Wow! Loved this book! What a timely, fast paced and thrilling book! Alice Henderson has written another amazing book that is well researched and so informative about the natural world, and the dangers wildlife face from humans more concerned with profit than the future of the environment and the preservation of endangered species. The character she has created for this book series, Alex Carter is quite a strong, adventurous, and inspirational female heroine! This book follows Alex on a quest to track and obtain photos and information on the elusive, endangered Jaguar in New Mexico and the dangers it faces in the wild, mostly from humankind. The plot is a gripping page turner, full of twists, that kept me completely engrossed from beginning to end. I literally could not put the book down while reading the last half! Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for my advanced copy. The opinions of this review are my own.

First off a big thank you to the publisher, the author and to Netgalley for the invite as well as letting me continue on with a series that I love , even though this is book Book 4 of Alex Carter and I somehow missed out on book 3 , I had no trouble getting into this story at all. And either way I plan on get copies of the books either on my kindle or as physical books themselves. So there's Definitely going to a re read of this series, one of the things I love about this series is not one the main character but also how the author takes you to remote areas of different places and you get to see the location come to live before your very eyes , as well as the animals that the main character Alex Carter is supposed to be studying as well as finding out there is other dangerous besides the wildlife or location the story takes place in, which makes this series a none stop actin packed from the very start to the last page ,With that said if your lookup for a book series that a combination of mystery, nature, the environment, action adventure, and survival then this is for you .

If you enjoy a crime thriller set in remote areas with events that feel all too real, look no further than Alice Henderson’s Dr. Alex Carter series. The Vanishing Kind is the fourth book featuring Alex, a wilderness area, and an endangered species. But the book is so much more than that.

Henderson has become my favorite author who emphasizes different facets of nature in a mystery thriller. After a chilling prologue in New Hampshire and some downtime in Los Angeles, Alex is called by Ben Hathaway, the regional director of the Land Trust for Wildlife Conservation. The rest of the book is set in New Mexico after she accepts a job to survey their Mogollon Wildlife Sanctuary near Azulejo. They believe they have some prime habitat for endangered jaguars and want her to do a species presence survey using remote cameras and hair snares, and if possible, collar a jaguar to get video and GPS information.

While Alex gets started on her survey, an archaeological team led by Dr. Enrique Espinoza is excavating a site believed to have buried treasure by a sixteenth-century Spaniard on a neighboring piece of land. She meets the team and learns what they have discovered.

A dangerous group of individuals wearing skull masks and who are very anti-immigrant are threatening both the dig and some businesses in town. It’s not long until Alex is threatened as well. The group is afraid that concessions will be made to the border wall allowing immigrants as well as endangered wildlife to cross the border.

Alex is a likeable character who is three-dimensional and had depth. She is a skilled wildlife biologist, adept at Jeet Kune Do style of martial arts, and is an expert shooter. She enjoys solitude, but has a few very good friends. She’s also polite, curious, determined to make a difference, has strong beliefs and ideals, and she enjoys meaningful connections and communication. She’s supported by an array of secondary characters that enhanced the story, but were not as fully developed. However, the relationships seemed believable and not contrived and provided the needed support or conflict.

The world-building was fabulous. I felt like I was transported to New Mexico with Alex as she carried out her research and encountered some tough and scary situations. The story was compelling, shocking at times, intense, and a great addition to the series. While there are some twists, I thought two of the main antagonists were too easily discerned and some of the action was over-the-top. However, this did not reduce my enjoyment of or enthusiasm for the book. Themes include wildlife sanctuaries, border protection, immigration, racism, chauvinism, murder, poaching, and endangered species.

The afterward has more information on jaguars, wildlife corridors, genetic isolation, wildlife overpasses and underpasses to avoid roads, and much more. There’s also a list of ways to engage, as well as books and videos about the jaguar. The author’s experience as a wildlife researcher and surveyor gives authenticity to the science and research methods used in the novels.

