialogue, and creating palpable ambience. Anna is an attractive heroine, but while her personality is finely drawn, other characters aren't as deep. As for plot, Blind comes across as an adventure that requires courage, with a mystery thrown in to stimulate curiosity. Having visited other caves (as a tourist), I was struck by the immediacy and precision of Barr's ability to capture the qualities of utter darkness, other-worldliness, and isolation.
I haven't granted Blind Descent with a fifth star because Anna comes across as dogged and determined but makes some stupid decisions and choices. Her bravery and daring I can buy, but it's too hard to accept that someone with her training and knowledge would not be willing to seek out the proper parties for professional assistance in uncovering crimes.
That aside, Blind Darkness is a well-written, original, and most enjoyable novel.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Claustrophobic
Review: I always enjoy Nevada Barr's novels. Once again Anna Pigeon finds herself in another dangerous situation, this one inside a vast underground cavern with some very tight spots. Great suspense!
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: High quality mystery from a gifted author
Review: Though I have read and enjoyed every Anna Pigeon mystery that preceded this book, this was by far my favorite. This is because Barr's skills grow with each novel and with each new mystery, her gifts as a writer begin to flower more and more.
One of the great rewards of serial fiction is watching a character grow and develop over the course of several novels. This leads to a depth that's not possible with stand-alone novels. It also presents a greater challenge to an author, a test that Barr is passing with flying colors. I've always found Anna to be a likable character but the more I get to know her, the more I like her. I have a vested interest in her and when she does something stupid, when she's in danger, I truly care what happens to her.
An enormous part of the appeal of this novel has to do with its setting. Anyone who has ever visited a cave and been treated to even a minute stretch of time in its absolute darkness will feel the same willies I felt while reading the cave passages. Even those who have never visited will be able to feel it and will relate to Anna's claustrophobia. The cold, calculating villain of the novel has nothing on the setting, on the cave that seems equal parts source of wonder and nightmare.
My only gripe with this novel was its end and that is what kept me from rating this one five stars. The ending was too abrupt for me and left me feeling like perhaps some of my pages were missing. Still, this is a pretty minor fault in a novel that is well worth reading, especially for those who enjoy a taut, well-written mystery with a cast of interesting, well-drawn characters.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: The best Anna Pigeon book I've read so far.
Review: Out of 5 or 6, this book strains less credibility than any of the other Anna Pigeon books I've read. Having visited Carlsbad, I could imagine the surrounding terrain, and the other world deep underground from the author's prose. Her descriptions of the caverns were excellent and the mystery more intense than most, especially the method of death for one of the victims. I admit, it was the 1st one of her books that I figured out why the murders were happening before hands, but I still didn't figure out the who done it until it was revealed deep in the bowels of the earth. The ending was quite abrupt, but that was in keeping with the entire book. I stayed up way past my bedtime reading this one.