Rating: 
Summary: Her best novel to date...something for fans of every stripe!
Review: (from the "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel")Nevada Barr takes her heroine Anna Pigeon out of her natural element (the forests, rivers, and deserts of our National parks) and sets her smack dab in the middle of the ultimate asphalt jungle: New York City. Oddly, this change of venue has produced some of Barr's best writing to date. In fact, "Liberty Falling" is her best novel to date. And when considering her small but powerful oeuvre ("Blind Descent," "Firestorm," "Track of the Cat" and three other top-notch efforts), that says a lot. After learning that her sister, Molly, has succumbed to pneumonia, Anna Pigeon travels to New York to hold vigil. When Frederick Stanton (a former boyfriend and FBI agent who has fallen in love with Molly) shows up, she begins feeling like an unneeded crutch. Bunking down in the ranger's quarters on Ellis Island, Anna shuttles back and forth among the three New York islands (Ellis, Liberty and Manhattan), trying to keep busy as she settles in for what could be a long wait. On a visit to Liberty island, Anna comes on the scene just after a young child is apparently pushed off of the statue. A new found friend, Park Policeman James "Hatch" Hatchett, falls under suspicion. Relying on instincts, Anna senses something amiss. And what forensic evidence is available suggests the child may have jumped. Unable to help herself, Anna begins snooping about. Among the caretakers, policemen, rangers and actors (who act out the roles of immigrants on Ellis Island), Anna finds more than enough suspects for murder. What's more, stories about ghosts haunting the ruins on Ellis Island have been bandied about. Her investigations turn up evidence of a strange and unexplained happenings in the night on Ellis and Liberty Islands. Further digging uncovers a murderous plot that could have worldwide political ramifications. When "Hatch" dies in what others assume is a freak accident and a young actress goes missing, Anna Pigeon knows she is, once again, on the right track to catch her killer. There's only one problem: he seems to be after her as well. The subplot involving Anna's sister Molly and Frederick Stanton makes for a gentle and humane counterpoint to the often violent, moral morass of the main story line. Sporting plenty of action and suspense, and a timely subtext involving racism and misplaced patriotism, "Liberty Falling" offers something for mystery fans of every stripe. (from "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1999).
Rating:
Summary: Her best novel to date...something for fans of every stripe!
Review: (from the "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel")Nevada Barr takes her heroine Anna Pigeon out of her natural element (the forests, rivers, and deserts of our National parks) and sets her smack dab in the middle of the ultimate asphalt jungle: New York City. Oddly, this change of venue has produced some of Barr's best writing to date. In fact, "Liberty Falling" is her best novel to date. And when considering her small but powerful oeuvre ("Blind Descent," "Firestorm," "Track of the Cat" and three other top-notch efforts), that says a lot. After learning that her sister, Molly, has succumbed to pneumonia, Anna Pigeon travels to New York to hold vigil. When Frederick Stanton (a former boyfriend and FBI agent who has fallen in love with Molly) shows up, she begins feeling like an unneeded crutch. Bunking down in the ranger's quarters on Ellis Island, Anna shuttles back and forth among the three New York islands (Ellis, Liberty and Manhattan), trying to keep busy as she settles in for what could be a long wait. On a visit to Liberty island, Anna comes on the scene just after a young child is apparently pushed off of the statue. A new found friend, Park Policeman James "Hatch" Hatchett, falls under suspicion. Relying on instincts, Anna senses something amiss. And what forensic evidence is available suggests the child may have jumped. Unable to help herself, Anna begins snooping about. Among the caretakers, policemen, rangers and actors (who act out the roles of immigrants on Ellis Island), Anna finds more than enough suspects for murder. What's more, stories about ghosts haunting the ruins on Ellis Island have been bandied about. Her investigations turn up evidence of a strange and unexplained happenings in the night on Ellis and Liberty Islands. Further digging uncovers a murderous plot that could have worldwide political ramifications. When "Hatch" dies in what others assume is a freak accident and a young actress goes missing, Anna Pigeon knows she is, once again, on the right track to catch her killer. There's only one problem: he seems to be after her as well. The subplot involving Anna's sister Molly and Frederick Stanton makes for a gentle and humane counterpoint to the often violent, moral morass of the main story line. Sporting plenty of action and suspense, and a timely subtext involving racism and misplaced patriotism, "Liberty Falling" offers something for mystery fans of every stripe. (from "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1999).
Rating:
Summary: Nevada Barr should be declared a national treasure!
Review: ...Barr evokes the perfect ghostly mood when describing the rotting buildings on Ellis Island which once housed emigrants and are now being reclaimed by nature. Like the parks and monuments which she writes of, Nevada Barr should be declared a national treasure. (from the "Bloomsbury Review," 1999)
Rating: 
Summary: I would have edited this book considerably!
Review: After loving Barr's 'Deep South' I was disappointed with 'Liberty Falling'. The storyline contained much redundancy and what can only be called filler, in what was a terrific storyline turned tedious. It took too long to get to the real plot. The author has the reader was asking "what is this going to be about?" for a good while. Too many extraneous characters also.
