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Anna Pigeon #7
Liberty Falling
Anna Pigeon is in Manhattan to look after her hospitalized sister, and explores the Statue of Liberty in her spare time. But when a teenage girl falls to her death from Liberty's ledge, Anna wonders if the suicide was actually a homicide-and begins an investigation that puts her in the line of fire.
322 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
315 people are currently reading
1570 people want to read
About the author
Nevada Barr
67 books2,308 followersNevada Barr is a mystery fiction author, known for her "Anna Pigeon" series of mysteries, set in National Parks in the United States. Barr has won an Agatha Award for best first novel for Track of the Cat.
Barr was named after the state of her birth. She grew up in Johnstonville, California. She finished college at the University of California, Irvine. Originally, Barr started to pursue a career in theatre, but decided to be a park ranger. In 1984 she published her first novel, Bittersweet, a bleak lesbian historical novel set in the days of the Western frontier.
While working in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Barr created the Anna Pigeon series. Pigeon is a law enforcement officer with the United States National Park Service. Each book in the series takes place in a different National Park, where Pigeon solves a murder mystery, often related to natural resource issues. She is a satirical, witty woman whose icy exterior is broken down in each book by a hunky male to whom she is attracted (such as Rogelio).
Currently, Ms. Barr lives in New Orleans, LA.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/nevada...
Barr was named after the state of her birth. She grew up in Johnstonville, California. She finished college at the University of California, Irvine. Originally, Barr started to pursue a career in theatre, but decided to be a park ranger. In 1984 she published her first novel, Bittersweet, a bleak lesbian historical novel set in the days of the Western frontier.
While working in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Barr created the Anna Pigeon series. Pigeon is a law enforcement officer with the United States National Park Service. Each book in the series takes place in a different National Park, where Pigeon solves a murder mystery, often related to natural resource issues. She is a satirical, witty woman whose icy exterior is broken down in each book by a hunky male to whom she is attracted (such as Rogelio).
Currently, Ms. Barr lives in New Orleans, LA.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/nevada...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 474 reviews
March 30, 2024
In this seventh book of the Anna Pigeon mysteries, park ranger Anna Pigeon has come to NYC because her sister Molly is gravely ill. She’s visiting Molly in the hospital, staying on Ellis Island, and trying to avoid FBI agent Frederick Stanton, who used to date her, but who is now dating Molly (because, ouch.) While she’s at Ellis Island, several people are discovered dead at the base of the Statue of Liberty, presumably having jumped… but Anna isn’t so sure, and the further she investigates the matter, the more she begins to wonder if the investigators assigned to the case may have missed something. This series is one of my favorites because of the wonderful descriptions of each national park—a different one in every book. I enjoyed this book and its descriptions of New York especially. The author always leaves me guessing as I’m trying to solve her mysteries…
November 16, 2015
For me, this was the best Anna Pigeon novel so far. She gets to see Molly - in not so good circumstances, she gets to see some guys (new and old), and best of all - she wanders all over the abandoned buildings at Ellis Island. That was the best thing about the book. Sure, there's the usual murder plot, but I liked the setting immensely.
February 25, 2011
I don't usually like mysteries, but these Anna Pigeon books by Nevada Barr have captured me! Really, they are the first books I've read in a very long time that have me thinking about them even when I'm not reading: trying to figure out the solution to the mystery, or cogitating on Anna's unique and elegant way of reading others' body language, thoughts and feelings. Barr has an uncanny ability to evoke the sights, sounds, smells and feelings of our National Parks: wolves on Isle Royale, rafting down the Rio Grande, or clambering around the ruins of Ellis Island. Occasionally Barr's prose gets a little convoluted and too rich in twisty metaphors, but that is easily forgiven when enjoying these fabulous thrillers.
March 21, 2014
Absolutely horrendous writing, so thick with twisted metaphors that you have to reread sentences to find out what Barr is trying to say. The story is bad, too - the Liberty Island/Ellis Island setting is claustrophobic, the denouement dimwitted. Frederick Stanton, who used to be Anna's love interest but is now head over heels for the older, apparently homelier, and much unhealthier Molly, Anna's sister, is gross.
July 18, 2018
A departure from Anna Pigeon's usual assignment to a National Park. In this book she is visiting the Park at Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. This is one place I would love to visit; so I loved learning about the Islands. Again, I take a side excursion on the Internet to see the maps and also visit the NPS website telling about the park. There are some unusual characters involved with this mystery, which made it interesting. And I think Barbara Rosenblatt's reading is so great. I would listen to most any book she narrates.
November 17, 2015
I enjoy the Anna Pigeon books. Read this on a cruise that passed Lady Liberty going into NYC and back out to sea, so it was especially appropriate. Nevada Barr always does a great job evoking the characters and the location.
June 24, 2018
Really good read with an exciting ending. A little different to see Anna “imprisoned” in a city instead of her usual more rustic parks out west.
March 3, 2023
Mystery set on Liberty Island and Ellis Island
December 24, 2018
Mystery writer Nevada Barr was a ranger at various National Parks and has written 19 novels set in the parks. This one is her seventh and I have been reading them in order. I read them in the spirit of reader activism during these days of the current administration's tactics favoring profit over preservation when it comes to our supposedly protected national lands.
Liberty Falling takes place at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis National Monuments on Liberty and Ellis Islands. Park ranger Anna Pigeon, the protagonist in all of the novels, is on leave of absence to be with her beloved sister Molly, in intensive care after a case of pneumonia turned dangerously complicated. Since park rangers are relatively low paid government employees, Anna is staying with a friend on Liberty Island.
As she often does, Anna finds herself in emotional turmoil, fearing she will lose her sister and abhorring the crowded confines of New York City where her husband died many years ago. When she is not at Molly's bedside, she prefers exploring the overgrown abandoned hospitals, medical wards and old staff quarters on Ellis Island.
Then the tension builds further after Anna tumbles through a crumbling staircase in one of those buildings. Was it an accident? A young girl falls to her death from a Statue of Liberty lookout. Was she pushed? Finally a park administrator dies from a similar fall and Anna goes into full investigator mode because though she is officially on leave, investigating is what she does wherever she is.
If you have read the earlier books you may remember a certain FBI agent who has been romantically involved with both sisters. He shows up too! I say this every time I read another Anna Pigeon story but the author has once more outdone herself with her plotting, her dives into the psychological depths of her characters, and the intricate building of suspense.
Liberty Falling is set in the late 1990s so the Twin Towers still loom but terrorism within the United States shows its ugly face before Anna solves the several mysteries that have entangled her. Nevada Barr is firmly in my top three favorite female crime novelists alongside Sara Paretsky and Tana French.
May 17, 2015
Long on whine, short on action, lethargic on suspense. Not the best Pigeon book in the series. Still it did get me interested enough to get me to do some research on Ellis Island. I found pictures and video that agreed with the descriptions in the book.
January 7, 2019
The only problem I had with this book is the many many numerous spelling mistakes that were left uncorrected. Half the h's were b's and visa versa and c's were replaced with e's lot. It boggles the mind how there mistakes weren't noticed when the books were being printed or first sold.
I also find it interesting that this books main mystery and subject was an attack on a national monument of New York by extremists that takes place a year and a half before the world trade centers were brought down.
I also find it interesting that this books main mystery and subject was an attack on a national monument of New York by extremists that takes place a year and a half before the world trade centers were brought down.
June 3, 2018
Reread this again after having been to nyc for the first time and now have personally visited liberty and Ellis islands. Was much more enjoyable to read knowing exactly and being able to picture what Anna was describing. For some reason, I did struggle to really get into this book this time around - didn’t captivate right away and get moving. But maybe because it was lots of introspection and feelings surrounding he sister’s hospital stay. As always though, a great mystery that doesn’t disappoint.
July 24, 2016
I am assuming that the information on Liberty and Ellis Islands was researched by the author and is accurate. Anna Pigeon has come to New York to be with her sister who could die. By the end of the book, so much has happened to her that the reader is surprised that SHE hasn't been killed. It is interesting and exciting.
March 23, 2015
Reports of ghostly sounds by the night Park Ranger on Ellis Island has Anna searching the historic landmark’s creepy abandoned buildings. But what has brought her to New York City is her sister’s illness. It’s a heart-wrenching time for Anna in what is one of Barr’s best stories.
In Liberty Falling Barr reached a comfortable place writing Anna, the park ranger who grapples with murder in every park she works. The nice thing about this series is that Anna is such an authentic person, er, character. We like her because she screws up. She battles alcoholism, she struggles to express her feelings and she knows who we are because she is us. It’s the perfect combination of human weakness quelled by the strength we all somehow muster in challenging times.
To be close to her sister, Anna’s staying at a friend’s house on Liberty Island. When a fourteen-year-old girl takes the express route down the Statue of Liberty—usually 354 claustrophobic steps and a hot two-hour climb—Anna’s attention is diverted from her sister. A visitor to the statue claims that a park employee pushed the dead girl. Anna likes the accused, in spite of knowing Hatch for only a short while, and can’t help doing a little investigating on her on even though she has no legal authority. When Hatch is found dead at the base of Lady Liberty some herald it as a guilt-induced suicide but Anna thinks it may be murder.
Missing the open spaces in her home park of Mesa Verde, Colorado, Anna goes exploring Ellis Island, part of Liberty State Park. One building has been painstakingly restored to its lavish 1920s design but the others remain sad ruins of another era. During its day, 10,000 of the masses passed through Ellis Island each day hoping for a new beginning. The building consisted of a huge immigration center and state-of-the-art (at the time) hospital including operating theaters and autopsy facility. Today, the same numbers visit the compound and wonder what it must have been like. You will too because Barr describes it well and you almost feel lost in time.
What she finds leads to a conspiracy of death and destruction if Anna can’t uncover who is behind it. In the final spellbinding pages Anna attempts to thwart a pernicious plot at Liberty’s feet in Barr’s shining homage to the best and worst of humankind.
Liberty Falling does not fall short of expectations and instills in the reader a new appreciation for those who came before—yearning to breathe free.
To read full review, go to: https://reluctantmediumatlarge.wordpr...
In Liberty Falling Barr reached a comfortable place writing Anna, the park ranger who grapples with murder in every park she works. The nice thing about this series is that Anna is such an authentic person, er, character. We like her because she screws up. She battles alcoholism, she struggles to express her feelings and she knows who we are because she is us. It’s the perfect combination of human weakness quelled by the strength we all somehow muster in challenging times.
To be close to her sister, Anna’s staying at a friend’s house on Liberty Island. When a fourteen-year-old girl takes the express route down the Statue of Liberty—usually 354 claustrophobic steps and a hot two-hour climb—Anna’s attention is diverted from her sister. A visitor to the statue claims that a park employee pushed the dead girl. Anna likes the accused, in spite of knowing Hatch for only a short while, and can’t help doing a little investigating on her on even though she has no legal authority. When Hatch is found dead at the base of Lady Liberty some herald it as a guilt-induced suicide but Anna thinks it may be murder.
Missing the open spaces in her home park of Mesa Verde, Colorado, Anna goes exploring Ellis Island, part of Liberty State Park. One building has been painstakingly restored to its lavish 1920s design but the others remain sad ruins of another era. During its day, 10,000 of the masses passed through Ellis Island each day hoping for a new beginning. The building consisted of a huge immigration center and state-of-the-art (at the time) hospital including operating theaters and autopsy facility. Today, the same numbers visit the compound and wonder what it must have been like. You will too because Barr describes it well and you almost feel lost in time.
What she finds leads to a conspiracy of death and destruction if Anna can’t uncover who is behind it. In the final spellbinding pages Anna attempts to thwart a pernicious plot at Liberty’s feet in Barr’s shining homage to the best and worst of humankind.
Liberty Falling does not fall short of expectations and instills in the reader a new appreciation for those who came before—yearning to breathe free.
To read full review, go to: https://reluctantmediumatlarge.wordpr...
January 20, 2019
Though published in 1999, this remains a timely book twenty years later. I liked it well enough, though it's not among my favorite Anna Pigeon mysteries in the series. Unlike most of Barr's mysteries, this one has an urban setting, that of New York City. Though informative, the lengthy descriptions of Liberty and Ellis Islands seemed to overwhelm the mystery itself at times. Still, it was interesting to get the unique perspective "behind the scenes" of the Statue of Liberty from a park ranger's point of view. It's clear the author did extensive research and likely had an inside tour of the scene herself. Seems ironic now that the cover of the book features the Twin Towers and not Lady Liberty.