Overall, this combined mystery, nature, the environment, action adventure, and survival into one fantastic crime novel. It’s entertaining, compelling, and kept me rapidly turning the pages. Not only was this a fascinating mystery that kept me fully engaged, but I learned a lot about the jaguars historically as well as in current times. If you enjoy action-packed crime thrillers with an environmental and threatened wildlife theme, then this is a series to consider reading. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

William Morrow and Alice Henderson provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own. Publication date is currently set for March 4, 2025. This review was originally posted at Mystery and Suspense Magazine.

The next chapter in th Alex Carter wildlife series takes us to New Mexico where jaguars have recently been spotted.Alet soon finds herself mixed up with the local white supremacy group that is terrorizing the ranches and towns in the area. It's only a matter of time before her " guardian angel " Casey appears on the scene. Informative about nature and timely with the social climate, this is a pleasant way to spend some time.

This is the fourth book in an eco-thriller series following wildlife biologist and conservationist, Alex Carter. While the conservation and thriller aspects of these stories are self-contained, the story does mention relationships that she has built with characters in other books, which may have a profound effect on the events of this story.

In this installation, Alex travels to a protected sanctuary in New Mexico to look for the elusive jaguar. Ranchers and other locals have had anecdotal sightings but to further possible efforts for preserving the habitat for the large wildcats, Alex needs to provide proof that the species is present, possibly traveling across the border, which has ramifications for any further construction barriers in the area. I was especially excited about this book because we have had anecdotal sightings of these animals around the ranches where I grew up (and I think I saw one on at least 2 occasions). I enjoyed the earlier sections of the book as Alex hikes around the preserve and scopes out the area, placing cameras and hair snares and visiting with locals and other scientists in the area. While I enjoy the level of detail in these sections due to my fascination with wildlife conservation, some less enthused readers may find this part slow for a thriller.

As you might expect there are always characters with objections to the wildlife conservation efforts, and there was a variety of types in this one from white supremacists firebombing the locals and attacking anyone that doesn’t look like them to a hunter paid by local ranchers to eliminate a perceived threat. Once the action starts, it’s full throttle to the end. I stayed up until 1 AM to finish this one because I just couldn’t find a stopping place. Perhaps over the top at times, but I really enjoyed it anyway.

If I had one complaint with this one, it’s that the name was changed before publication. I did prefer the titles that referenced the animals, which is what draws me back to this series over time. I thought the new title made it sound like every other thriller, and years from now, when I see this title on my shelf, I’ll have to pick up it and look at the blurb to remember that this was the one about jaguars.

Recommended to thriller and nature lovers who enjoy detailed stories about conservation efforts.

Thank you to Netgalley and William Morrow for a copy provided for an honest review.

# The Vanishing by Alice Henderson
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ (3.5/5) | 🐆 Conservation thriller vibes

Y'all, this was my first Alice Henderson book EVER and I jumped straight into book four of the Alex Carter series (zero prior knowledge required!) and it's a solid desert adventure. Our wildlife biologist hero is tracking endangered jaguars in New Mexico when she gets caught between archaeological digs, anti-immigrant vigilantes, and mysterious holes appearing everywhere!

The vibes we're tracking:
🔍 Badass-scientist-against-all-odds energy
🏜️ Gorgeous-nature-writing-that-makes-you-FEEL-the-heat
👊 Woman-vs-racist-vigilantes tension
🐾 Endangered-species-and-humans-both-in-danger realness

The nature writing? *absolutely spectacular* 🌵 Henderson makes you feel that desert heat! When the action kicks in, it REALLY kicks in - found myself genuinely worried for Alex as she navigates dangerous terrain and even more dangerous people.

Only downside? Occasional info-dumps about conservation slow the pace a bit too much.

Perfect for readers who want their thrillers with a side of environmental awareness. Jaguars are cool, racist vigilantes are not, and Alex Carter is a badass scientist we need more of in fiction!

The Vanishing Kind by Alice Henderson keeps you hooked till the very end.
A well written suspense filled with twists that kept me hooked from the very beginning.
A quick and fun read that I finished in a few hours.
The characterization was superb, the writing pacey and flowing, and the tension delivered in a series of shocks and twists along the way.
This is a tightly written story, with well developed characters and enough suspense to keep you reading.

