Leave No Trace

Landau, a pen name for authors Jon Land (“Murder, She Wrote” series) and Jeff Ayers (Voyages of Imagination), starts the “National Parks Thriller” series with a literal bang—an explosion that destroys the Statue of Liberty. Special Agent Michael Walker of the National Park Service soon befriends Gina Delgado, a special agent of the FBI, and they try to find the domestic terrorists who are attacking the United States’ landmarks. Told from alternating viewpoints from mostly Walker and Delgado (another viewpoint is from Lantry, a member of the Lakota Sioux, who is pursuing the terrorists for a different reason), the story’s fast-paced action heads cross-country to the Liberty Bell, the St. Louis Arch, the Southwest, and back to the Capitol. The January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol is mentioned, but the novel steers clear of political commentary while providing a thrilling and often unbelievable romp. Narrator Gregory Abbey consistently characterizes the tense action and constant stress that the characters experience. Listeners will likely appreciate his change in tone for the chapter epigraphs containing park facts and hope he narrates the next book in this promising series.