August 24, 2023
I listened to Flashbacks years ago and I really liked that book. When I found the books about Anna Pigeon I started from the beginning. You don't have to read all the books but you want to read them in the right order.
I find the information about the national parks really interesting. Thanks to Anna I would like to visit Ellis Island!
I wish Nevada Barr had more accurate information about what happens in the ICU! If you can't breathe, a doctor puts a breathing tube down your throat, it is hooked up to a ventilator. A respirator mask is something you use if you are painting etc.
For short term use, a feeding tube goes through the nose to the stomach.
Molly might have got TPN (Total parenteral nutrition) but that goes through a normal IV. A patient on a ventilator normally have their hands tied to the railings to avoid that they pull out tubes or IVs etc.
Anna is supposed to be an EMT but she walks around in the dark, in the old building where the floors and stairs are crumbling! None knows where she is! When she gets injured she doesn't seem concerned about cleaning the wound!
Why did Agnes bring anything to the island!? Both Ben and Mandy works there. Things have been brought by boat at night.
Why doesn't Anna tell someone when she realizes she was not the only intruder at the island that night?
The end of the book got even more strange. Anna calls 911 but hangs up when she doesn't know if she'll get connected to the right state. If she'd said she called about the Statue of Liberty she would have been connected to the right place!
Why would her boat start going in circles if she's driving straight from the beginning!? Why was Tucker holding Jim at gunpoint. He had no use for Jim. He'd already shot Andrew.
Why are all these women falling for Molly's doctor!? He didn't sound like a great catch.
Anna is supposed to be an alcoholic but she forgets to buy wine...
I find the information about the national parks really interesting. Thanks to Anna I would like to visit Ellis Island!
I wish Nevada Barr had more accurate information about what happens in the ICU! If you can't breathe, a doctor puts a breathing tube down your throat, it is hooked up to a ventilator. A respirator mask is something you use if you are painting etc.
For short term use, a feeding tube goes through the nose to the stomach.
Molly might have got TPN (Total parenteral nutrition) but that goes through a normal IV. A patient on a ventilator normally have their hands tied to the railings to avoid that they pull out tubes or IVs etc.
Anna is supposed to be an EMT but she walks around in the dark, in the old building where the floors and stairs are crumbling! None knows where she is! When she gets injured she doesn't seem concerned about cleaning the wound!
Why did Agnes bring anything to the island!? Both Ben and Mandy works there. Things have been brought by boat at night.
Why doesn't Anna tell someone when she realizes she was not the only intruder at the island that night?
The end of the book got even more strange. Anna calls 911 but hangs up when she doesn't know if she'll get connected to the right state. If she'd said she called about the Statue of Liberty she would have been connected to the right place!
Why would her boat start going in circles if she's driving straight from the beginning!? Why was Tucker holding Jim at gunpoint. He had no use for Jim. He'd already shot Andrew.
Why are all these women falling for Molly's doctor!? He didn't sound like a great catch.
Anna is supposed to be an alcoholic but she forgets to buy wine...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 29, 2020
I've been enjoying this series featuring Park ranger Anna Pigeon, although I have been reading the books out of order. With this one, I go back to Number 7 ( it was published in 1999). Anna finds herself in New York City, as her sister had become ill and was hospitalized in a New York hospital. While in the city, she bunks with a friend in the park service on Liberty Island. So once again, she is in a unit of the National Park system--and once again, gets involved in an investigation. A young girl falls--or is pushed --from the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. Is it suicide, an accident or murder? Anna, as usual, has to find out, although she is only a guest on Liberty Island.
I have to say I enjoyed the mystery, but I must admit I am terrible at figuring out whodunit. And I was wrong in this case. However, more than the mystery itself, I was fascinated by the setting of the story--Liberty Island and Ellis Island--especially seeing the behind-the-scenes world that we don't get to see on a visit to our great Lady Liberty.
I have to say I enjoyed the mystery, but I must admit I am terrible at figuring out whodunit. And I was wrong in this case. However, more than the mystery itself, I was fascinated by the setting of the story--Liberty Island and Ellis Island--especially seeing the behind-the-scenes world that we don't get to see on a visit to our great Lady Liberty.
June 21, 2023
The Anna Pigeon series is written by an ex- ranger. The hook is that each murder takes place at a different federal park. This one is different in that it doesn’t take place in nature, but on the island The Statue of Liberty is on. I think this one has been my favorite book in the series so far.
September 12, 2025
Another great Anna Pigeon mystery, with the emphasis not so much on the mystery as on her way of dealing with things. As ususal, a lot is learned about the setting, in this case, Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Engrossing.
July 31, 2023
This is another series I started years ago and enjoyed, but put on hold until the audio versions of the books became available. I like that each book in this series is set in a different national park – or in this case, a national monument that is part of the National Park System – so we learn a lot about each location, and the information is presented as a relevant part of the story, not just facts thrown at the reader out of nowhere. I learned a lot about Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, neither of which I have visited, although both are on my bucket list.
I like Anna, the MC, a character who is not perfect, but has attitudes, weaknesses and fears that make her more real, and make me feel more sympathetic toward her. This book focuses on the relationship between Anna and her sister, with one of her failed romantic relationships also playing a large part. I felt empathy for Anna, a woman used to wide open spaces, physical exertion, and a sometimes solitary existence being stuck in New York City with noise and people around her all the time.
The mystery in this book was complex, with several puzzles to solve that turned out to be connected. There were a lot of threads weaving in and out of the story, and I gave up trying to figure out what was going on and who was responsible. The confrontation scene at the end of the book was tense, with a lot on the line, and I was unable to turn off the audio until everything was resolved.
I look forward to traveling to Mississippi for the next book in the series, to see what adventure awaits Anna – and what I’ll learn along the way.
I like Anna, the MC, a character who is not perfect, but has attitudes, weaknesses and fears that make her more real, and make me feel more sympathetic toward her. This book focuses on the relationship between Anna and her sister, with one of her failed romantic relationships also playing a large part. I felt empathy for Anna, a woman used to wide open spaces, physical exertion, and a sometimes solitary existence being stuck in New York City with noise and people around her all the time.
