Book Review: Leave No Trace

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Leave No Trace     Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Hannah Nyala
Class/Genre:   Mystery
Series: Tally Nowata
Pocket, Jun 2002, $6.99, 388 pp.

Tally Nowata works for the US National Park Service as a search and rescue ranger in the Grand Tetons. Currently on a four-month furlough, Tally and her lover Paul O’Malley vacation in the Australian outback. He leaves her at their campsite to pick up his daughter Josie at the Alice Springs airport with a maximum return time of four days. However, Paul fails to return and with her food and water dwindling, Tally begins a trek out of the Tanami Desert while seeking a clue about the whereabouts of Paul and his daughter.

The desert climate is a far cry from the Wyoming Mountains she is used to, but even with a cracked rib, Tally finds the jeep with a dead Paul inside and a barely breathing Josie with him. Taking the child with her, Tally must reach civilization before their water runs out or the killer completes the job even as she wonders why.

LEAVE NO TRACE is an exciting survivalist adventure that leaves no reader unhappy with the action of a plot that never slows down. The story line feels so real that the audience will drink a lot of water while trekking along with the two females. Tally is a great protagonist as she struggles to adapt her skills and experience to a different, at least in her case, more hostile climate. Fans of action thrillers will want to read Hannah Nyala’s thrilling tale.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner