Point Last Seen: A Woman Tracker's Story

by Hannah Nyala

The author recounts how her experience of being stalked by her abusive husband led to a job with a National Park Service search-and-rescue team, and explores the logistics, ideology, and cultural significance of "tracking."

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Adventure

168 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1996

About the author

Hannah Nyala's experience as a Search and Rescue tracker in the United States brings a gritty realism and emotional depth to the action-packed fictional adventures of Tally Nowata. Her previous Tally Nowata novel, Leave No Trace, is available from Pocket Books, as is her highly acclaimed memoir, Point Last Seen, which was made into a CBS-TV movie starring Linda Hamilton. She is currently at work on her next Tally Nowata novel. Visit her website at www.pointlastseen.com.

Reviews

[Maricruz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Desde luego es comprensible esperar que un libro escrito por alguien que se dedica a rastrear a personas perdidas sea una lectura trepidante y llena de anécdotas. Pero estas memorias no son exactamente así y a mí me parece estupendo que no lo sean. Es una historia con un tono más meditativo, que habla acerca de cosas como lo difícilmente transmisible que es el arte de rastrear y cómo depende de entrenar la propia percepción, o como el amor por la naturaleza de alguien criado en un ambiente rural no es exactamente el mismo del de un ecologista urbano (y cuán frecuentemente este último mira con desdén al otro). Estas son las cosas que, después de meses de haberlo leído, perduran en mi memoria. Por supuesto, también recuerdo la tremenda historia de maltrato machista que sufrió la autora. Pero sobre todo lo que recuerdo es el modo de narrar como de mirada forzosamente clara, de esas ocasiones en que tienes que tener la cabeza muy serena para no sucumbir al miedo y cometer algún error. Puede que sea deformación profesional (tienes que ser muy metódico y tener temple para ser rastreador), puede que sea algo temperamental, puede que sea el resultado de un proceso de aprendizaje o de todas esas cosas juntas, pero sea como sea me ha caído muy bien Hannah Nyala y su tono claro y tan poco amigo de intentar embellecer las cosas. Si alguna vez me pierdo, cosa bastante probable dado mi escaso sentido de orientación, que me busque alguien como Hannah Nyala, y cuando me encuentren, que me cuenten la búsqueda como la contaría ella.

[Kurt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have often puzzled over how to express what makes a memoir different from an autobiography. Reading Hannah Nyala's POINT LAST SEEN has helped solve this for me. A memoir is jazz to a biography's pop song. A biography suffers from a predictable structure, often the story is so familiar that you can tap your feet to what you haven't read yet. But a memoir, drawn from a life in fits and starts, the structure is often an improvisation on memory and emotion. There is no timeline of familiar rhythms, but a shifting focus from important memory to important emotion and then playing until they find each other. This is the case with Nyala's memoir presenting her attempt to escape a violent and controlling husband and somehow forge a new identity from the one that had been beaten black and blue into oblivion. This is not a blow by blow telling of that relationship, but instead she only refers to it as it inevitably creeps back into her life. She does not dwell on it, but neither can she escape it. The law is on her husband's side so he retains their two children--giving them and taking them as he pleases to express his control. As part of rebuilding, Nyala picks up one piece of herself at a time. She rediscovers her love for the outdoors, the healing power of nature. In this environment, she begins tracking (as in search & rescue for a national park) partly because it comes naturally to her and also because it requires intense focus--taking her mind and body away from her pain. The physical landscape is described with such a loving eye for natural detail, that the ground she covered is still seared into my memory as if I had been there for a hundred years and the desert sands are still in the creases of my clothes. The story is seldom a happy one but remains compelling. Memory and emotion playing off each other, drawing us in breathlessly then allowing us to breath. She writes with a clear voice, unfettered by rationalization or second guessing or blame. Like the tracks she follows, they are just there to be followed until we reach an understanding. Hannah Nyala carries us and that burden well.

[Calcitrix · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was haunting and lingered with me for a long time after I read it. The scenery was unfamiliar to me (Joshua Tree National Park) and yet the descriptions put me right there with the author.

This is based on a true story. Hannah Nyala and her children ran from an abusive husband and moved from place to place as he followed them. Finally she settles in southern California and becomes a tracker for the National Park System. The details of her work intermingle with her past, and the narrative moves along at a good pace.

