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    Destroyer Angel: An Anna Pigeon Novel
    Destroyer Angel: An Anna Pigeon Novel
    Destroyer Angel: An Anna Pigeon Novel
    Audiobook11 hours

    Destroyer Angel: An Anna Pigeon Novel

    Written by Nevada Barr

    Narrated by Barbara Rosenblat

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Anna Pigeon, a ranger for the U.S. Park Services, sets off on vacation—an autumn canoe trip in the to the Iron Range in upstate Minnesota. With Anna is her friend Heath, a paraplegic; Heath's fifteen-year-old daughter, Elizabeth; Leah, a wealthy designer of outdoor equipment; and her daughter, Katie, who is thirteen. For Heath and Leah, this is a shakedown cruise to test a new cutting edge line of camping equipment. The equipment, designed by Leah, will make camping and canoeing more accessible to disabled outdoorsmen.

    On their second night out, Anna goes off on her own for a solo evening float on the Fox River. When she comes back, she finds that four thugs, armed with rifles, pistols, and knives, have taken the two women and their teenaged daughters captive. With limited resources and no access to the outside world, Anna has only two days to rescue them before her friends are either killed or flown out of the country, in Destroyer Angel by Nevada Barr.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Audio
    Release dateApr 1, 2014
    ISBN9781427235497
    Destroyer Angel: An Anna Pigeon Novel
    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 Destroyer Angel

