This is the fourth book in Nevada Barr’s mystery series about National Park Ranger Anna Pigeon. Each book takes place in a different National Park or National Monument. In Firestorm, the setting is Lassen Volcanic National Park in California. It’s a park I had never heard of before, and after reading the description of it in this book, I think I would like to visit it. Of course, that would be when there is not a forest fire happening.

Anna is still assigned out of Mesa Verde and she was in the previous book, Ill Wind. With a forest fire raging, she is an EMT with a crew fighting the fire in Lassen Volcanic National Park. The fire seems to be winding down when one of the team is injured enough to need a carry-out. As they are attempting to do so, the weather shifts with a storm front coming through and the crew finds themselves running for their lives ahead of the flames.

The description of what it is like to live through a firestorm in a fire shelter the rangers are required to carry with them was intense. The firefighters and rangers are portrayed as courageous but also human as they struggle to survive. Once the fire has passed them, Anna’s EMT training is helpful as there are injuries and two deaths. One death was expected, but tragic. The other is a murder. Now Anna and the crew wait for rescue knowing that one of the survivors with them is a murderer.

Despite the sobering topic, I liked Firestorm very much. The descriptions in this book were so incredible, from the firestorm itself to the National Park and its terrain. There is a dialogue between the characters, but a lot of the book happens in Anna’s head. It was great to see the way she gathered information and how she pieced things together. The ongoing romance with FBI agent Stanton continues, and we get more of his background here. Both of them long for each other, but they don’t act like giddy teenagers about it. They’ve been around the block and are taking it slow, reluctant to show their feelings.

One thing to keep in mind is that this book was first published in 1996. Some of the social mores depicted in Firestorm are much different almost thirty years later. It would not be that big of a deal to find out someone is gay nowadays, whereas back then it was socially damning in many ways.

I’m enjoying this series quite a bit, and this is a strong entry. I love reading about places that I never knew about before, and I add it to the places I would like to visit one day. Anna is a great character who is written consistently. She’s not a superhero and makes difficult choices but not without the guilt that sometimes goes along with it. The firefighting scenes are very well done and kept me on the edge of my seat. I highly recommend it.

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