Rating:
Summary: I would have edited this book considerably!
Review: After loving Barr's 'Deep South' I was disappointed with 'Liberty Falling'. The storyline contained much redundancy and what can only be called filler, in what was a terrific storyline turned tedious. It took too long to get to the real plot. The author has the reader was asking "what is this going to be about?" for a good while. Too many extraneous characters also.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Waste Your Time
Review: After reading Deep South and Flashback, I was looking forward to going back and reading some of the earlier Anna Pigeon books. Liberty Falling has to be the worst of the Pigeon series. I found myself skimming over pages and skipping over the last third of the book to get to the end and hope the ending would make it worth the read. It wasn't.
Rating:
Summary: The descriptions of interpersonal relationships are great!!!
Review: Anna is a complex and interesting woman. She goes into the forbidden, overcoming her fear, ingrossed in chasing the mystery. Regardless of the environment, Anna's love for nature comes through. A fish out of water in NYC, Anna still finds excitement. The plot twists and characters in each story are fascinating! Nevada Barr has moved into the top five of my favorite authors list, joining a very diverse group. Love 'em, Nevada, keep 'em coming. I miss Anna when I'm not in the middle of one of her adventures. Pleasurable reading.
Rating: 
Summary: A cerebral mystery
Review: Anna Pigeon is staying with a ranger friend on Liberty Island while she visits her sick sister Molly who's in the hospital with a life-threatening kidney ailment. While living in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, Anna gets involved in the death of a supposed suicide. A teen-age girl leaps to her death from the top of Liberty's pedestal. If that's not enough, a few days later the security guard who tried to stop the girl from jumping dies the same way in almost the same spot. Before she knows it, Anna is caught up in a mystery involving a sleazy doctor and Castro look-alike.Like all Anna Pigeon novels, this moves slowly. It does take quite a while for the bones of the mystery to appear but Anna Pigeon is such a likeable heroine and Barr such a good writer that the book never seems to drag. At times, Barr's stream-of-conciousness style of writing can be hard to follow but overall the novel is a fun read.
Rating:
Summary: LIBERTY RISING; NEW YORK FALLING
Review: Anna Pigeon needs lots of elbow room. New York City is not the place to get it. This is not one of the author's best efforts. Her style seems crabbed (and crabby!)when she cannot luxuriate in her rolling descriptions of open spaces and bare land. I couldn't get a sense of focus in the story. She traveled and traveled via subway, ferry, and cab, but was never pleased at where she'd been or where she was going. There were a few too many characters and subplots to keep track of. I like Anna, her stream of consciousness chiding herself (she really thinks some bad thoughts), her humor and her sense of self and reality. I don't get bored with her skittishness toward romance, booze and intimacy. That's her. I wish she'd at least be an ex-smoker. I'd enjoy her remarks. It seems all contemporary female crime/mystery writers rigidly require their heroines not only to not smoke, but condemn, deplore, and excorciate anyone who does or has been in the room ahead of them. Ah well. In conclusion: I think it very plausible to write an entire book about a person you heartily dislike, but not a place. Anna's antipathy toward New York City could have been covered in a few pages. Repetition does not strengthen the argument.
Rating:
Summary: One of Barr's best written mystery novels!
Review: Barr is definitely one of the current most intelligent writers of this genre. It is always a pleasure to pick up one of her books, because her writing is so well done and her mysteries tend to revolve not just around the who-done-it part of the book, but the interaction of her protagonist with her sister and other humans in the story. Since many of these national parks are places I would love to visit but probably won't be able to, she satisfies a need and also raises curiosity about places I had never heard of before. This ability on Barr's part is the sign of a good writer. This particular mystery is given in bits and pieces. Just as in real life when family members are taking up our time, we tend not to be able to give the needed amount of cranial space over to our jobs or avocations, so to is Anna mainly concerned about her sister and unable to tie in the various pieces of the puzzle. The loving way in which the story between the two sisters is written is wonderful, and does not detract from Barr's mystery...rather it adds a sense of reality to it. The pieces were there, but the ending was a surprise to me. That is fine...I don't like my mysteries so easily solved that I have the solution in the first few chapters. A good part of Barr's writing ability revolves around her characterizations. As a reader, I appreciate it when an author fleshes out the people in her stories. I want them to be three dimensional, and more like real people. I think part of Barr's success is the unusual employment of Anna. Many of us would have liked to go into working for the Park service, but the realities of life and families do not allow us that option. However, the portrayals of the people who 'invade' the parks and their idiosyncracies make for fun reading, especially when we recognize some of them. Barr also does us a service by pointing out the need to take care of our natural resources, and in this case, part of our heritage, Ellis Island about which I knew nothing. I look forward to reading her next novel, and wonder where we are going next! Karen Sadler Science Education, University of Pittsburgh
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