Hard Truth

Just three days after her wedding to Sheriff Paul Davidson, Anna Pigeon moves from Mississippi to Colorado to assume her new post as district ranger at Rocky Mountain National Park, where three young girls have disappeared during a religious retreat. Two of the children emerge a month later, clad only in filthy underwear and claiming to remember nothing of the intervening weeks. With the reappearance of the children comes an odd and unsettling presence in the park, a sense of disembodied evil and unspeakable terror. As Anna investigates, she finds herself caught up in the machinations of a paranoid religious sect determined to keep their secrets and the girls sequestered from law enforcement and psychiatric help. Following the trails of the many suspects, Anna discovers the force which has destroyed the children's minds. Here in the park, evil has the eyes of a visionary and the soul of the devil. Anna will discover the truth - even if it kills her.

Barr's first novel, Track of the Cat, was awarded both the Anthony Award for Best First Novel by the Crime Writers Association and the Agatha Award for Best First Novel by Malice Domestic. She then followed up with eight more novels set in various National Parks, including Firestorm which was awarded the France's Prix du Roman d'Adventure and nominated for the Anthony Award for Best Novel. Nevada Barr lives in Clinton, Mississippi.