The mystery in this book was complex, with several puzzles to solve that turned out to be connected. There were a lot of threads weaving in and out of the story, and I gave up trying to figure out what was going on and who was responsible. The confrontation scene at the end of the book was tense, with a lot on the line, and I was unable to turn off the audio until everything was resolved.
I look forward to traveling to Mississippi for the next book in the series, to see what adventure awaits Anna – and what I’ll learn along the way.
May 27, 2020
This is my second thriller of 2020, and I had a great time! Continuing my trend of books recommended by family members, this one belongs to my mom. She read it many years ago, and I can say it's stood the test of time.
The Good
-Anna's narrative voice is extremely strong. Since this is the seventh book about her*, it's to be expected. She feels so well-developed. Clearly, she has a past and a future beyond this snapshot, which is always a good feeling in a character. We see the entire world through her eyes--other characters, situations, clues, etc, which is especially great in a mystery.
-The sense of place is SO GOOD. I've been lucky enough to go to both Ellis and Liberty Islands, and to read about them--especially the behind-the-scenes areas--is just so fun. I'm a total National Parks junkie, so if you're not, this might not be such a big deal to you.
-Very strong side characters/side plots. Crime fiction tends to rely on a good, fun set of stock characters, but not so with Nevada Barr. They were very memorable, and there were quite a few! I really liked the fact that we weren't one hundred percent focused on the mystery at all times, too. Her sister's health problems and Anna's own dating life were both fun to read about, too.
The Bad
-This is some pretty hard-boiled detective fiction, which is not at all bad on its own, but there are some common pitfalls that Barr does fall into from time to time. Her prose can get a little flowery at points, maybe not quite purple--let's say approaching lavender?
-The mystery wrapped up a little abruptly for my taste.
-The characters suffered from their occasional stupid moments. I'm not even sure this is "bad" per se; it's just a little frustrating to read. SUPER minor, I know, it just bugged me.
Overall, this was a great book. I've had a bit of a college-induced reading slump lately, so now that it's summer, I'm happy to be getting back to my happy place, which is murder-mystery thrillers. I plan to go through my mom's entire collection of Nevada Barr books, and then hopefully the library will be open again and I can restock!
*I'm jumping into the middle of the series--don't feel like you have to read them in order; there are a few very minor spoilers revealed in this book, mostly about a previous romantic subplot.
The Good
-Anna's narrative voice is extremely strong. Since this is the seventh book about her*, it's to be expected. She feels so well-developed. Clearly, she has a past and a future beyond this snapshot, which is always a good feeling in a character. We see the entire world through her eyes--other characters, situations, clues, etc, which is especially great in a mystery.
-The sense of place is SO GOOD. I've been lucky enough to go to both Ellis and Liberty Islands, and to read about them--especially the behind-the-scenes areas--is just so fun. I'm a total National Parks junkie, so if you're not, this might not be such a big deal to you.
-Very strong side characters/side plots. Crime fiction tends to rely on a good, fun set of stock characters, but not so with Nevada Barr. They were very memorable, and there were quite a few! I really liked the fact that we weren't one hundred percent focused on the mystery at all times, too. Her sister's health problems and Anna's own dating life were both fun to read about, too.
The Bad
-This is some pretty hard-boiled detective fiction, which is not at all bad on its own, but there are some common pitfalls that Barr does fall into from time to time. Her prose can get a little flowery at points, maybe not quite purple--let's say approaching lavender?
-The mystery wrapped up a little abruptly for my taste.
-The characters suffered from their occasional stupid moments. I'm not even sure this is "bad" per se; it's just a little frustrating to read. SUPER minor, I know, it just bugged me.
Overall, this was a great book. I've had a bit of a college-induced reading slump lately, so now that it's summer, I'm happy to be getting back to my happy place, which is murder-mystery thrillers. I plan to go through my mom's entire collection of Nevada Barr books, and then hopefully the library will be open again and I can restock!
*I'm jumping into the middle of the series--don't feel like you have to read them in order; there are a few very minor spoilers revealed in this book, mostly about a previous romantic subplot.
March 15, 2025
2 1/2. Definitely not my favorite Anna Pigeon book. Not at a national park for her job in this book, tho Ellis Island is part of a national park. In NY to help her sister out who is very ill in hospital. However, she still manages to stick her nose into something that keeps her away from Molly on purpose. Besides the fact that Frederick the Fed, a one-time paramour of Anna's, is taken with Molly and vice versa. A young girl's suicide, the best suspect is killed, Anna is attacked (big surprise) another murder takes place - all related thinks Anna. Slow, not interested in boring NY descriptions, and not really riveting.
Reread in 2025 - rate = 3 Not as riveting as the first . Don't care about NY descriptions.
Reread in 2025 - rate = 3 Not as riveting as the first . Don't care about NY descriptions.
October 31, 2017
Anna Pigeon's psychiatrist sister is gravely ill in New York City, so she has traveled to that city, which she finds too crowded and noisy, and is staying at Liberty Island National Park. Its a very crazy time for the park ranger because she can't do what she usually does and she can't make her sister better. What she does instead is explore the island and its slowly deteriorating buildings. And she is finding some various mysterious things. Then there is a death of a young woman and a park ranger appears to have committed suicide. Needing something to distract her from her sister's illness, she started to investigate what is happening.
Anna Pigeon is an interesting character. I usually like her but less so in this tale. While I can sympathize with her uncomfortableness in New York (that would be the case for me) but the idea of avoiding sitting in a hospital room with your sister and finding it hard to know what to talk to her about seems bizarre to me. I enjoyed the story and thought that that part of the book was good, solid writing. I just was a bit disappointed on this supposedly mature woman who becomes an instant child when faced with an illness that can kill her sister.
Anna Pigeon is an interesting character. I usually like her but less so in this tale. While I can sympathize with her uncomfortableness in New York (that would be the case for me) but the idea of avoiding sitting in a hospital room with your sister and finding it hard to know what to talk to her about seems bizarre to me. I enjoyed the story and thought that that part of the book was good, solid writing. I just was a bit disappointed on this supposedly mature woman who becomes an instant child when faced with an illness that can kill her sister.
