| PRODUCT DETAILS | | Flashback (Anna Pigeon) | | | Flashback (Anna Pigeon)
Running from a proposal of marriage from Sheriff Paul Davidson, Anna Pigeon takes a post as a temporary supervisory ranger on remote Garden Key in Dry Tortugas National Park, a small grouping of tiny islands in a natural harbor seventy miles off Key West. This island paradise has secrets it would keep; not just in the present, but in shadows from its gritty past, when it served as a prison for the Lincoln conspirators during and after the Civil War.
Here, on this last lick of the United States, in a giant crumbling fortress, Anna has little company except for the occasional sunburned tourist or unruly shrimper. When her sister, Molly, sends her a packet of letters from a great-great-aunt who lived at the fort with her husband, a career soldier, Anna's fantasy life is filled with visions of this long-ago time.
When a mysterious boat explosion-and the discovery of unidentifiable body parts-keeps her anchored to the present, Anna finds crimes of past and present closing in on her. A tangled web that was woven before she arrived begins to threaten her sanity and her life. Cut off from the mainland by miles of water, poor phone service, and sketchy radio contact, and aided by one law-enforcement ranger, Anna must find answers or weather a storm to rival the hurricanes for which the islands are famous. Manufacturer: Brilliance Audio Paperback Audiobooks
Price: $3.99
Flashback (Anna Pigeon)
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| User Reviews |  | Indecision rating: 3
Paul Davidson, former priest and sheriff in Natchez has proposed marriage and Anna Pigeon isn't sure this is what she wants. To put a little space between her and a long-term relationship she accepts a temporary assignment at Dry Tortugas National Park. An island, anything but conducive to contemplation as she finds herself involved in three different mysteries.
To keep the plot elements separate and moving Nevada Barr executes a splendid juggling act. Molly, Anna's sister send her a packet of letters written by a great-great-aunt who had lived at the fort during it's days as a prison. Rich in historical detail, a clever blend of the past and present, plus Anna's dilemma will insure fans follow the trail to a surprising conclusion. Maybe it is the complexity or diverse elements, but somewhere something is lacking, FLASHBACK isn't up to par for a Barr.
Nash Black, author of WRITING AS A SMALL BUSINESS and SINS OF THE FATHERS.
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Worst of the series rating: 1
I've read all of the Nevada Barr mysteries and this by far is the worst. Jumping back and forth between the two stories was tiring and boring. I only made it halfway through, and I had to struggle to get that far. The rest of the books in the series are good, but I don't recommend this one for a first time reader of the series.
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great read rating: 4
I enjoyed the book. My husband likes to listen to audio books on our way cross-country.
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Intrigue in the Dry Tortugas rating: 3
Flashback (Nevada Barr): Our favorite national park ranger, Anna Pigeon, is temporarily filling in for the boss at Dry Tortugas National Park in the Florida Keys, after the park's head ranger lost his girlfriend, along with his grip on sanity. It is very hot, and not horribly exciting in the park until Anna receives a box of old letters from her sister, who had unearthed them because they were written by their great, great aunt Raffia when her husband was an army captain at Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas. Anna spends her days dealing with sunburned tourists, and her nights getting caught up in the history of the last days of the Civil War.
Two stories then unfold; one in the present involving Anna and the staff at the park, and Raffia's story from the time when Fort Jefferson was an active military station and jail for the conspirators in the Lincoln assassination plot. The time periods start to merge in Anna's mind, however, when she sees and hears people from the past late at night while she wanders through the fort. Anna thinks she may be losing her grip on sanity, which makes her suspicious, since the last person to hold her job was institutionalized for the same thing. When one of her rangers is injured when an explosion sinks his boat, Anna starts to tie all the strange clues together to uncover a nefarious plot. Meanwhile, she's reading about a nefarious plot of old in her Aunt Raffia's letters, involving a sadistic sergeant, a rebel soldier, and Raffia's 16-year-old sister Tilly.
Anna is a solitary person and spends much of her time in introspection. Because of her circumstances at the fort, Raffia is also fairly solitary, but it was obvious that the two main characters in this novel were living very different lives. Raffia's welfare is largely dependent on the men around her, whereas Anna completely takes care of herself, even refusing her boyfriend's offer to fly down to keep her company when things are at their worst. Both stories, though different in nature, had similarities, and it was fun to read about two bits of intrigue happening in the same place at different times, and for different reasons. Nevada Barr is always worth reading, and this book is no exception.
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disappointed rating: 2
The technique of telling two stories in alternate chapters did not work.Neither story ever got off the ground and the endings were dull!We are Nevada Barr fans,but finishing this book was a chore rather than a pleasure.Sorry!
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Flashback (Anna Pigeon)
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