ARC Review: Alex Carter #4

The Vanishing kind by Alice Henderson

Publication Date: March 4, 2025

Summary from NetGalley:

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.

ARC provided by William Marrow via NetGalley for an honest review.

Confession:

Overall I have really been enjoying this series featuring a wildlife biologist who spends her time in remote places studying some of the most endangered animals on this planet. That may sound boring, but there is a lot of action especially when Alex has a knack for getting in trouble with the wrong people. Many times she finds herself in very difficult and dangerous situations, often fighting for her life. But she is a fighter and always proves to be stronger than her enemies.

This adventure has Alex in a remote corner of New Mexico, close to the contentious border. She encounters many different groups and people on both sides of the immigrant issue, but she only wants to do her job and help the animals. I really like Alex and appreciate how dedicated she is to her job, and how she won’t let racists threaten her or her work. She is strong and resourceful which is very important when she gets in trouble with the white supremacists that are terrorizing the area.

I learned a lot about jaguars in this story, just like I learned alot about the other animals that Alex studied in the previous books. It did seem like a lot of the information was a bit on the repetitive side this time though and maybe a little bit preachy as well. Overall the first half of the book felt really repetitive, with a lot of it just being Alex wandering the preserve looking for evidence of the jaguar and being inside of her head with her thoughts. While she spent time with other people in the area, she didn’t really seem to connect with anyone this time which made her life feel awfully lonely.

Once the action picks up though the book got quite exciting. I won’t get into specifics, but just know it involves Alex being lost without supplies in the dessert. A nightmare to be sure. The action scenes are quite well written and will keep you engaged. We also learn through the archeology team a little bit of the native culture in the area, which was also very interesting to learn about. There is a slight mystery as to the billionaire whose property is adjacent to the preserve, and it was a bit fun trying to figure out his role in everything that was going one.

Except for the slow, rather repetitive start to this one, this was another solid adventure in this series. I always appreciate that the author includes information in the back about the animals that Alex studies and ways that people can help. These books don’t necessarily need to be read in order, but I do recommend that you do so. Alex is a great character and you should join her adventures at the start.