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    Track of the Cat
    Track of the Cat
    Track of the Cat
    Audiobook8 hours

    Track of the Cat

    Written by Nevada Barr

    Narrated by Barbara Rosenblat

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    From the vivid opening vista, high in craggy mountains, to the final haunting glimpse of a moonlit canyon, Nevada Barr's first mystery, Track of the Cat, instantly caught the attention of readers and reviewers. Its popularity gained it both an Agatha and an Anthony Award. The young naturalist, Anna Pigeon, has moved to the Southwest wilderness to be a park ranger. There, her days are filled with the physical demands of working in the Guadalupe Mountains and the satisfaction of living in this splendid land. Her peace is shattered one morning, though, when she discovers the body of another ranger deep in Dog Canyon. How did the usually cautious woman die? Although at first the evidence indicates an attack by a mountain lion, Anna soon suspects that there are craftier predators afoot in the wild grasses. Fast-paced suspense and sharply defined characters will immediately sweep you up in the force of this compelling mystery. By the end, you'll be nodding in satisfaction at the final twist and anticipating the next book in the Anna Pigeon series. Narrator Barbara Rosenblat's performance highlights Anna's savvy courage and determination to catch her prey.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateMar 11, 2008
    ISBN9781440782404
    Track of the Cat
    Author

    Nevada Barr

    NEVADA BARR is a novelist, actor, and artist best known for her New York Times bestselling, award-winning mystery series featuring Anna Pigeon. A former National Park Service Ranger, she currently lives with her husband in New Orleans, Louisiana.

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    Reviews for Track of the Cat

    4/5

    47 ratings15 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This is my first Nevada Barr mystery (and looks like her first too?) and I am pretty excited. She is clearly a lesbian-friendly author if nothing else since her animal-loving independent introverted kick-ass park ranger/detective heroine Anna Pidgeon has an attraction to a bisexual woman and is unfazed by it. And, the bisexual woman does not turn out to be the killer---Barr gets major points in my book for that. I love mysteries that teach me something and mysteries with a lot of atmosphere and this series has a lot of promise. There is nothing better than finding an author you like and realizing that there are a lot more books in the series!