January 27, 2026
As always, another win for the Anna Pigeon series. This one is a lot different, being set in NYC. Lots of things going on and nobody is especially likable. I admire the author’s command of the English language, I come across unused words regularly and like defining them.
Favorite passages:
The raucous babble of languages must have seemed familiar to the old building.
Says God sent him to do it. I guess that’s as good an explanation as any.
made an unerring toss of the rope, lassoing the thick wooden upright that supported the dock. No one currently working on Ellis or Liberty, the two parts of the National Monument, had ever seen him miss. Cal never boasted. He just never missed.
“I get it. I sat. Scared you. I’m so sorry.” He was still chuckling. It was beginning to lose its charm.
Frederick enjoyed being underestimated, traded on it.
it was easy to imagine spiders of evil temperament and immoderate size.
Off work, she was subject to the myriad romantic fantasies that plague single girls between the ages of thirteen and dead.
“Another beer?” Patsy offered, further endearing herself.
Assistant Superintendent was a way station for the upwardly mobile or a parking place for burnouts and black sheep that the Park Service couldn’t get rid of and never intended to grant the power of a superintendency.
Who knew what to do with weepy men? He was too young to sleep with and too old to hold on her lap.
Public servants entrusted with deadly weapons were strongly discouraged from admitting symptoms of mental instability.
Molly was still breathing eleven beautiful self-initiated breaths per minute.
With only a mild sense of a rat abandoning ship, Anna left the confines of the hospital for the livelier confines of the city. For an hour or so she rattled around midtown killing time by looking at clothes she not only couldn’t afford but had no place to wear.
Not lack of recognition; lack of interest.
“It’s only a flesh wound,” she said, because she’d always wanted to. Claypool grunted. As close as he ever came to a laugh, she guessed.
If there was anything to the “science” of the paranormal, Ellis Island had the prerequisites for a hotbed of ghostly manifestations. Dreams had ended here, most happily but some at the end of a rope slung over the rafters. Families were separated, mothers from children and husbands from wives. Young women were turned away from the promised land because they traveled alone. With no one to meet them, they could not enter the country. The regulation was based on humane principles. An unprotected woman in New York was vulnerable to a number of evils. But who knew what terrors had induced her to cross oceans in the first place?
Anna knew she’d win. He was a southern boy. She was a lady and old enough to be his mother.
I don’t much care whether I’m nuts or haunted. I just want off the island.
Because she was a giving little beast, she’d infected her sister.
Scruffy specimens such as herself were turned away at the door.
“I’ve spent a few nights on that conference table,” Patsy assured her. “Slept like a baby. Just be sure you put all the cushions back. I don’t know if the Coast Guard brass know they’re running a flophouse for homeless park rangers.”
“Needn’t have hurried,” he said, and she realized the patience a man might develop who spent a quarter of a century waiting on a woman who neither moved nor breathed but stirred souls by her mere existence.
Like most people who lasted any length of time in the rescue professions, she’d worn out the “if” factor pretty quickly. You were where you were. You went where you went. You did what you could.
Suicides tore families apart the way even murder couldn’t. Suicide was somebody’s fault and blaming the dead was intrinsically unsatisfying.
You get to know people quick on an island.” Patsy would get to know people in a trailer park in Yazoo, Mississippi, in the Sahara or in downtown Hong Kong without being able to speak a word of Chinese.
“Were you horrible?” Patsy asked, having known Anna many years. “Mean or poking or anything?” “I don’t think I was horrible. I asked as nice as I know how.”
Two black-and-white pictures in old frames—one of a woman, one of a ship—graced the mantel.
Church isn’t all that bad for kids if you don’t take it too seriously.
Now she got a bad feeling Jim was just answering her in horrid detail.
A row of tractor caps were the only pieces of apparel treated with respect.
If he and his son had collaborated in kidnapping and perversion, she could probably get to the door before the old guy got the knife out from between the cushion and the cat.
“Can I come back?” “You damn well better.”
“Did you bring me candy? I require gobs of chocolate at this moment.” “I have quarters,” Anna countered. “We can get Hershey bars from the machine.” “Let’s do it,” Patsy responded, with the air of a naughty adventuress off to heist the family silver.
She’d been dating Hatch for eight months, and from what Anna could gather, was set on marrying him whether he liked it or not.
again strictly true and totally misleading—“
Every time I’d fall asleep I’d dream the phone was ringing, but it never was.
Then I gave up sleeping. I’m still not good at it, but I don’t dream. Not of anything.” This was said without a hint of self-pity. She spoke as if she told a story that she didn’t believe about a woman she didn’t like.
She wondered if his outsides were as unappealing. “Do you have any photos of him?” “I burned every goddamn one.” “Can’t say as I blame you,” Anna said.
Billy Bonham and his ghosts crossed her mind, but either they were not in attendance in this part of the hospital or she was not in the mood.
Curiosity was a greater force in the Pigeon sisters than fear.
A dead body wasn’t nearly as alarming as a spider of uncivilized dimensions.
He was looking enormously pleased with himself.
She used to be okay—not the kind that fits in, but the kind that wants to. Tries too hard.
“I’ll find out.” “Of course you will. God forbid you should just kick back, mind your own business, take in a Broadway show.”
and mischievous almost to the point of mean.
Entering the complex, Anna saw a prominent sign: NO: Ballplaying
Sitting
Standing
Eating
Playing Since it didn’t say NO Littering, she was tempted to drop the banana peel, but it went against her personal code of ethics and she had to leave the joke unmade.
Women were comfortable in the world of speculation, hard facts not so necessary for their thinking patterns.
She wished Frederick would come home. Arguing with him would be a distraction.
Civilization is eroding my morals
Strength of purpose, purity of faith and greatness of heart were qualities one did not come across every day.
Anna was going to like him a whole lot better as a friend than she ever did as a lover.
Anna looked at him. “You want me to do something,” he accused. “Something hard and boring and illegal.” “The FBI keeps a file of killers and other questionable types.”
Giving her life that others might whatever.
He was slight and old, wrinkled of skin and clothes, with eyes that bespoke a formidable intelligence.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s some lint waiting to tell me many things.”
“Are you working back-to-back shifts?” Anna asked, to create the illusion she cared about him as a person.
