cover image The Rope

The Rope

Nevada Barr. Minotaur, $25.99 (368p) ISBN 978-0-312-61457-7

Set in 1995, bestseller Barr’s exciting 17th Anna Pigeon thriller (after 2010’s Burn) takes readers where they’ve wanted to go for years—to Anna’s beginnings as a park ranger. Having left her life as a stage manager in New York City, 35-year-old Anna takes on a seasonal job in a canyon wilderness park on the shores of Lake Powell in Arizona. Ten days later, co-worker Jenny Gorman and others are idly wondering why she walked off the job without saying good-bye. The answer is that Anna lies naked, dazed, and injured at the bottom of a dry well. All Anna remembers at first is that she went for a hike in the desert, and now she’s at the mercy of an unknown assailant. When Jenny learns that Anna may not have left voluntarily, she begins to search. Meanwhile, Anna escapes after her attacker returns to the well—or was that really her attacker? Misdirection and a rising body count ratchet up the tension. 150,000 first printing; author tour. Agent: Dominick Abel. (Jan.)