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      From the start something irked me about the lead character, Anna Pigeon, park ranger. I think it was the hints from the beginning of a disconnect between her and people, her yearning to be solitary. This is the first in a series featuring her, so I think wanting to spend time with the character, either because she's fascinatingly complex or quirky or likable is important. The author was deft and seemingly knowledgeable about the milleu she was writing about, the West Texas wilderness. I've read Barr was herself a Park Ranger and I can believe it. The description puts you right there among the scrabble and saw-edged plants. Pigeon is making rounds in Guadalopue Mountains National Park trying to detect scat of the rare mountain lion. Then she finds the body of a fellow park ranger, Shelia Drury. And when she examines the body and finds evidence this young woman, her colleague, was mauled by a cougar, her first reaction is to damn the dead woman for being killed since it will undoubtedly result in more of the animals being hunted down and killed. Right there, on page 16, the author lost me. I guess I'm not the Sierra Club type--people who put the deaths of animals over people they know leave me cold, cold, cold. After that I just could not care about Anna Pigeon or spend another page with her.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      This series first caught my attention when I saw it was set in several different National Park Service properties. My husband and I love to visit National Parks, and have spent many a vacation and even anniversaries in one. So far, we’ve covered 14 of 58, which I don’t think is too bad seeing how we live on the east coast. What it all adds up to is me being intrigued by not only the setting of this book, but the inside look at the Park Service.Overall, I found the book to be pretty good. Anna is surely a flawed character — commitment phobic, naturally suspicious and un-trusting, borderline alcoholic, and unable to recognize friendship when she sees it — but she is still likeable. At first, she is only concerned with Sheila Drury’s death because of its impact on the mountain lions she tracks, but eventually she realizes that it’s a story much larger than that.I did have a few quibbles about the ending. I thought it all came about rather suddenly, like all of the pieces in Anna’s head clicked at once and she had the answer. I was a bit sad about who the culprit turned out to be, but I thought the ending wasn’t taken quite far enough. I would have liked at least an epilogue to tie up the loose ends.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Not much twists and no real red herring. Unconvincing motive and actions.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I've been reading the Anna Pigeon series forever it seems, but in no particular order. Then I picked up a paperback copy of one I hadn't read at a book sale and just realized it was the very first Anna Pigeon mystery. I can't believe I had never read it before.In Track of the Cat Anna is a fairly new National Park Ranger stationed at Guadalupe Mountains National Park in West Texas. She had become a ranger after her husband died in an accident in New York. Being far from that city and living in a beautiful natural setting helps, but of course doesn't bring her husband back. She still mourns.As the story begins, Anna is completing a transect of the park looking for signs of mountain lions. Ranchers just outside the park are always complaining that lions from the park are killing their livestock, and the ranchers want to be able to hunt them. Anna loves the animals, and the park periodically does these transects to see if and where the cats are; they also have banded some of them. Anna comes to McKittrick Canyon and finds the body of another female ranger, apparently killed by a mountain lion.Those of us who know Anna well know that she is a loner. When she needs to talk, she calls her sister, a psychiatrist in New York City. In this book though she makes a friend, which causes difficulty because the friend is also a suspect in the killing. You see, the ranger wasn't killed by a mountain lion. She was murdered.That's all I'm going to tell you because this is every bit as good a story as the rest of the series. Once you read that first page, you're hooked and won't put the book down until the end. I always recommend Nevada Barr for readers who like strong women protagonists and masterful descriptions of nature, as well as witty internal dialogue. If you aren't an Anna Pigeon follower, please look for Nevada Barr in your local library or bookstore.
    • 3/5
      Nevada Barr's Track of the Cat, is the first book in her Anna Pidgeon series. Set against the arid backdrop of the Guadaloupe Mountains in West Texas, Track of the Cat follows park Ranger Anna Pidgeon as she tries to unravel a murder plot. Seeking the solitude and healing powers of nature after the accidental death of her husband in New York, Anna has come to the Guadaloupe Mountain National Park to work as a Ranger. While searching for traces of the elusive mountain lion, Anna discovers the body of fellow Ranger Shelia Drury, an apparent victim of a puma attack. Appearances can be deceiving however, and as she begins to really look at the evidence, Anna discovers that there may be more to Shelia's death that meets the eye. Will Anna discover the truth before the Park Service issues death warrants on the area cougars?I actually picked up Track of the Cat for the first time about 14 years ago. As a teenager I couldn't really get into it, but as an adult, the imagery of the West Texas desert enchanted me. The stark description of Guadalopue Mountains National Park is magnificent - the punishing heat of the Texas desert, the beauty of the pristine mountains and canyons - I could feel the rocks crunching beneath my feet as I followed Anna throughout the park. I am a born-and-bred Texan, but I live in Southeast Texas. I've never physically been that far West, but I felt as though I was there while reading this book!As a character, Anna Pidgeon was compelling and interesting. Possibly