    3.5/5

    161 ratings28 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Anna Pigeon, a ranger for the U.S. Park Services, sets off on vacation—an autumn canoe trip in the to the Iron Range in upstate Minnesota. With Anna is her friend Heath, a paraplegic; Heath’s fifteen-year-old daughter, Elizabeth; Leah, a wealthy designer of outdoor equipment; and her daughter, Katie, who is thirteen. For Heath and Leah, this is a shakedown cruise to test a new cutting edge line of camping equipment. The equipment, designed by Leah, will make camping and canoeing more accessible to disabled outdoorsmen. On their second night out, Anna goes off on her own for a solo evening float on the Fox River. When she comes back, she finds that four thugs, armed with rifles, pistols, and knives, have taken the two women and their teenaged daughters captive. With limited resources and no access to the outside world, Anna has only two days to rescue them before her friends are either killed or flown out of the country.
    • 3/5
      This book is a little over the top still good and well worth reading but the total stupidity of the thugs is ...
    • 4/5
      Lots of suspense. Not really the norm for this series as it took place in a non-identified campground and the plot is personal, having nothing to do with being a park ranger.
    • 4/5
      It's been a long time since I read this book but I have read the entire series, up until the most current book and I really like it. I love how the series is set outdoors in the different parks. If you like C.J. Box, then you'll like Barr too.
    • 4/5
      More of a suspense novel than a mystery, this was a book worth staying up all night to read--at home in a comfy chair. Definitely not a book to take camping! I enjoyed the interaction between the characters as the tension mounted. An enjoyable, heart pounding read.
    • 3/5
      and I'm finally done with my Nevada Barr binge - and in perfect time as I'm kind of over Anna. As was in her previous appearance, I'm over Heath.Not sure what the purpose of her marrying Anna off - we've barely seen Paul and she goes on vacation without him. Such an odd book.
    • 4/5
      While on a girl's camping trip, Anna is the only hope for survival for her friends who have been kidnapped. The thugs are unaware that Anna is along for the trip, and so she has to remain hidden while working to save her friends.This story was riveting as Anna fought not just the elements but her lack of preparedness. Having no food or water and having only her professional tracking abilities, Anna and her friends had to combat armed men twice their size. What surprised me in this story was the missing descriptions of the nature elements. It was more involved in the action than the scenery which usually in this series takes a major part. It didn't detract from the story, just surprised me a bit.
    • 4/5
      [Destroyer Angel] is unlike any of the other titles in Nevada Barr’s Anna Pigeon series. Anna is a National Park Service Ranger and has worked in many of the parks around the United States encountering strange situations which often lead to murder and threats on her life. In the process Barr has developed a well rounded picture of Anna with all her warts, and her family members.In [Destroyer Angel] Anna leaves her husband in Colorado to camp and canoe in northern Minnesota with friends Heath, a paraplegic and her fifteen year old daughter Elizabeth and dog Wily, and Leah, a designer of outdoor equipment and her thirteen year old daughter Katie. On the second night of the trip Anna is taking a solo canoe trip on the Fox River when a noise alerts her to possible problems at camp. She returns to discover her friends have been taken hostage and much of the camp destroyed. The hostages are a motley crew of armed thugs quite unsuited for the job at hand as they are inner city breed with no experience with the outdoors. This will be their Achilles’ heel as Anna takes on a one person and dog campaign to rescue her friends before they are raped and murdered.Barr has moved away the formula which has worked well in the Anna Pigeon series and taken a risk with this eighteenth novel. She has added a strong psychological element. One that is presented, in some degree, from the point of view of each character. This adds tension as each hostage worries about themselves, their daughter and each other and the thugs attempt to deal with the challenging physical surroundings, their desire to please ‘The Dude’ and get a piece of the action for themselves. She also adds superstition and terror as one of the thugs, Jimmy, disappears and reappears.None of the Pigeon series are written at a fast pace but in comparison to [Destroyer Angel] they clip along. It moves at the pace of the group as it slowly wanders from the riverside camp site to an air strip eight or so miles away, if you don’t go around in circles in the mist. Each step hurts the body somewhere and the mind is constantly whirling with ‘what if’s. Moving Heath in her special chair requires at least two other people and slows down everyone, both physically and mentally. It is the psychological tension, the characterizations, what will Anna’s next attack be and what is behind the hostage taking that kept me reading through the night.****Posted ReviewJune 14, 2015
    • 4/5
      Anna Pigeon as Jack Reacher - what could be better than that?
    • 4/5
      Destroyer Angel by Nevada Barr is the latest Anna Pigeon mystery. Having been a fan since the beginning of the series, I was happy with Anna Pigeon’s return to Minnesota. Although many elements of the book reminded me of earlier books in the series, this book didn’t disappoint.Barr is at her best when focusing on wilderness settings and survival. I’d recommend this thriller to Anna Pigeon fans.
    • 2/5
      I’ve enjoyed most of the Anna Pigeon mysteries over the years. I liked the varied national park settings and the work that ranger Pigeon does in unraveling the crime. There is little in this latest installment that I liked. There is no park setting. There is no mystery. This is pure thriller, the story of Anna trying to save her four female camping companions from four kidnappers. One of the hostages is a paraplegic, two are young girls, and the last is the ransom target. The kidnappers brutalize all of the hostages and one pedophile focusses on one of the girls. The kidnappers, miles away from their pick-up point, force march the captives for days, as Anna trails behind picking off the crooks one by one.This plot line fails me. There is slight reason for the place of the kidnapping (other than to make sure that Anna has plenty of time to kill the crooks). In the time it takes for the survivors to get to the pick-up point, Anna could have gone for help and brought the whole National Guard in. Except for Anna, none of the characters transcend the stereotype. The kidnappers, in particular, are a sorry lot of stupid, evil louts who never seem real and seem ill-suited for the caper. There’s too much sadism, man-against-woman brutality, and borderline pedophilia here for me to recommend this book to anyone.