[Chana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a book that is written by a writer, that seems evident, as the story is choppy, inconsistent and leaves quite a few questions. That is partly because it is true; not a fiction, not a smoothly thought out story. It is the story, told out of order and in random bits, of a woman's life. Reading it is like spending time with a grieving friend who is coughing up pieces of her sorrow as they come to her mind. But don't get the idea that this book is not powerful. I was shaking with impotent rage at our justice system as I read this story. I was crying for her innocent children who were completely at the mercy of a madman with no one to help them. I wondered about that madman's history. How did he turn out this way? Was that from being raised in that church that they belonged to? I thought a lot about how the author's grandmother, parents and religious and southern upbringing may have contributed to her acceptance of the terrible abuse she suffered. I wanted the Hollywood ending where "formerly abused woman tracker uses her newfound skills to find her children, track down her abusive ex-husband, and blow him away in some isolated desert spot." I did not want to hear her say, "...there are many excellent reasons for staying with an abusive man--and not one completely positive reason for leaving. When you leave things almost always get much worse, and sometimes they stay that way for a very long time." But leave she does, and makes a life for herself and her children. The Justice System was extremely slow and incompetent in helping this woman and her children. It is almost shocking that they have survived
Much of the book is about tracking, which is something the author learns in early childhood and returns to as an adult, sometimes as a career and sometimes as self-defense. It is a fascinating skill.

[Katelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️!

TW: domestic violence, stalking, child abuse

This one was hard to read, mostly because it’s a true story. Hannah and her children endured horrific abuse from the man that should have loved and protected them. What’s worse is that she did everything by the book, but several systems failed her continuously. Thank God that they are alive and well today.

Hannah’s perspective and attitude on the other side of abuse is surprising; she truly believes there is good in everyone, even in her abuser(s) and authorities who failed her. My heart breaks for what she and her children have been through; at the same time, I am inspired that she continues to pursue life and hope.

Hannah paints beautiful word pictures of nature, having been part of it most of her life, from her childhood in the woods of southern Mississippi, to being a tracker on the search and rescue team in Joshua Tree national park, to studying tracking in Namibia. She also draws parallels to tracking and life lessons. There are so many great quotes and analogies throughout.

My only complaint with this book would be the timeline. I think it would be easier to follow (see what I did there) if it was chronological. It jumped back and forth and sideways through 20 years. I had to go back and look at the dates sometimes to make sure I was in the right time period. Other than that, it’s a heavy but important read!

Hannah, if you read this, I am so glad that you and your children are safe. You are so brave, even though you don’t like the spotlight on you, it’s the truth. God loves you, though people in your life have blatantly manipulated that truth to suit their own agendas. I am so sorry that you were taken advantage of by so many that should have been the ones to love and protect you. Thank you for writing this book. 🙏

[Esme · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book left me with a lot of questions. It was just not that well structured. I think a good editor could have coaxed out more of the story and ordered it so it was more suspenseful, while still remaining true to what happened to the author. It was a case of: if the gun is put on the mantle in act one, it better go off in act three. Not the case here, we have a well-trained human tracker, whose homicidal and violently abusive ex-husband takes the children from her for long periods of time. All she says about that is, "I couldn't afford a lawyer." I'm sure she must have been frantically working to get them back the entire time, right? She doesn't go into that, so the reader is left with the impression that she's doing nothing proactive to help her children the entire time they are gone. The passage of time was not well delineated. How long were the children gone, where was she? How old was she? How long before she remarried? Did she have any family support? (Could her parents not chip in and help to pay for that lawyer?)

I found the parts of the book where Nyala discussed how to track to be fascinating, and her commitment to learning the art was incredible. I would never have the patience to revisit a blade of grass mashed by a shoe every day for months to see how it recovered.

As I was reading I kept thinking, "Wow, this story would have made a great novel."

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hannah Nyala has worked for the National Park Service as a tracker, called out when someone is lost. Her book gives a fascinating look inside this world; her training and her practicing; her nervousness at being given the lead, as a relative neophyte, in the search for a little girl. Interwoven throughout is the story of her life, her escape from a domestic violence situation and the unnerving knowledge that she and her children were always being tracked by her ex-husband. Ms. Nyala marries the two situations deftly in her writing. I was a little disappointed because the book didn't match my expectations. I thought it would be about countless searching experiences but there are really only two. However, her writing is solid and skillful.

