I don’t read nearly as much as I used to–not fiction, anyway. I work full-time, I’m a single mom, I’m a writer. I like sleep. That doesn’t leave much time for reading.
A smart girl, as I like to think I am, will make sure what time she has counts. I read a lot of nonfiction, studying up on how the world works to put that in my novels. I read a lot of books about writing, because I never want to stop learning.
And I read really good books that take me far from my cozy bed/dull waiting room/five minutes till the food comes from the oven.
I forget why I picked up Firestorm the first time–probably the cover. It’s pretty eye-catching. Reading the description caught my interest, and seeing that author Nevada Barr was actually a ranger sealed the deal.
A raging forest fire in California’s Lassen Volcanic National Park traps exhausted firefighters, including Ranger Anna Pigeon, in its midst. Afterward, Anna finds two from her group have been killed. One a victim of the flames. The other, stabbed through the heart. Now, as a rampaging winter storm descends, cutting the survivors off from civilization, Anna must uncover the murderer in their midst.
How could I resist? I love a locked-room mystery.
Firestorm did not disappoint. I’ve never been in the mountains of Lassen Volcanic National Park, but I feel like I have. Firestorm is one of those amazing books that takes you away. Barr has an eye for detail, and a deft hand for sticking it in without weighing down the story. The characters are carefully and realistically drawn, the plot the exact kind I like–all the clues are there, but it’ll take a more clever eye than mine to spot them the first time through.
Nevada Barr is an excellent writer, and her character Anna Pigeon a fine companion for a few hours. And I even get to claim research–I want to know how Barr does it. My description skills need work, so I’m learning from a master.