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Liberty Falling (Anna Pigeon Mysteries)
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Manufacturer: Avon
Author: Nevada Barr
Publisher: Avon
Average Customer Rating:
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Liberty Falling (Anna Pigeon Mysteries) Description
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780380728275
ISBN: 0380728273
Label: Avon
Manufacturer: Avon
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 384
Publication Date: 2000-03-01
Publisher: Avon
Product Release Date: 2000-03-07
Studio: Avon
Editorial Review of Liberty Falling (Anna Pigeon Mysteries)
When Anna Pigeon left New York City after her husband was killed, she hoped it would be forever. But now her sister Molly is clinging to life in an uptown hospital ICU, so Anna has reluctantly returned. Rooming with a friend and fellow park ranger in close quarters on Liberty Island---the small strip of land that is home to Lady Liberty---Anna spends her free time exploring the grand monument and the crumbling, overgrown, and eerie ruins in the unrestored sections of nearby Ellis Island. But the peace she seeks here is shattered when she finds herself among a crowd gathered at the Lady's base, staring at the broken body of a teenager who fell---or was pushed---to her death.
The reason behind the youthful girl's fatal plunge is not the only mystery alive on these historic sites---nor will hers be the only death. Hidden in a dangerous labyrinth of stone, glass, and steel are secrets Anna Pigeon is now compelled to uncover...and an insidious threat to herself and to others that could wreak havoc on a nation's proudest day.
There is peril beneath the watchful eyes of the Lady...There is peril beneath the watchful eyes of the Lady...When Anna Pigeon left New York City after her husband was killed, she hoped it would be forever. But now her sister Molly is clinging to life in an uptown hospital ICU, so Anna has reluctantly returned. Rooming with a friend and fellow park ranger in close quarters on Liberty Island---the small strip of land that is home to Lady Liberty---Anna spends her free time exploring the grand monument and the crumbling, overgrown, and eerie ruins in the unrestored sections of nearby Ellis Island. But the peace she seeks here is shattered when she finds herself among a crowd gathered at the Lady's base, staring at the broken body of a teenager who fell---or was pushed---to her death.
The reason behind the youthful girl's fatal plunge is not the only mystery alive on these historic sites---nor will hers be the only death. Hidden in a dangerous labyrinth of stone, glass, and steel are secrets Anna Pigeon is now compelled to uncover...and an insidious threat to herself and to others that could wreak havoc on a nation's proudest day.
Customer Reviews of Liberty Falling (Anna Pigeon Mysteries)
Review Summary: Lady in Distress
Review: National Park Service agent Anna Pigeon would rather be anywhere other than New York City. However, her sister's critically failing health is more important than her need for wilderness solitude. Fortunately for Anna, Liberty and Ellis islands provide her with critical havens of peace when the crush of humanity overwhelms her. That is, until a fatal tragedy on the Statue of Liberty puts Anna on the scent of a conspiracy, one that becomes increasingly deadly the closer she gets to its center.
Barr does a good job of creating a patchwork quilt of seemingly unrelated clues for Anna to piece together. However, as likeable as Anna is, the clues fall a little too conveniently into her lap, and her investigative skills too often depend on lucky coincidence. This has the unfortunate effect of relieving any sense of tension, since it's always assured the winds of fortune will blow Anna's way when the leads start drying up. (On a minor note, Barr's unique fascination with anatomical references is distracting: for example, Anna getting a tingling in her duodenum.) On the positive side, though, Ellis and Liberty islands are fully realized and absolutely fascinating. By the end of the novel, the reader will probably feel as if he or she has been there. The non-suspense of the mystery is adequately redressed by the genuinely likeable Anna and a pleasant extended tour of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Skip It
Review: This is the kind of book that you can skip-read every other page and not miss a thing.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: An American Icon
Review: A family emergency brings Anna Pigeon rushing to New York. Molly, her sister, is gravely ill and in the hospital. Anna unrolls her "sleeping bag" with friends on Liberty Island and discovers accidents are murder. Determined to find answers Anna plunges into the melee ignoring warnings to stay clear.
LIBERTY FALLING is not Nevada Barr's best effort. The intrepid Anna is vulnerable as she haunts the halls of the hospital and fierce in her hunt for those that would destroy an American icon. Maybe it is the contrast of personalities that confuse the reader. But then Nevada Barr, always brings "arm chair travelers a bird's eye-view" of our unique national heritage.
Nash Black, author of WRITING AS A SMALL BUSINESS and SINS OF THE FATHERS.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: This reader is satisfied
Review: I had read all the earlier and some of the subsequent Anna Pigeon books, and this was the book I was waiting for -- not so much for the mystery as for the subplot.
FINally Anna and Molly have scenes together in person (although Molly is comatose in the first one). FINally, a complicated, face-to-face denouement in the awkward triangle involving Anna and Molly and Frederick the Fed. (F the F is my favorite Nevada Barr character. I wish she had let him remain mysterious, wandering unexpectedly through every third book, sort of like Brenda Starr's Mystery Man. But this new side of FF was fun, too.) And I'm glad Barr gave Anna and Molly something really challenging to their sisterhood to work through.
As for the mystery itself -- OK enough. It was different for me. In the previous books, I was way ahead of Anna in figuring things out and had to watch her walk naively into the clutches of the very person who wanted her dead. In this book, Anna had it figured out and I was (mostly) clueless -- a nice change of formula.
I liked Anna's return to New York in real(?) time, rather than through memories. I work in an urban area where the National Park Service has a presence (Philadelphia), so it didn't seem odd to me. And I really connected to how out of place Anna feels there now.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: I couldn't stand the protagonist
Review: I was pretty disgusted with the main character's petty behavior, judging people based on their attractiveness--and, of course, Barr used fat as a shorthand for "bad person"; there was way too many snide remarks about a character's weight, a characteristic that had zero bearing on the character's being good or bad.
Aside from that, the story was completely unbelievable, with a vacationing park ranger poking around in law enforcement matters outside of her jurisdiction, withholding evidence, and mucking about in crime scenes. As if that would hold up in court, or be tolerated by local officials! She also seemed to be messing around in an area that should be closed to the public from its description. The hurry-up-and-tie-everything-together at the end was contrived, the clues ridiculously lame, and the "let's toss in a random type of bad guy" at the end was just bizarre.
This was recommended to me by someone, and I'm going to go ask them for the three hours of my life back.