Anna’s sense of hurry had not abated, but she was out of things to hurry and do.
People broken in their own eyes were too great a drag on the soul to be faced when not feeling particularly Herculean oneself.
“I’m a poet,” he said simply. “Working on a new one.”
She lay without moving, taking courage from the fact that there were plenty of live possums in the world.
He did not disappoint. He was strong and handsome and calm.
Working on holidays, one wasn’t required to have fun. There was no pressure, no disappointments. And she usually had a wonderful time. Park visitors fed her. She was part of a dozen parties but owed allegiance to none. If the gathering was boring, she moved on. If it was too rowdy or offensive, she arrested everybody.
Weary, sick and too sore to walk straight, she thanked Cal for saving her soggy little life
“You go. I got it under control here. I mean, I’m not dying or anything, just useless. Go now.”
“I’ll be back,” she promised. Arnold Schwarzenegger had said the same thing in Terminator 2. It sounded more convincing with the accent.
REGARDLESS OF HOW divinely inspired, New York frowned upon unauthorized persons shooting people with borrowed guns. Anna spent seven hours with three different law enforcement agencies giving statements, defending her actions, accepting congratulations, being bullied and drinking bad coffee. Drowning in polluted salt water was beginning to seem like the good old days.
Anna had thought she’d want to but found she didn’t. Living it had been enough. It wasn’t a tale of high glamour, riches gained or lost. It was a nasty little story of hatred, fear and ignorance.
Favorite passages:
The raucous babble of languages must have seemed familiar to the old building.
Says God sent him to do it. I guess that’s as good an explanation as any.
made an unerring toss of the rope, lassoing the thick wooden upright that supported the dock. No one currently working on Ellis or Liberty, the two parts of the National Monument, had ever seen him miss. Cal never boasted. He just never missed.
“I get it. I sat. Scared you. I’m so sorry.” He was still chuckling. It was beginning to lose its charm.
Frederick enjoyed being underestimated, traded on it.
it was easy to imagine spiders of evil temperament and immoderate size.
Off work, she was subject to the myriad romantic fantasies that plague single girls between the ages of thirteen and dead.
“Another beer?” Patsy offered, further endearing herself.
Assistant Superintendent was a way station for the upwardly mobile or a parking place for burnouts and black sheep that the Park Service couldn’t get rid of and never intended to grant the power of a superintendency.
Who knew what to do with weepy men? He was too young to sleep with and too old to hold on her lap.
Public servants entrusted with deadly weapons were strongly discouraged from admitting symptoms of mental instability.
Molly was still breathing eleven beautiful self-initiated breaths per minute.
With only a mild sense of a rat abandoning ship, Anna left the confines of the hospital for the livelier confines of the city. For an hour or so she rattled around midtown killing time by looking at clothes she not only couldn’t afford but had no place to wear.
Not lack of recognition; lack of interest.
“It’s only a flesh wound,” she said, because she’d always wanted to. Claypool grunted. As close as he ever came to a laugh, she guessed.
If there was anything to the “science” of the paranormal, Ellis Island had the prerequisites for a hotbed of ghostly manifestations. Dreams had ended here, most happily but some at the end of a rope slung over the rafters. Families were separated, mothers from children and husbands from wives. Young women were turned away from the promised land because they traveled alone. With no one to meet them, they could not enter the country. The regulation was based on humane principles. An unprotected woman in New York was vulnerable to a number of evils. But who knew what terrors had induced her to cross oceans in the first place?
Anna knew she’d win. He was a southern boy. She was a lady and old enough to be his mother.
I don’t much care whether I’m nuts or haunted. I just want off the island.
Because she was a giving little beast, she’d infected her sister.
Scruffy specimens such as herself were turned away at the door.
“I’ve spent a few nights on that conference table,” Patsy assured her. “Slept like a baby. Just be sure you put all the cushions back. I don’t know if the Coast Guard brass know they’re running a flophouse for homeless park rangers.”
“Needn’t have hurried,” he said, and she realized the patience a man might develop who spent a quarter of a century waiting on a woman who neither moved nor breathed but stirred souls by her mere existence.
Like most people who lasted any length of time in the rescue professions, she’d worn out the “if” factor pretty quickly. You were where you were. You went where you went. You did what you could.
Suicides tore families apart the way even murder couldn’t. Suicide was somebody’s fault and blaming the dead was intrinsically unsatisfying.
You get to know people quick on an island.” Patsy would get to know people in a trailer park in Yazoo, Mississippi, in the Sahara or in downtown Hong Kong without being able to speak a word of Chinese.
“Were you horrible?” Patsy asked, having known Anna many years. “Mean or poking or anything?” “I don’t think I was horrible. I asked as nice as I know how.”
Two black-and-white pictures in old frames—one of a woman, one of a ship—graced the mantel.
Church isn’t all that bad for kids if you don’t take it too seriously.
Now she got a bad feeling Jim was just answering her in horrid detail.
A row of tractor caps were the only pieces of apparel treated with respect.
If he and his son had collaborated in kidnapping and perversion, she could probably get to the door before the old guy got the knife out from between the cushion and the cat.
“Can I come back?” “You damn well better.”
“Did you bring me candy? I require gobs of chocolate at this moment.” “I have quarters,” Anna countered. “We can get Hershey bars from the machine.” “Let’s do it,” Patsy responded, with the air of a naughty adventuress off to heist the family silver.
She’d been dating Hatch for eight months, and from what Anna could gather, was set on marrying him whether he liked it or not.
again strictly true and totally misleading—“
Every time I’d fall asleep I’d dream the phone was ringing, but it never was.
Then I gave up sleeping. I’m still not good at it, but I don’t dream. Not of anything.” This was said without a hint of self-pity. She spoke as if she told a story that she didn’t believe about a woman she didn’t like.
She wondered if his outsides were as unappealing. “Do you have any photos of him?” “I burned every goddamn one.” “Can’t say as I blame you,” Anna said.
Billy Bonham and his ghosts crossed her mind, but either they were not in attendance in this part of the hospital or she was not in the mood.
Curiosity was a greater force in the Pigeon sisters than fear.
A dead body wasn’t nearly as alarming as a spider of uncivilized dimensions.
He was looking enormously pleased with himself.
