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Summary and Reviews of Hunting Season by Nevada Barr

Hunting Season by Nevada Barr

Hunting Season

by Nevada Barr
  • Critics' Consensus:
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  • First Published:
  • Feb 1, 2002, 320 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Feb 2003, 352 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

Tightly plotted, brilliantly suspenseful, and beautifully written, Hunting Season offers solid evidence that mankind can be as unpredictable and dangerous as the great outdoors.

When Anna answers a call to historic Mt. Locust, once a producing plantation and inn on Mississippi’s Natchez Trace Parkway and now a tourist spot, the last thing she expects to encounter is murder. But the man Anna finds in the stand’s old bedroom is no tourist in distress. He’s nearly naked, and very dead, his body bearing marks consistent with an S&M ritual gone awry. On a writing table nearby is an open Bible, ominous passages circled in red.

It seems the deceased is the brother of Raymond Barnette, local undertaker and a candidate for sheriff, who wants to keep any hint of kinkiness out of the minds of the God-fearing populace. Ray may be hiding a house full of secrets in the old family homestead, but before Anna can start her investigation, she’s waylaid by malevolent poachers, peevish coworkers, and a suddenly turbulent romantic life. And when hidden agendas and old allegiances are revealed, it’s suddenly Anna’s life that’s on the line.

Tightly plotted, brilliantly suspenseful, and beautifully written, Hunting Season offers solid evidence that mankind can be as unpredictable and dangerous as the great outdoors.

The priest was droning on inexorably toward "till death do us part," and Anna began to get nervous. At some point over the years, the well-worn phrase had come to feel more like a sinister threat than a romantic promise.

Death had parted Anna from her husband years before, sudden and pointless death delivered by a cab driver on Ninth Avenue in Manhattan. Judging from the internal damage to Zach's body, the NYPD accident investigator estimated the cab was traveling at fifty to sixty miles per hour on a city street. The impact had knocked Zach out of his shoes. They were found, still laced, sixty feet from his body, a detail Anna hadn't needed to know then and didn't like remembering now.

Nearly a hundred people had witnessed the accident; a baker's dozen stayed to tell their story to the police. No one had gotten the cab's license plate number. No one heard the squeal of brakes. There were no marks on the asphalt to indicate the cabbie had tried to stop or ...

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Reviews

Media Reviews

People Magazine
Readers familiar with Barr's entertaining national park mystery series know that Anna rarely finds tranquility in God's country. Her fans can only be grateful that there are still plenty of national parks left for Anna Pigeon to visit.

Booklist
Starred Review. This latest entry in Barr's popular series marks a definite return to form after the disappointing Blood Lure. The edgy, fast-paced tale generates plenty of tension, making the most of several nighttime crimes, and Barr does a good job of developing the character of Anna, adding romance to the mix and giving the ranger plenty of opportunity to display her slightly dark, off-center wit.

Kirkus Reviews
Barr's tenth [is] as inventive, as ingenious, and finally as riveting as the very best...

Reader Reviews

Ron


An exciting and suspenseful story with a strong cast of characters.
I recommend highly !

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Read-Alikes

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    Set in the wilds of Maine, this is an explosive tale of an estranged son thrust into the hunt for a murderous fugitive---his own father. A sterling debut of literary suspense. Taut and engrossing, it represents the first in a series featuring Mike Bowditch.

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