[Lenie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes you will encounter great finds that will surely captivated your heart. And an unknown force will touch your heart and directed you towards the endearing beyond. This story hooked me to the point where the character was playing realistic inside. Rachel is the best manifestation of a hero with great determination and the combination of guts and intuition are the tools to find what you are looking for. "If you're lost, you should just sit. You have to see the bad and the good to see the truth..." Sit down things come done....oh Linda Hamilton my top favorite did it well on the movie adaptation. The lady tracker full of courage and compassion . Danke.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard the interview of the author on NPR and searched out a copy of her memoir, published 20 years ago. It's the quiet and thoughtful memoir of a woman stalked by her abusive ex-husband and the story of a woman who manages her pain and fear by becoming a tracker for the Forest Service. The two stories are interwoven and go back and forth in time. At the beginning of the book, Nyala says that it is written about a tracker, not an abused woman, but it seemed equally both stories. She talks about the American legal system and the more recent changes that finally allowed some freedom for her and her children.

[Kristine Humphrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me awhile to get through this short book, which is a memoir by the author recounting her work as a tracker interspersed with commentary on her abusive relationship. What she has endured is appalling and heart breaking. Her work as a tracker is interesting to hear in detail. The back and forth makes it difficult to feel a clear "flow" from start to finish at times, though her purpose appears to be to connect themes throughout. But just because her style didn't work for me, who am I to comment on her memoir? She's been through hell and has grown, adapted, learned, and redefined safety over and over....so, mostly, I hope that this is the story Hannah Nyala intended it to be.

[Duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sad memoir revolving around a woman's experience of ongoing domestic violence and intimidation. An interesting perspective about our place in nature (or Nature?). At 160 pages, a good length and not drawn out or overly long, just long enough.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

This little memoir had lots of potential and the writing is solid, but .... The author declares early on that is a story about tracking, not domestic violence (her husband is evil), yet she tells only two tracking stories and shares platitudes ad nauseam. It’s a domestic violence story.

[Websterdavid3 · Rating 5 out of 5]

HIghly recommended. The story of a skilled tracker and anthropologist who was also being stalked by a murderous ex-husband. How to keep your child and self safe. How to find lost humans before they die in the desert. Lyrical

[Larry R · Rating 5 out of 5]

An engaging story that speaks to the refuge that I find in the great outdoors. I read it over 20 years ago and still remember it well. Given my lousy memory that's saying something.

[Abby Schwartz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked learning about the tracking, but overall wasn't the most engaging story.

[Amy Brus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. And I like how she explained how tracking really works. And definitely how she explained being stalked/tracked worked into that.

[Lucas Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Decent but not what I was expecting to read

[Vince Gotera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hannah Nyala's Point Last Seen is a tremendous nonfiction book told by a search-and-rescue tracker who's also an escaped battered wife and mother. So while she tracks other people to save them, she is also being tracked by her ex-husband for violent reasons. The idea of tracking and paying attention to the smallest of signs becomes a memorable metaphor for life, for living. The amazing wisdom Nyala shares in the book comes directly from her double-edged experience with tracking as well as her life-long interest in Nature.

I've noticed that online reviews (and once or twice print reviews) refer to Nyala as a naive writer. I disagree. She tells her story out of chronological order because she wants us to feel her sense of imbalance while living through those events. Her diction and expression are sometimes unusual not because she is naive but rather because she is poetic. Read this book. It's a page-turner ... wise and wonderful.

[Michaela · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I enjoyed the book's theme of overcoming adversity in this true storm of an amazing woman tracker, I have to admit that I think the movie (with Linda Hamilton) did a better job of conveying the message. That the true events of people getting lost, is an analogy for people who get lost in life. That we have to look for the little signs to find our way back, and often we have to just be patient and wait. The things Hannah Nyala and her children went through were gut-wrenching, but they did come through and survive to move on to happier lives.

[Mel Flowers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always loved stories about survival and it was very interesting to see the story coming from someone on the other end of survival. She was one that helps people survive while surviving an abusive relationship herself. You really feel like you know Hannah by the end of this. Her knowledge of her occupation is very interesting and captivating as well. I look forward to reading other books by Hannah Nyala in the near future.

[Glen Coco · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing could be better--Nyala is very dry and to-the-point--but this is a fascinating story. If you're at all interested in how someone tracks a person who goes missing in a national park, read this!

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding! Nyala is able to weave her personal story together with an incredible amount of information about tracking that I had never encountered before. Zipped right through it and couldn't put it down.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is still with me six months after reading it. The subtext is about the darkness that can haunt and control a family, but the reward is the strength to come after.

[Lexi Wachtveitl · Rating 2 out of 5]

"This book is about tracking. Not domestic violence." Every single page of this book had details of the abuse she suffered. Interesting read, however not what I was expecting. I felt as if she was trying to squeeze so much information in 192 pages. Therefore, the book seemed rushed, and bounced around a lot and was hard to follow at times.