    • 4/5
      Another excellent entry in a very ood series. Not much about a National Park setting but a compelling story about good versus evil with enough woodscraft and gore to sustain interest.
    • 3/5
      In her 17th Anna Pigeon novel, Barr has Anna out for a camping trip in upper Minnesota. She is with her friend Heath and daughter Elizabeth, another mother and daughter combination, Leah and Katie, and a dog, Wily. While Anna takes an idyllic canoe float relaxing and gazing at the stars, the camp is disrupted by the appearance of four men intent on kidnapping Leah and Katie. One man, the dude, is the man in charge, and the other three are misfits completely out of their element. The four have no chemistry and were apparently thrown together to complete this one evil task. Other than Leah and Katie, the other campers are excess baggage, which doesn't bode well for their survival. The one saving grace is the kidnappers believe Heath's story that Anna had stayed home. They believe they're only dealing with the four they find in camp.Why do the kidnapping out in the wilderness, when they knew there would be other witnesses to deal with? Good question, and one Barr never provides an answer for. That particular plot hole drags on an otherwise thrilling story. Anna overhears the thugs' plans and must decide on whether to take the canoe and go for help, or go commando, using her woodland survival skills to try and rescue the captives. She determines that by the time she could return with help, it might be too late to help anyone. All of the characters are damaged in some way, the kidnappers and captives, and Barr uses both the physical and psychological afflictions the respective characters possess to move the story forward. Heath is a paraplegic, Leah is an unfeeling automaton with engineering expertise, but no parental skills. One of the thugs is a pedophile and another a displaced gangbanger. The combination makes for great drama and occasional humor.Setting the kidnapping in the wilderness certainly set the story up for Anna to display her skills and her grit, and Barr put that to its best use throughout. She also showed that good people with damaged souls can find redemption when placed in impossible situations.
    • 5/5
      I received a free copy of this book from Goodreads.This book is a departure from the normal Anna Pigeon series. Herein she doesn't solve a murder mystery, this is actually a survival thriller and Pigeon, being a National Park Service Ranger, is well qualified to survive in the wilds of Minnesota. The real challenge is outsmarting well armed criminals who have kidnapped Anna's friend Heath and her daughter as well as another mom/daughter pair. Her only aid is an injured dog and her own wits.What I liked best about this book is that it is very realistic. When action occurred people got hurt---and in graphic ways. The heroics involved were within normal limits and typical psychological reactions did indeed occur. How refreshing! Yet instead of holding back the dynamic of this book, Barr's attention to detail and realism intensified the action. If Anna screwed up she got hurt, same goes for the criminals and the kidnapped women---as a result I really became involved in the book. I was quite impressed with this installment in the Anna Pigeon series.
    • 3/5
      I always enjoy spending time with Anna Pigeon, and while I was in the middle of this book, I definitely resented any time I had to set it down to deal with real life. However, once I finished reading it, my first reaction was that this was the most ridiculous thing I've read in a very long time. After her friends are kidnapped while on a camping trip, Anna lugs an injured 35 pound dog on her back as she follows the kidnappers and victims through the backwoods of Minnesota. She is completely unarmed and has no food, yet she feels this is the better option than going for help. While there was sort of a reason for the kidnapping in the first place, I never really understood why on earth the kidnappers would decide to do the deed while the victims were in the middle of the forest rather than a more easily accessible place. Overall, this was fun to read, but it seemed more and more bizarre the more I thought about it.
    • 5/5
      I was finishing up this book on a plane and the passenger next to me asked if it was the newest Anna Pigeon. When I said yes, she said she didn't know if she was going to get it because the stories were getting so dark. I think they have changed over the years, and I like them. The writing gets better and better. I liked the occasional touches of humor with the movie titles. I want evil exterminated even if it only happens in a story.
    • 4/5
      I usually love the Anna Pigeon series because of the many different parks she is assigned to, one usually learns things about the parks that is very interesting. This book was different, this book is all Anna, alone with a trusty dog in a green cape, she must save her friends. Very suspenseful from the very beginning, the pages literally flew by. Sins of the past must be paid. Along the way some of the characters learn new things about themselves, their strength and bonds. Adversity either brings out the best or the worst in people. Barr j=has written so many books in this series and yet she stays on top of her game, does much more than phone it in. Good series, wonderful characters.
    • 2/5
      Way over the top for violence and injury.
    • 3/5
      Anna Pigeon joins a paraplegic friend, her daughter, and an inventor as they test some equipment designed for outdoor use in Minnesota. While Anna is away from the camp, a group of thugs kidnaps the others. Anna is unarmed, outnumbered, and cannot go for help. She must rely on her own devices to take control of the situation. I didn't enjoy this installment nearly as much as others in the series. I disliked the fact that Anna was on vacation instead of in her role as park ranger. The scenario seemed implausible as well. I really felt that the author was trying to move the series into a slightly different genre with this installment, and it didn't work for me. There is a lot of profanity in the installment which I didn't particularly enjoy either. On the other hand, it is a quick read with a lot of action (and terror) packed into its pages. I received this book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer Program with the expectation that a review would be written.
    • 5/5
