The Vanishing Kind by Alice Henderson

 

First Line: After the recent rash of campus burglaries, the last thing Dane Fisher wanted was to be alone in this building late at night.

Wildlife biologist Alex Carter is thrilled when she's tasked with locating jaguars on a desert preserve in New Mexico. Jaguars once roamed throughout the Southwest, but now there are only a handful left. Alex hopes some of the elusive cats have found their way to this protected piece of land.

Nearby the preserve, a team of archaeologists is excavating the gravesite of a sixteenth-century Spanish conquistador. Alex meets the team and also comes in contact with a violent group of anti-immigrant vigilantes who demand that the archaeologists leave. 

When the vigilantes learn of Alex's job, they want to stop her as well. Since jaguars are federally endangered, concessions might be made so that wildlife can cross the border wall-- and these people want nothing to cross that wall.

Alex is working right in the middle of a powder keg, and jaguars aren't the only ones whose lives are in danger.

~

I have become a big fan of Alice Henderson's Alex Carter thrillers. I love their settings, all the information I learn about wildlife, and the strong, intelligent character of Alex herself. Unfortunately, I found The Vanishing Kind to be a bit disappointing. The book was trying to be too many things to too many people. Wildlife lovers. Remote settings lovers. Archaeology lovers. Spanish treasure lovers. Wilderness survival lovers. Then there are the white supremacists, and the resident billionaire who thinks his word is law. 

I'm also a bit tired of one character repeatedly showing up just in the nick of time to save Alex's bacon. If Alex is going to get in that type of mess, I'd love to see her get herself out of it instead of relying on a deus ex machina. 

I still love Alex's character, and I liked learning more about the jaguars, especially since I keep my eyes peeled for news of El Jefe, a jaguar roaming southeastern Arizona. Henderson includes how readers can learn more about these marvelous big cats at the end of the book. There is even timely information about the work (or lack thereof) of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. I'm just hoping that Alex's next adventure is a bit more... streamlined. 

The Vanishing Kind by Alice Henderson

eISBN: 9780063223073

William Morrow © 2025

eBook, 320 pages

Thriller, #4 Alex Carter

Rating: B-

Source: Net Galley

A Ghost of Caribou by Alice Henderson

 

First Line: Fourteen months ago Amelia Fairweather had just entered her tent to sleep when a strange hum sounded from outside.

 

Alex Carter is brought in to investigate the possible sighting of a mountain caribou on a remote tract of land owned by the Land Trust for Wildlife Conservation. If the blurry image caught on a remote camera is indeed of the caribou-- thought to be extinct in the contiguous U.S. years ago-- Alex hopes to track the animal and put a collar on it.

 

When she arrives on scene in the Selkirk Mountains of northeastern Washington, that mountain caribou is only one of her concerns. The nearby townspeople are upset over the body of a  murdered forest ranger found strung up in the town park, loggers and activists are up in arms over a swath of old-growth forest marked for clearcutting, and a backcountry hiker has also gone missing in the same area within the past year.

 

As Alex hikes into the forest to maintain the cameras and look for the caribou, she finds herself fighting for her life. She's caught between the factions warring over the future of the forest... and a killer stalking the dense groves of ancient trees.

 

~

 

Alice Henderson's Alex Carter novels have become my Go-To Reads whenever I need a vicarious adrenaline rush with a one-two punch of wildlife and the great outdoors. A Ghost of Caribou is no exception. 

There's always the opportunity to learn with Alex Carter. In this book, it's remote locations, camping, caring for remote cameras, how to collar an animal... and how to avoid getting killed. I enjoyed learning about mountain caribou as well as the Selkirk Mountains and setting up remote cameras, and my craving for an adrenaline rush was certainly fulfilled.

Alex Carter is one of the best female characters in the thriller business. Her father may be a guest artist at a different national park each year (in A Ghost of Caribou, he's at the Grand Canyon), but her mother was a fighter pilot who played survival games with the growing Alex, and-- boy howdy-- does she ever use everything she learned at her mother's knee! (It's also nice to have a main character with two loving and supporting parents.) Alex is well able to take care of herself, and readers won't catch her doing anything stupid.

But there's more to this series than a kick-ass main character, thrilling action scenes (how about that ultra-scary "UFO"!), and wildlife. There's Sheriff Maggie Taggert, a capable, take-charge woman who works well with Alex. There are the unexpected laughs amid all that tension ("If she kept taking these gigs, she'd have to invest in a satellite phone"-- something that I'd been thinking), and the chilling hunt for a killer targeting older women. There's also the fact that Alex learns more about herself each time she takes one of these assignments, so she's not the typical "action figure" who never changes. 

If you're in the mood for fast-paced excitement in the great outdoors with a strong, capable female lead character, head straight for Alice Henderson's Alex Carter books. They're fantastic.

A Ghost of Caribou by Alice Henderson

eISBN: 9780063223028

William Morrow © 2022

eBook, 317 pages

 

Thriller, #3 Alex Carter mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.

A Blizzard of Polar Bears by Alice Henderson

 

First Lines: Hudson Bay, Manitoba, Canada. As Rex Tildesen stared in amazement at the sonar image, he had no idea of the danger that surrounded his find.

 

Wildlife biologist Alex Carter can't believe her luck. Just as she's finishing up her study of wolverines in Montana, she lands a position in the Canadian Arctic studying an endangered population of polar bears. This time, instead of working alone she's with a small team of researchers. It means that she has to get used to working with other people again, but she loves what she's doing and thrives on her work.