as a result of her career as a National Park Ranger, Nevada Barr has created a unique and believable character in Anna. She is a flawed, "real" character, making her feel like a friend, rather than just a character in a book. It is easy to put yourself in her shoes and follow the clues. I have always enjoyed reading and learning about nature, and it was fascinating to follow Anna and see what the job of a Ranger entails.Track of the Cat was promising, but didn't quite deliver. The progression of events was good, but the ending just fell flat. All of the big "unveiling" of the murderer happened at the very end of the book, and then... nothing. Did the murderer go to jail? Did he survive his injuries? What happened with the missing mountain lions? What about the ranchers? Did Anna get a promotion or a medal or something for figuring it all out? Agh! I need a tidier ending than this! As it is just the first book in a series that currently numbers 15, I'm going to give it another chance. I'll read on a couple of more books in the series and hope for the best.Don't be discouraged from picking up Track of the Cat based on my 3-star review. If GoodReads allowed it, this is one book that would receive 3 1/2 stars from me, but I'm erring on the side of being a stingy beyotch and just giving it 3.
    • 4/5
      I am always looking for more mystery writers. I seem to be drawn to strong female protagonists with a bit of an unconventional point of view. I am very happy to have discovered Nevada Barr. Her protagonist is a New York City widow who runs away and joins the National Park Service. Although the Texas desert seems to be as far away from the Big Apple as it could be, it still contains a similar number of people who are trying to cut corners and gain financial advantage from illegal activities.Although there are a certain number of rough spots in the descriptions and narrative, overall this is a very strong first novel. The unpleasant characters are not always the murderous ones. I am looking forward to more books in this series.
    • 3/5
      Good read, learned a lot about an area of the country I have never visited.
    • 5/5
      I cannot think of anything bad to say about this book. The characters are intriguing, richly drawn, and hold one's interest, especially Anna. The scenic descriptions are lush and ring with the authenticity of an author who knows her parks. The pace is good, and the scrapes the heroine gets into seem realistic to me (even though a blurb in my copy says, Nevada Barr can take the most improbable plot and turn it into a fascinating foray..., faint praise if I've ever heard it). On top of that, the puzzle is legitimate and there are enough clues to give the reader a sense of accomplishment for solving it.Generally I reserve five-star rankings for books that are life-changing, but it occurred to me that, with the exception of Harry Potter, I hadn't seen a new one of those in at least ten or fifteen years, and Track of the Cat is a compelling mystery.
    • 2/5
      Was recommended to me. Didn't care for it. Only o.k. at best.
    • 4/5
      This is the first book in Barr's long(!) series of Anna Pigeon mysteries. Set in the West Texas desert in Guadalupe National Park, this book overruns with beautiful descriptions of the natural wonders of the desert and features details on the wildlife and vegetation living there. I actually wanted to go visit Anna's beloved mountains to see them for myself, until I remembered that I don't travel very far from an air conditioner. :P The lonely prose of the book reflects how lonely Anna's world is, and I found myself rooting for her to finally make some friends. Reflecting her emotional constipation, all her interactions with other characters in the book are stilted, with the dialogue not flowing quite how it should. I'm not sure if this is an effort of the author to make Anna's social ineptness more visible to the reader, but I found myself having a hard time following sometimes. The ending also left several unanswered questions that bothered me when I finished. But I guess the fact that I'm irritated with the ending means that Barr's characters connected with me enough that I wanted to know more about them. :) I would give this a shot if youre a fan of
    • 3/5
      After reading later novels in the Anna Pigeon series, it was nice to start at the beginning and get to know Anna when she was starting her national park career. She is more vulnerable and volatile in this early time than in the later. She is less tolerant of politics and personalities. She is more ruthless, single-minded and uncompromising. In later books, she has learned the art of diplomacy, so in this one it’s Anna’s way or the highway. And at this point in her life, it works. All she wants to be is a park ranger, to protect the species she holds dear and alone. She relishes her time in the backcountry because she is solitary.
    • 4/5
      I am a huge mystery fan, and I have a great love of nature. The National Parks of America are among some of the places I love to visit the most. Therefore the Nevada Barr series featuring a National Park Ranger who solves crimes seems the perfect match for me. In The Track of the Cat, Ranger Anna Pigeon is stationed in the Guadalupe Mountains of West Texas, and in this beautiful setting she stumbles upon a body of a fellow ranger who appears to have been mauled to death by a puma.I enjoyed this first entry in her series, even though I figured out who the bad guy was pretty quickly. I love the setting, and the main character, Anna seems to be a sensible, down to earth type, still recovering from the accidental death of her husband. I was also interested to read about the inner workings of the National Park System.This was a good introduction to a promising mystery series and I intend to follow Anna Pigeon to her various postings in the scenic National Parks of America.
    • 5/5
      Anna Pigeon tries to save mountain lions; two murders; takes place in west Texas.
    • 5/5
      Firsst 6 or so were excellent and couldn't wait to get them. Now not very enthusiastic. She is still good, but there are others I enjoy more.