Winter Study

by Nevada Barr

Book Overview

Anna Pigeon returns?in the remarkable new novel from the New York Times?bestselling writer. It is January, and Park Ranger Anna Pigeon is sent to Isle Royale in Lake Superior to learn about managing and understanding wolves, as her home base of Rocky Mountain National Park might soon have their own pack of the magnificent, much-maligned animals. She?s housed in the island?s bunkhouse with the famed wolf study team, along with two scientists from Homeland...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399154582
• ISBN13: 9780399154584
• Release Date: April 2008
• Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons
• Length: 370 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.3" x 9.3"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Reading any Nevada Barr novel is like watching Travel Channel on steroids

The Winter Study and title of Nevada Barr's latest intriguing thriller is a scientific expedition to gather information about diminishing wolf/moose population in Isle Royale National Park on an island in Lake Superior, near the Canadian border. "Blood flew like a flock of cardinals over the ice," when removing by ax for scientific examination the head of a moose that had just died. There are only two things of which one can be certain: death and an intriguing murder mystery by Nevada Barr. Winter Study is set as a study of moose and wolves, but it is more an instrument to explore the animal in each of us than the animals mentioned in the Study. Winter Study is a study of human psychology, the human condition, an introspective evaluation of id, a study of interactions between people in close quarters. Members of the Study are isolated on a frozen island and at times share space so close in a tent that "boots had to be left outside". With a conceivable stretch of the imagination, a small group of people can be tossed together in cubicles at the office, on a travel tour bus, at a family gathering. How one tries to dominate is as evident in Winter Study as it is in Lord Of The Flies, or in this election year, how candidates claw out each other's eyes to vie for votes. At first, it appears that members of the Study are considerate of each other, but appearances are deceiving. Living in subtropical South Florida, it's difficult to imagine consummate cold, but with beautiful imagery, Barr describes one lanky character as "a scarecrow in an arctic Oz, cold so vicious and unrelenting, it felt personal." On a research outing, "a heater that did not deserve the name was a recipe for misery, if not frostbite," and members of the Winter Study group "wear more layers than an onion." Observing a snow-covered meadow, weeds "poked up through winter's thin skin like old men's chin stubble." When protagonist Anna Pigeon is unsure she can tolerate abject cold on an outing and another member of the Study appears to have less fortitude, Barr observes, "It was far better to be graciously considerate of a weak link than to have to admit to being one." However, "Aggressively avoiding a topic broadcasts just how emotionally charged that topic is." Reading any Nevada Barr novel is like watching Travel Channel on steroids, each an education of environment peculiar to that location. As to wolves in the Study, Barr observes, "Wolves' reputation as cold-blooded killers of little girls in red capes was unearned." The wolves, like members of the Study, cling to each other for survival but in one flashback, the pack turns on one as a group and relentlessly torments it. As to humans similarly treating their own kind, one need read no further than Shirley Jackson's The Lottery. Who hasn't endured a gauntlet of abuse by bullies at school, or subtle abuse at work? As for members of the Study, subtle clues channel the attentive reader as to the identity of those who meet an ill-

Reviewing: Winter Study

Anna Pigeon is back at Isle Royale in Lake Superior. The last time she was here it was summer and those events occurred in the book titled "A Superior Death." This time it is January and the island park is far different and not just because it is in the deep winter and closed to visitors. This time around she has been sent to observe the wolf study group in action. With the fact that her current home park of Rocky Mountain National Park is slated to have wolves reintroduced to the park, District Ranger Anna Pigeon needs to learn all she can. The study has been going on for fifty years effectively making sure that the park remains closed every winter so as not to disturb the wolves. That might be changing as Homeland Security is interested in opening the park year around to help seal the border. The theory being that increased traffic means increased security and the park and its creatures will just have to adjust. But, if there is a compelling reason to keep the study group going, beyond the usual justifications, then the bureaucrats at Homeland Security won't get their way. That political undercurrent is at work in the team along with other forces Anna can't identify. Anna also can't explain or identify why the three wolf packs are behaving so strangely right after her arrival in January. Beyond the strange wolf prints, the abnormal wolf scat, the shape Anna may or may not have seen from the study team plane, there are other things happening. Events that begin to lead to deaths of the survey team members. As the body count climbs and the count of survivors shrinks, Anna is pushed to her limits in an epic battle to survive. This latest in the long running series is Nevada Barr's best in years. Featuring a cast of dysfunctional people, including Anna herself, under extreme weather conditions, Nevada Barr details one step at a time how otherwise competent people begin to crack under the constant strain. Some see this work as a locked room mystery set in the great outdoors. For this reader, the novel is more about how thin the veneer of civilization is and how easily it becomes to justify any action necessary to survive or excel. Routinely comparing her physical limits now to the past when she was far younger, this is a more introspective Anna Pigeon, newly married and missing her husband. Nevada Barr has her frequently referring to the aging process and how the physical toll of the job, whether in the park on routine business or the events here, are taking a harder and harder toll as she ages. Instead of whining about it as it has seemed in the past, this is an Anna who not only has accepted the aging process, but frequently thinks that the younger generation has missed out on so much from a cultural and life experience standpoint. While there is always the suspicion in Anna's mind that there is a rational explanation for everything, it doesn't take long for her or readers to begin thinking otherwise. This is an Anna that is more at pe