She used to be okay—not the kind that fits in, but the kind that wants to. Tries too hard.
“I’ll find out.” “Of course you will. God forbid you should just kick back, mind your own business, take in a Broadway show.”
and mischievous almost to the point of mean.
Entering the complex, Anna saw a prominent sign: NO: Ballplaying
Sitting
Standing
Eating
Playing Since it didn’t say NO Littering, she was tempted to drop the banana peel, but it went against her personal code of ethics and she had to leave the joke unmade.
Women were comfortable in the world of speculation, hard facts not so necessary for their thinking patterns.
She wished Frederick would come home. Arguing with him would be a distraction.
Civilization is eroding my morals
Strength of purpose, purity of faith and greatness of heart were qualities one did not come across every day.
Anna was going to like him a whole lot better as a friend than she ever did as a lover.
Anna looked at him. “You want me to do something,” he accused. “Something hard and boring and illegal.” “The FBI keeps a file of killers and other questionable types.”
Giving her life that others might whatever.
He was slight and old, wrinkled of skin and clothes, with eyes that bespoke a formidable intelligence.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, there’s some lint waiting to tell me many things.”
“Are you working back-to-back shifts?” Anna asked, to create the illusion she cared about him as a person.
Anna’s sense of hurry had not abated, but she was out of things to hurry and do.
People broken in their own eyes were too great a drag on the soul to be faced when not feeling particularly Herculean oneself.
“I’m a poet,” he said simply. “Working on a new one.”
She lay without moving, taking courage from the fact that there were plenty of live possums in the world.
He did not disappoint. He was strong and handsome and calm.
Working on holidays, one wasn’t required to have fun. There was no pressure, no disappointments. And she usually had a wonderful time. Park visitors fed her. She was part of a dozen parties but owed allegiance to none. If the gathering was boring, she moved on. If it was too rowdy or offensive, she arrested everybody.
Weary, sick and too sore to walk straight, she thanked Cal for saving her soggy little life
“You go. I got it under control here. I mean, I’m not dying or anything, just useless. Go now.”
“I’ll be back,” she promised. Arnold Schwarzenegger had said the same thing in Terminator 2. It sounded more convincing with the accent.
REGARDLESS OF HOW divinely inspired, New York frowned upon unauthorized persons shooting people with borrowed guns. Anna spent seven hours with three different law enforcement agencies giving statements, defending her actions, accepting congratulations, being bullied and drinking bad coffee. Drowning in polluted salt water was beginning to seem like the good old days.
Anna had thought she’d want to but found she didn’t. Living it had been enough. It wasn’t a tale of high glamour, riches gained or lost. It was a nasty little story of hatred, fear and ignorance.
April 25, 2019
May be the Best
Hardest of the Anna Pigeon series to get into but by far the best. Between the dry humor, the suspense, the information on the islands with the treasure they hold, the background story of family bonds and true love, the reader is in for a real treat.
Hardest of the Anna Pigeon series to get into but by far the best. Between the dry humor, the suspense, the information on the islands with the treasure they hold, the background story of family bonds and true love, the reader is in for a real treat.
September 14, 2022
I’m beginning to feel a certain level of disgruntlement with this series. Yeah, I know; I wrote that last night about another series. Sorry to be such a downer. I should clarify this to say the series seems to be chugging along ok, but I’m growing increasingly distant from the main character.
Anna Pigeon just seems too unapproachable, too remote, too prickly for me. I can’t figure her out. She’s capable of loving others, but wow does she seem focused on her as number one.
As the book opens, her sister is gravely ill in New York City. Anna gets a temporary transfer from out west to the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island national park so she can be closer to her apparently dying sister.
The best part of the book for me was the learning experience. I’m sure I learned more about the inner workings of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty than I would have found by visiting multiple sources. I had no idea that buildings on Ellis Island were in a state of extreme disrepair and abandonment. That’s apparently the case when this book went to press.
Because she’s a bit of a night owl, Pigeon gets acquainted with the island’s night shift—its security staff and even a group of actors who work there. On one morning as she was about to enter the city to spend time with her sister at a hospital, Anna observes a nine-year-old girl plummet to her death at the Statue of Liberty. Did the girl jump? Or did someone push her? Was the park ranger reaching for her backpack to prevent her from falling? Or did he use it to push the girl to her death??
The investigation heightens as another visitor jumps. As the details unfurl, you realize that this is a race against time. If Pigeon can’t solve this by Independence Day, only a few days distant, something dreadful will happen that will change the statue and Ellis Island irrevocably.
I’ll keep reading the series because of the things I learn about the national parks. Anna is a strange, sometimes-unpleasant person to read about, but that’s not enough to make me terminate the series early.
Anna Pigeon just seems too unapproachable, too remote, too prickly for me. I can’t figure her out. She’s capable of loving others, but wow does she seem focused on her as number one.
As the book opens, her sister is gravely ill in New York City. Anna gets a temporary transfer from out west to the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island national park so she can be closer to her apparently dying sister.
The best part of the book for me was the learning experience. I’m sure I learned more about the inner workings of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty than I would have found by visiting multiple sources. I had no idea that buildings on Ellis Island were in a state of extreme disrepair and abandonment. That’s apparently the case when this book went to press.
Because she’s a bit of a night owl, Pigeon gets acquainted with the island’s night shift—its security staff and even a group of actors who work there. On one morning as she was about to enter the city to spend time with her sister at a hospital, Anna observes a nine-year-old girl plummet to her death at the Statue of Liberty. Did the girl jump? Or did someone push her? Was the park ranger reaching for her backpack to prevent her from falling? Or did he use it to push the girl to her death??
The investigation heightens as another visitor jumps. As the details unfurl, you realize that this is a race against time. If Pigeon can’t solve this by Independence Day, only a few days distant, something dreadful will happen that will change the statue and Ellis Island irrevocably.
I’ll keep reading the series because of the things I learn about the national parks. Anna is a strange, sometimes-unpleasant person to read about, but that’s not enough to make me terminate the series early.
