Andrew K. (kuligowskiandrewt) -
Nevada Barr has developed a tried-and-true pattern of storytelling with the novels featuring her fan-favorite protagonist, National Park Service veteran Anna Pigeon. She also tries to stretch the boundaries on that style, lest the reader (and, I'm sure, the author) get complacent or bored.
In Boar Island, the19th Anna Pigeon novel, Ms. Barr runs parallel stories. One involves a cyber-stalker menacing Anna's goddaughter, while the other addresses a murder just outside of the boundaries of Maine's Acadia National Park, where Anna has 3 weeks of temporary duty. Both tales are told from a different perspective the former, a traditional "whodunnit" (albeit in the computer age), while the latter is a "we KNOW who did it, now how do they get identified and caught", a style familiar to viewers of the late Peter Falk's Columbo television show.
Both stories successfully stand alone; it feels almost like an episode of the old Love Boat series where we are watching two independent tales being played out, albeit with a common protagonist rather than shared supporting characters. When one stops to consider how many parallel stories each of us participate in on a daily basis in real-life, this concept brings a very true-to-life aspect to the novel. Typically in novels, when parallel stories are introduced, they turn out to be two heads of the same Hydra. In this case, while it is impossible to totally separate them given the common protagonist and the small area where both are occurring, they stay remarkably separated through most of the book (I won't say all maybe they end up being tied together after all, maybe they don't, no spoilers here.) Oh yeah, and those of you who read the books to find out how Anna can be injured during the investigation will not be disappointed.
I had a few issues with the "suspense" and "background" aspect of the novel. They felt too drawn out to me bringing a sensation of boredom rather than background, and impatience rather than suspense. Mind you, this could be a factor of the narrator (or director) of the audio version I "read", OR the simple fact that I only had a 2 week loan on the book from the library with no renewals, and had a ticking clock hanging over my head to get it finished and returned. OR perhaps the author took some necessary plot points and simply overdid them and I happened to be particularly sensitive to the overworking.
I did like the author relocating most of the action to Acadia National Park one of the jewels of the National Park Service that I've actually had the privilege of visiting. Her descriptions of both the Park and nearby Bar Harbor provided some pleasant reminiscing.
RATING: 4 stars.
In Boar Island, the19th Anna Pigeon novel, Ms. Barr runs parallel stories. One involves a cyber-stalker menacing Anna's goddaughter, while the other addresses a murder just outside of the boundaries of Maine's Acadia National Park, where Anna has 3 weeks of temporary duty. Both tales are told from a different perspective the former, a traditional "whodunnit" (albeit in the computer age), while the latter is a "we KNOW who did it, now how do they get identified and caught", a style familiar to viewers of the late Peter Falk's Columbo television show.
Both stories successfully stand alone; it feels almost like an episode of the old Love Boat series where we are watching two independent tales being played out, albeit with a common protagonist rather than shared supporting characters. When one stops to consider how many parallel stories each of us participate in on a daily basis in real-life, this concept brings a very true-to-life aspect to the novel. Typically in novels, when parallel stories are introduced, they turn out to be two heads of the same Hydra. In this case, while it is impossible to totally separate them given the common protagonist and the small area where both are occurring, they stay remarkably separated through most of the book (I won't say all maybe they end up being tied together after all, maybe they don't, no spoilers here.) Oh yeah, and those of you who read the books to find out how Anna can be injured during the investigation will not be disappointed.
I had a few issues with the "suspense" and "background" aspect of the novel. They felt too drawn out to me bringing a sensation of boredom rather than background, and impatience rather than suspense. Mind you, this could be a factor of the narrator (or director) of the audio version I "read", OR the simple fact that I only had a 2 week loan on the book from the library with no renewals, and had a ticking clock hanging over my head to get it finished and returned. OR perhaps the author took some necessary plot points and simply overdid them and I happened to be particularly sensitive to the overworking.
I did like the author relocating most of the action to Acadia National Park one of the jewels of the National Park Service that I've actually had the privilege of visiting. Her descriptions of both the Park and nearby Bar Harbor provided some pleasant reminiscing.
RATING: 4 stars.