Action Packed Adventure

Nevada Barr is back with her signature blend of mystery and nature writing. In this fourteenth book of the Anna Pigeon mystery series, Winter Study takes the park ranger back to Isle Royal in Lake Superior during the coldest part of winter. Here Anna will learn about studying and managing wolves, as they are fast becoming part of her life in her permanent post at Rocky Mountain National Park. What was to be a simple (but cold) few weeks' walk in the park quickly becomes a deadly trap where one starting-to-notice-her-age ranger, two scientists, some agents from Homeland Security, and the National Park's support personnel have no way to get support or to leave the island. In the frozen wilderness, these seven people only have each other to depend on--or be afraid of. After only a day, the thoughts running through Anna's mind are: "A crazy-making current was running through the island. That a wog had manifested, a windigo died at their feet and a wolf been slaughtered didn't completely account for it. The unreasoning fear of children raised on fairy tales where wolves had an overweaning penchant for evil trickled under saner thoughts....a dozen other wolf researchers had spent decades debunking this myth, but there was no rooting out the ogres of childhood. Fear was the yeast stirred into the mix of human dysfunctions, a catalyst that could spin them out of control. Fear was the difference between neurosis and insanity." Now, one scientist is dead, and Ranger Pigeon has her closest brush with death so far. She has to investigate before someone else dies. Sometimes only the thought of her new husband waiting back home gives her enough strength to carry on with the investigation. Barr's descriptive power and love of nature brings the natural world alive with her wide-ranging experience in national parks and her curiosity about the challenges faced by wildlife biologists. All this mixed together with the complexity of her oh-so-human characters makes for a chilling mystery that will keep you absorbed to the end. by Rhonda Esakov for Story Circle Book Reviews reviewing books by, for, and about women

Welcome back Nevada/Anna

Loved the book, the title, the suspense and of course loved Anna ! However, instead of reading this tale as fast as I could I had to force myself to take the time to read it slowly. I needed to make the story last and savor every page and adventure of Anna's since she has been gone from the pages for awhile. It was great to be with Ranger Anna and her nail-biting escapades. She, as always, gets her man with her smarts and death defying plans with a little black humor to temper it all into another wonderful read. Welcome back !!

Excellent "closed door" whodunit

District Ranger Anna Pigeon of Rocky Mountains National Park is going to have wolves in the park; to know what to expect she is sent to Isle Royale in Lake Superior where scientists have been studying the wolves in their natural habitat for fifty years. They can work without tourists around as the park is closed for several moths due to dangerous weather. Homeland Security would like the park opened year round as it is on the Canadian border; they send Bob Menchinn to determine the feasibility. Strange things are happening on the isolated island beginning with Anna's first night there. A group of seven wolves walk by the cabin where Anna and the winter study group resides. This anomaly shakes everyone as wolves normally avoid humans. Anna sees a giant wolf almost twice the size of a normal sized wolf and humongous paw prints. They think it is a wolf/dog hybrid and soon afterward an assistant is mauled to death by the wolves, which have no reported history of assaulting humans. The words "help me" appear on an ice coated window. Anna knows something is wrong and begins investigating just before another scientist disappears in what looks like a kidnapping; making her inquiries even more urgent. A new Anna Pigeon mystery is a treat for fans of the series who expect the best from Nevada Barr and gets it with this strong "closed door" whodunit in a wintry outdoors setting. As Anna digs into the lives of the scientists and their aides, she uncovers dark secrets and blackmail, hidden agendas and ties to a cold (pun intended) case. Readers will enjoy armchair trekking with Anna as she seeks the truth allegedly of a killer wolf stalking humans. Harriet Klausner