* POPSUGAR's "New Thrillers That Should Be on Your Radar This Year"* Women.com's "12 New September Books Worth Canceling Plans For"In New York Times bestselling author Nevada Barr's gripping standalone, a grandmother in her sixties emerges from a mental fog to find she's trapped in her worst nightmare Rose Dennis wakes up in a hospital gown, her brain in a fog, only to discover that she's been committed to an Alzheimer's Unit in a nursing home. With no memory of how she ended up in this position, Rose is sure that something is very wrong. When she overhears one of the administrators saying about her that she's "not making it through the week," Rose is convinced that if she's to survive, she has to get out of the nursing home. She avoids taking her medication, putting on a show for the aides, then stages her escape.The only problem is—how does she convince anyone that she's not actually demented? Her...

SUMMARY:New York Times-bestselling author Nevada Barr delivers another extraordinary Anna Pigeon novel set in the wide open vistas of southwestern Texas. The killings on Isle Royale have left Anna drained and haunted, her memories of her time with the wolf study group forever marred by the carnage on the island. Diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, she is on administrative leave, per her superintendent's urging. Anna wonders if the leave might not be permanent, either by her own choice or that of the National Park Service. The one bright spot in Anna's life is Paul, her husband of less than a year. Hoping the warmth and the adventure of a raft trip in Big Bend National Park will lift her spirits, Paul takes Anna to southwest Texas, where the sun is hot and the Rio Grande is running high. The sheer beauty of the Chihuahuan Desert and the power of the river work their magic-until the raft is lost in the rapids and a young college student falls overboard, resulting in an even more grisly discovery. Caught in a strainer between two boulders and more dead than alive, is a pregnant woman, hair and arms tangled in the downed branches. Instead of the soul-soothing experience they'd longed for, Anna and Paul find themselves sucked into a labyrinth of intrigue that leads from the Mexican desert to the steps of the Governor's Mansion in Austin, Texas.

SUMMARY:The third Anna Pigeon mystery is a charm. Lately, visitors to Mesa Verde have been bringing home more than photos--they're also carrying a strange, deadly disease. And once it strikes, park ranger Anna Pigeon must find the very human source of the evil wind.

Fleeing New York to find refuge as a ranger in the remote backcountry of West Texas, Anna Pigeon stumbles into a web of violence and murder when fellow park ranger Sheila Drury is mysteriously killed and another ranger vanishes.

From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. Barr's outstanding 16th Anna Pigeon novel (after Borderline) takes the National Park Service ranger to the urban wilderness of post-Katrina New Orleans, where the Jazz National Heritage Park preserves the Big Easy's music. Anna comes to believe that a creepy neighbor, Jordan, one of the "gutter punks" who roam the city, is a pedophile. But Jordan turns out to have another side, and his link with Clare Sullivan, a Seattle actress whose family was murdered in a fire Clare is suspected of setting, is a linchpin of Barr's skillful plot. Anna vividly maneuvers the lurid city jungle, from a Bourbon Street strip joint, where the women have formed a family, to a brothel specializing in children. Anna also learns that appearances can deceive even the most insightful of rangers. Anna's complex personality continues to elevate the series, and the ranger's sojourn to New Orleans further energizes this always reliable series. 150,000 first printing. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Bookmarks MagazineWith its focus on pedophilia and human trafficking, Burn is Barr's darkest and creepiest mystery yet. Although some critics were disturbed by its subject matter, most were thrilled by Barr's crackling prose, pulsating action, and authentic characters. While praising the riveting and increasingly complex park ranger, they also hailed Claire as Barr's finest creation, as multifaceted and genuine as she is sympathetic. Barr even manages to work in some insightful reflections on marriage, identity, and aging. Although critics diverged in their opinions of Barr's rendering of the Big Easy--"an insider's tour" (South Florida Sun-Sentinel) versus a "pedestrian tourist route" (New York Times Book Review)--all were fascinated watching Anna maneuver through a wilderness of a different sort.

In 1971, the state of Minnesota was rocked by the 'Butcher Boy' incident, as coverage of a family brutally murdered by one of their own swept across newspapers and television screens nationwide. Now, in present-day New Orleans, Polly Deschamps finds herself at yet another lonely crossroads in her life. No stranger to tragedy, Polly was a runaway at the age of fifteen, escaping a nightmarish Mississippi childhood. Lonely, that is, until she encounters architect Marshall Marchand. Polly is immediately smitten. She finds him attractive, charming, and intelligent. Marshall, a lifelong bachelor, spends most of his time with his brother Danny. When Polly's two young daughters from her previous marriage are likewise taken with Marshall, she marries him. However, as Polly begins to settle into her new life, she becomes uneasy about her husband's increasing dark moods, fearing that Danny may be influencing Marshall in ways she cannot understand. But what of the ominous prediction by a New Orleans tarot card reader, who proclaims that Polly will murder her husband? What, if any, is the Marchands' connection to the infamous 'Butcher Boy' multiple homicide? And could Marshall and his eccentric brother be keeping a dark secret from Polly, one that will shatter the happiness she has forever prayed for?