 

She's spending her days tracking polar bears by air, hanging out of a helicopter with a tranquilizer gun until she can get on the ground to examine these magnificent creatures. As the data she collects grows, things begin to go wrong. The helicopter pilot quits. Equipment goes missing. The lab is broken into and her samples are stolen. It's obvious that someone doesn't want her to complete her study, but Alex isn't about to stop.

Alex finds a replacement pilot, but the helicopter catches fire and she and the pilot are forced to land out on the ice, miles from any sort of help. Surviving in those conditions is hard enough, but there are armed assailants on snowmobiles tracking them. Alex is going to have to rely on all her skills in order to make it back to civilization to complete her mission.

~

Learning that the main character in Alice Henderson's A Solitude of Wolverines was a wildlife biologist-- and that Henderson herself is one-- made this first book in the Alex Carter series a must-read and a very good one at that. A Blizzard of Polar Bears is even better.

The scenes in which Alex tracks the polar bears by air and then lands to examine them are wonderful. I felt as though I was with her, and I learned so much about the animals as well as the things that are used to track them, whether it's Burr on Fur or the Whiskerprint Project. Let me tell you, this mystery series is perfect for those readers who love wildlife.

Moreover, if you're a wildlife lover who also enjoys a high-octane thriller, you really need to read A Blizzard of Polar Bears. Wow! Surviving a helicopter crash and being forced to shelter and travel across the ice-- I was freezing right along with these two. Fortunately, Alex and Cody, the helicopter pilot, know how to take care of themselves because the weather isn't the only thing they must contend with. There are killers on snowmobiles after them, and they mean business. The fact that the business isn't just simply stopping the polar bear study gives armchair sleuths a little extra to cogitate on. 

If I had any misgivings at all about this book, it was my unease about Cody the pilot. I can't get into why I was uneasy about him without doing spoilers, and that I will not do. I also felt that the bad guys were just a tad over the top, but at the same time, they certainly had my pulse racing as I read those scenes. 

As I've already stated, this is a series perfect for lovers of wildlife and thrillers. Henderson has the knack of being able to put her readers right in the middle of the action alongside the characters she's created, and that's no small talent. I really can't wait to see where Alex's work will take her next.

A Blizzard of Polar Bears by Alice Henderson

eISBN: 9780062982124

HarperCollins © 2021

eBook, 336 pages

 

Amateur Sleuth, #2 Alex Carter mystery

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

A Solitude of Wolverines by Alice Henderson

First Line: The wetlands dedication was a resounding success until the gunman showed up.

 

When her job in Boston ends, wildlife biologist Alex Carter is offered a position monitoring wolverines on a preserve in Montana. After a messy breakup with her boyfriend and the harrowing conclusion of the dedication ceremony of the wetlands preserve, Alex is more than ready to leave the city and head for the wilderness.

 

Even though she's greeted with a great deal of suspicion in the small town where she buys necessities, the job is perfect for Alex. The solitude is a balm for her spirit. Until she checks footage from one of the cameras she's set up and sees a badly injured man apparently lost and wandering in the wilderness. Search and Rescue are unable to find the man, and the attitude of local law enforcement makes Alex suspicious.

 

Her suspicions are confirmed when she realizes that she's stumbled upon something she was never supposed to have seen-- there's a far-reaching illegal operation being conducted here, and now she's a threat. She's going to need all the skills at her disposal just to stay alive.

 

~

 

When I learned that A Solitude of Wolverines was a mystery with a wildlife biologist as the main character, I perked up. When I learned that the book was written by an actual wildlife biologist, I couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Now I can say that this first Alex Carter mystery is a winner, and I can't wait to read more.

Wildlife and the wilderness are at the center of this story, and you can really get a feel for the type of conservation work wildlife biologists do. If you love all creatures great and small, there's even a bibliography so you can learn more about the animals being studied in the book. But if the wilderness is at the center of A Solitude of Wolverines, Alex Carter is its beating heart. When asked to lie about her findings for her bosses who have taken bribes in a previous job, Alex refuses in spectacular style knowing that she has a lot to lose by telling the truth.

 

This is not your usual female character. Her mother was an Air Force fighter pilot who devised games for her daughter that taught Alex how to think on her feet and use the items at hand for her survival. When something like that is mentioned in a book, you can take it to the bank that this is going to be a big factor in the story later on-- and it is. There are plenty of high octane action scenes in A Solitude of Wolverines, and there is no candy-coating of the consequences for neither man nor beast. (I mention this for those readers who might be a bit squeamish.)

 

The only thing that made me wonder about Alex is her choice of best friend and boyfriend. Anyone with two working brain cells should have been able to deduce that her boyfriend was a high maintenance waste of space, but I suppose that tells us that she makes mistakes like the rest of us mortals. Her best friend is a typical high rolling Hollywood actress, and that makes for an odd combination with the middle-of-nowhere loving Alex. I do have to admit that it's probably not a good idea for a main character-- no matter how dynamic-- to be a hermit. There's also a shadowy third character in Alex's orbit. One that she didn't realize she had, and it would appear that this dangerous shadow will figure more prominently in the next book. Why is this person a "dangerous shadow"? Because he's Alex's serial killer guardian angel. How's that for a shocker!

 

A Solitude of Wolverines is a momentous opening chapter in Alex Carter's story, one that changes her: "A new sensation spread inside of her, a loss of innocence." I, for one, am looking forward to seeing what she does next.  

A Solitude of Wolverines by Alice Henderson

eISBN: 9780062982094

William Morrow © 2020

eBook, 320 pages

 

Amateur Sleuth, #1 Alex Carter mystery

Rating: A-

Source: Net Galley