The Vanishing Kind: A Novel of Suspense
by Alice Henderson
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From highly acclaimed author Alice Henderson comes the eagerly anticipated and electrifying fourth book in the Alex Carter series, in which the wildlife biologist encounters anti-immigrant vigilantes, rugged terrain, and threatening intruders in search of a sleek, powerful, and furtive animal--the jaguar.
When wildlife biologist Alex Carter is tasked with locating jaguars on a vast desert preserve in New Mexico, she is ecstatic. While jaguars once roamed throughout the Southwest, they are now endangered, with only a handful remaining, and Alex hopes some of the sleek and elusive creatures have found their way to the protected sanctuary.
Meanwhile, an archaeological team is excavating the gravesite of a sixteenth-century Spanish conquistador on a neighboring piece of land. Curious about the dig, Alex meets the team and, while learning about their discoveries, she encounters a dangerous group of anti-immigrant vigilantes roaming the area, threatening the archaeology team, demanding they leave. And when the militants learn of Alex's mission, they become bent on stopping her. Because jaguars are federally endangered, the vigilantes worry that if Alex finds them, concessions will be made so that wildlife can cross the border wall. And they want no one crossing it...
And then there are the strange holes that keep appearing on the preserve--Who is digging them, and what are they looking for?
As tensions mount, Alex soon finds herself in a fight for her life against those who would prevent her from restoring jaguars to their historical habitat.
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Book Details
- ISBN
- 9780063223059
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Authors
- Alice Henderson
- Publisher
- William Morrow & Company
- Published Date
- March 4, 2025
- Language
- English
- Pages
- 320
- Physical Info
- 1.09 in H x 9.34 in L x 6.36 in W (0.94 lb)
Loved her 1st 3 books. This one lost the Jaguar in political jargon. I could handle the excessive barefoot chases, but I was looking for interaction with the Jaguars. I read fiction to escape politics and other bias commentary. Maybe it would help for this author and her team to review books like those of Jim Kjelgaard to see how to bring us an adventure with nature without drowning us in modern bias and endless Tarzanest scenes. Take me into the mind of the Jaguar. Sorry, but in my opinion, the opening character, like the Jaguar, were cut and pasted into this book to justify the title.
As a fan of Nevada Barr’s series featuring National Park Ranger Anna Pigeon, I jumped on Henderson’s first novel, A Solitude of Wolverines (2020). The Vanishing Kind is Henderson’s fourth entry in her Alex Carter series.Alex is a wildlife biologist, and each book finds her studying a different species and fighting different bad guys. In The Vanishing Kind, she is studying jaguars in New Mexico. Alex goes through her worst experience yet (meaning she goes through a hellish physical ordeal). She encounters obstacles to the well-being of jaguars and other wildlife, anti-immigrant extremists, and a vile billionaire who won't let anything or anyone get in the way of his goal. The anti-immigrant extremists and the plight and resourcefulness of the people they are targeting made this novel feel very timely.Henderson’s books are suspense novels and will appeal to readers who enjoy mystery/thrillers and adventure stories. At the end of each book, she offers resources on how to support the species she’s written about and other ways to help support environmental efforts.
This is the fourth book in a series about wildlife biologist Alex Carter, and I didn't realize it was a series until about halfway through the book, because it read like a stand-alone. Alex has been sent to New Mexico to try to track jaguars and see if they have returned to New Mexico. Along the way she encounters bad guys, some of whom mean the jaguars harm, and some whom are out to terrorize anyone trying to cross the Mexico-US border or aid those crossing the border.The author does a good job of painting a picture of the remoteness of this location but also its beauty and historical fascination. Reading made me want to go visit the sites described. There was a lot of action and in fact these bad guys were bad, really bad. Maybe it was a little over the top but it was interesting reading and super suspenseful!I love books based in the National and State Parks and have read many starting with Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon series, then C.J. Box's Joe Pickett, and more recently Paul Doiron's Mike Bowditch. Having a protagonist directly involved in animal welfare is a new twist and the author is knowledgeable on the subject. This subject is near to my heart, as I lived in Borneo in the early 90's for a couple of years, and witnessed first hand the destruction of the rainforest and how that decimated the wildlife, in particular, the orangutans. I could see some readers not appreciating the conservation message, but they are probably the ones that need to read it most.All in all this was a quick and enjoyable read, and I can see myself going back to read the first three in the series that I missed!
Book 4 of the Alex Carter Series was just as good as the first three books! This time Alex is in New Mexico on a wildlife Sanctuary to find Jaguars. She finds a Jaguar and runs into a white Supremacist group trying to run her off. To make matters worse has a crazy millionaire looking for artifacts to prolong his life. Oh plus lots of non stop action!!!
I like this series and I liked this one but not as much as the others especially the wolverine which went into a lot of info about the Wolverine and its life and existence on survival eating where it lived and caring for its young.This book concentrated on danger Alex was in.Not enough about the life of the jaguar.Hardly anything about it like eating mating caring and raising their young where they have shelter like a base for a home.I was very disappointed.