      To my mind, this is Barr’s best novel to date. The suspense starts in the first chapter and continues unabated to the very end. Anna Pigeon is on a camping trip with two other adult women, one of them a paraplegic, and their two teenage daughters. A group of five thugs arrives to kidnap one of the women, a wealthy outdoor equipment designer, and her daughter. Anna at the time is apart from the group and unknown to the thugs, and she becomes the kidnapped victims only hope for rescue. Following the group as they make their way through the forest to a pending airplane rendevous, she must find ways to thwart the kidnappers and prevent them from arriving at the plane.If this was a movie, it would be rated “R” for violence, language, and sexual content. I found this book to be a tension-filled, engrossing story, and I highly recommend it.
    • 4/5
      This wasn't the usual Anna Pigeon novel that I expected. Anna is in the woods with friends camping when her friends are kidnapped by a group of sadistic, cruel thugs (author referred to them as thugs). Anna is off in the canoe when this happens, so she is able to avoid capture. However, she is without food or even her pocket knife. How is she to survive?This is a very intense, dark tale. If I had been in bed watching it on TV, I would have hidden under the covers at times. Survival in the wilderness it difficult at best, but when trying to help your friends and avoid being killed, it is nearly impossible.Nevada Barr is a favorite author of mine and I've real ALL her books. I look forward to the next installment in the adventures of Anna Pigeon.
    • 4/5
      The latest Anna Pigeon novel is a thriller. If you're squeamish about violence, be prepared. This book is violent. Beyond that, it tells the tale of vulnerable women who become stronger than they knew they could be. Good movie material.
    • 4/5
      More of a suspense novel than a mystery, this was a book worth staying up all night to read--at home in a comfy chair. Definitely not a book to take camping! I enjoyed the interaction between the characters as the tension mounted. An enjoyable, heart pounding read.
    • 4/5
      Anna Pigeon is on a camping and canoeing trip with two friends and their daughters. While Anna is out of camp, four men kidnap the women and their children.One of the women is a paraplegic and the other is the brains behind a company that designed a wheelchair so it could be used in a wilderness setting. This trip was to test her invention. During the kidnapping, we hear the point of view of this character and two others.The leader of the gang is in contact with the person who paid them for kidnapping the women. His goal is to get the women to a landing site where they can be picked up by plane. Originally he saw the difficulty in bringing the paraplegic woman and was going to kill her but one of his captives said that this woman's family also had money so they could ransome her also.Anna's survival skills are manifested as she stalks the kidnappers and waits her turn to kill them and rescue her friends. She is unarmed but knows the terrain and the kidnappers do not. In this, she becomes a Rambo like character.The author did a good jog in showing her readers how a woman can survive in a world where men are unscrupulous and avaricious. In Anna Pigeon, we see someone who is smart, brave and willing to do what it takes to save her friends.I enjoyed the story but found it hard to imagine a woman in a wheelchair maneuvering over rocks, fallen trees and over a river. I also liked the character build up and reading the story from three different points of view, Anna, the leader of the gang and the inventor of the wheelchair.
    • 3/5
      Fast-paced, suspenseful, and thrilling (even though slightly unbelievable), but ultimately worth staying up all night to read. The writing and storytelling are excellent, as usual with Nevada Barr. The bad-guy characters were a bit one-dimensional, and perhaps more malicious than credible, but sufficiently threatening to keep this reader on the edge of her seat. Looking back over the series, I prefer stories like this one, in which Anna operates alone in the wilderness.
    • 4/5
      Synopsis: Anna has been looking forward to getting away with her friends to the unspoiled wilderness. Heath, a paraplegic, Leah, who designs gear for the disabled, and their daughters join Anna in the Iron Range of Minnesota for this adventure. While Anna gets some quiet time away from everyone, four men arrive and kidnap the other women, nearly killing their dog in the process. During her attempt to follow and rescue them, Anna reverts to her primal self and is very nearly killed.Review: This is a brutal story, highlighting how people must sometimes let go of their civilized inhibitions to save lives. It also explores the relationships between mothers and daughters, as well as the necessity for the young to take responsibility for their actions. This is one of the few books by Nevada Barr in which a natural area is a setting rather than a character in the story. Although there is some focus on the notion that if you do not embrace the wilderness, it will terrify you, this is not a main element of the plot. While the ending leaves an opening for the next Anna Pigeon book, it is relatively unsatisfying.
    • 5/5
      No one can put five females and an old dog out in the middle of nowhere, make them face untold danger, and have readers clapping and cheering like Nevada Barr can. Sure this is a thriller. Of course, it's an adventure story-- women against killers and nature. Naturally Anna Pigeon gets to impart valuable information on responsible camping, and you'd better believe that much-needed comic relief is interspersed throughout all the deadly seriousness. But Destroyer Angel is more than the sum of its parts-- and its descriptions.This book succeeds as both thriller and adventure story, but what makes it special are the women. Unarmed, with no food, and a gargantuan task ahead of her, Anna goes feral in an attempt to get the job done. Introduced in an earlier book, I was happy to see the changes Heath and her adopted daughter Elizabeth have undergone. Peppering up the gumbo are Leah, a woman more used to living in her mind than dealing with humans, and her spoiled daughter Katie. The interactions of the four kidnapped females are fascinating as they go through the various stages of fear, hunger, and exhaustion. Can they rise above being mere victims? I'll leave that for you to discover.If you've never read Nevada Barr, you can read Destroyer Angel as a standalone because it is pretty complete on its own; however, longtime fans of the series are really going to savor Anna's tactics since we know her from earlier books. This was a book I had to tear myself away from forcibly. The second time I sat down with it, I stayed glued to the pages until the end. Welcome back, Anna! I missed you!
    • 4/5
      It's always a pleasure to read a new Anna Pigeon book, and this was no exception. Great characters and plot (though a little more violent than I prefer), and a very quick-paced read. This book keeps you on the edge of your seat, wondering what will happen next. I continue to look forward to more books by Nevada Barr.