March 11, 2022
If you have never read a book in the Anna Pigeon series, you are in for a treat. The books take place in various national parks and feature National Park Ranger, Ann Pigeon. Anna (40ish) is smart, hardworking, dedicated to the NPS and can be funny or caustic. “No wonder man was always out to conquer Nature, Anna thought. He can’t bear it that she doesn’t love him, or even hate him. She simply doesn’t give a damn." There is mystery, suspense, intrigue and fun in every book. In an ideal world you’d read them in order but I’ve jumped around based on 1) my interest in the park, 2) availability at the library.
In Liberty Falling (book 7, pub 2009) Anna is in her 14th year working for the NPS in New York City. She has taken time off because her older sister, Molly, is gravely ill and in a NYC hospital. Anna is staying on Ellis Island with a friend, also a NPS Ranger. She spends her free time learning the islands history and exploring. When she comes upon a teenager’s broken body at the foot of Lady Liberty, Anna is compelled to determine whether the girl fell or was pushed. Her investigation becomes even more critical when, a few days later, another ranger on the island is found dead, also at the statue’s base. Did he commit suicide after having been accused of pushing the teenaged girl or was he pushed? What other treachery lurks?
Part mystery, part adventure and, as always, there is a level of detail of the park that is fascinating. I especially enjoyed reading about the history of Ellis Island (I had no idea that there were surgical hospital on site). Although not my favorite, still ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#emptynestreader #Instagram #Goodreads #facebook #LibertyFalling #NevadaBarr #BarbaraRosenblat #AnnaPigeon #audiobook #NationalParks #mystery #bookstagramalabama #bookstagrammichigan #readalittlelearnalittlelivealittle #audiobook #recordedbooks #emptynestreaderaudiobooks🎧
In Liberty Falling (book 7, pub 2009) Anna is in her 14th year working for the NPS in New York City. She has taken time off because her older sister, Molly, is gravely ill and in a NYC hospital. Anna is staying on Ellis Island with a friend, also a NPS Ranger. She spends her free time learning the islands history and exploring. When she comes upon a teenager’s broken body at the foot of Lady Liberty, Anna is compelled to determine whether the girl fell or was pushed. Her investigation becomes even more critical when, a few days later, another ranger on the island is found dead, also at the statue’s base. Did he commit suicide after having been accused of pushing the teenaged girl or was he pushed? What other treachery lurks?
Part mystery, part adventure and, as always, there is a level of detail of the park that is fascinating. I especially enjoyed reading about the history of Ellis Island (I had no idea that there were surgical hospital on site). Although not my favorite, still ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#emptynestreader #Instagram #Goodreads #facebook #LibertyFalling #NevadaBarr #BarbaraRosenblat #AnnaPigeon #audiobook #NationalParks #mystery #bookstagramalabama #bookstagrammichigan #readalittlelearnalittlelivealittle #audiobook #recordedbooks #emptynestreaderaudiobooks🎧
April 6, 2014
I was intrigued by the idea of novels written by a former Park Ranger and set in National Parks after reading about Nevada Barr's novels in the companion book to the PBS series about the history of the National Parks. My first read was set in Yosemite, and it was reasonably entertaining but had some flaws. The major interest for me was in the setting. Although I've not been to Yosemite yet, I did visit King's Canyon and Sequoia last year and they are near to Yosemite. While not wholly satisfied, I felt that the author deserved a second shot so I tried again with Liberty Falling.
While I did enjoy the details about the parks featured in Liberty Falling (Liberty Island and Ellis Island), which were especially interesting since I had visited them in 2007, I have to say that I'm now done with this series and this writer. The writing is just not as strong as it needs to be for me to go any further. Characters are limited in scope and the whole plot is very formulaic. The primary focus of this writer seems to be in describing the strange interior life of this evidently resourceful but not very interesting woman, who happens to be a Park Ranger and happens to run into evil criminal activities, unpleasant coworkers, and too obviously suspicious characters at every turn - yawn.
While I did enjoy the details about the parks featured in Liberty Falling (Liberty Island and Ellis Island), which were especially interesting since I had visited them in 2007, I have to say that I'm now done with this series and this writer. The writing is just not as strong as it needs to be for me to go any further. Characters are limited in scope and the whole plot is very formulaic. The primary focus of this writer seems to be in describing the strange interior life of this evidently resourceful but not very interesting woman, who happens to be a Park Ranger and happens to run into evil criminal activities, unpleasant coworkers, and too obviously suspicious characters at every turn - yawn.
April 11, 2015
Another comfort read from Nevada Barr. In the 7th book in this excellent series, we find our intrepid National Park ranger, Anna Pigeon, on a leave of absence, in New York, watching over her psychologist sister, Molly, who is critically ill. Anna is staying with her friend Patsy who is the chief administrator at the national park on Liberty and Ellis Islands. Even though preoccupied with her sister's health, Anna finds herself embroiled in a mysterious death on Liberty Island. The story moves along a nice pace, sometimes a bit slowly, as Anna moves between the hospital and her off-duty investigation of a young girl's death, presumed suicide. Nevada Barr knows how to string along a neat mystery and to build the tension to an exciting climax. Always entertaining to read, I enjoyed this latest installment and look forward to visiting with Anna soon to see what new National Park will find her embroiled in a mystery.
May 2, 2022
Honestly, this one was weird. Anna Pigeon belongs in the wild. Sticking her in the city made the whole thing feel forced. The pacing was awful - very boring for the first two thirds, then slam bam excitement with a fight, boat chase, near drowning, and stand-off with the baddies followed by a gun fight. Whew! It was a lot.
Also a love interest with her sister’s doctor (medical ethics be damned, I guess) who is seemingly very nice until he turns out to GASP! watch pornography at which point he’s made out to be evil. It was very weird and shamey.
Also, the plot felt really contrived, with bad guys from the Hall of Clichés.
I’d recommend skipping this one except it does introduce a game-changing development in terms of her sister’s life, so if you’re a religious Barr reader you’ll probably want to read it anyway. But you can’t say I didn’t warn you.
Also a love interest with her sister’s doctor (medical ethics be damned, I guess) who is seemingly very nice until he turns out to GASP! watch pornography at which point he’s made out to be evil. It was very weird and shamey.
Also, the plot felt really contrived, with bad guys from the Hall of Clichés.
I’d recommend skipping this one except it does introduce a game-changing development in terms of her sister’s life, so if you’re a religious Barr reader you’ll probably want to read it anyway. But you can’t say I didn’t warn you.
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