Book #4 in the excellent Alex Carter series. The FMC is a field biologist tasked with collecting samples and tracking numbers of targeted animals. This plot involves jaguars in a protected desert area adjacent to both an archelogical dig and the border with Mexico. I've read the first three books in the series and they were all excellent. Readers not only find unique mysteries with interesting characters, they will learn more about the conservation efforts made to protect endangered animals. The plots all include some very different characters that manage that Alice Henderson uses to build unique crimes and solves. Each book can be read as a stand alone and enjoyed. Alex Carter gets smarter and matures in her techniques with each book, but the stories stand well alone. Henderson has taken readers to several different areas and climates in this series. It's going to be interesting to see where she sends Alex next.

She's searching for jaguars...

...but will find far more dangerous predators as well (of the two legged variety).

Alex Carter is a wildlife biologist who has spent the last several months in LA spending time with her friend and A-List actress Zoe, a refreshing change to the many solitary months she had passed previously in remote wilderness. She's ready to head back into the field though and is thrilled to get a call from Ben Hathaway who is the regional director of the Land Trust for Wildlife Conservation, a group she has done work for in the past, who is offering her a new project. This time Alex would be in New Mexico doing a series presence survey, hopefully finding evidence that jaguars are present on sanctuary land there. If they are, the LTWC could petition the government to expand designated lands as a critical habitat for the highly endangered species. When she arrives she sets to work, but also comes across some disturbing events nearby. There is a white supremacist/anti-immigrant group causing problems both for Latinos in the neighboring town of Azulejo and a group participating in an archaeological dig on adjacent lands searching for the grave of a 16th century conquistador. Throw in the eccentric "gazillionaire" who owns a huge tract of land nearby and also seemingly wants to buy up the LTWC land for unknown reasons, and there's a lot going on in this secluded area. Turns out it isn't the wild cats of which she should be afraid, it's the two legged creatures who are posing the biggest threat to Alex's continued well=being.
This is the fourth entry in author Alice Henderson's series featuring Alex Carter. I haven't read the earlier books but enough details about earlier exploits are included that this one can easily be read as a standalone. The concept of the book intrigued me...passionate lover of animals and staunch conservationist comes up against human trouble as she works to protect the wilderness and its creatures...but I felt let down by the actual story. It began with a random prologue that didn't connect with the overall plot until nearly the end of the book, which left the narrative feeling disjointed. The characters never moved much beyond two dimensional for me....Alex is a likable enough character, but in a fairly generic sort of way, and the same can be said for the rest of the people with which she interacts. There was a great deal of detailed description of the gear Alex uses and a lot of information about jaguars and the methods Alex would use to harvest data to discover if there were jaguars about (and if so how many), and while much of it was informative and occasionally quite funny (like the fragrance used to attract wild cats being Obsession by Calvin Klein) it often bogged down the narrative. If you are a reader who wants a lot of facts with a hint of a story wrapped around it you might enjoy this more than I did, but if you're in the market for an engrossing mystery this might not be for you. I would rate it 2.5 ⭐️ rounded up to a 3 for the quality of information included. Readers of Nevada Barr, C J Box and William Kent Kruger might like this given its setting. My thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for allowing me access to a copy of The Vanishing Kind in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 wild cat stars

This is the fourth book in the Alex Carter series. She’s a wildlife biologist and manages to find danger on every project. This time, she’s in New Mexico trying to determine if there are still jaguars roaming a wildlife preserve.

I always enjoy the descriptions of wildlife work, for example, how they set up cameras and hair snares and then hopefully tranquilize and tag the animals they are studying.

This time, the danger comes from unscrupulous hunters, a band of border fanatics, and a conquistador who bobby-trapped his antiquities. This one has quite a few villains, and I wondered if Alex might have met her match.

This one was an interesting escape, but I found the ending over the top. As long as I suspended reality, I could root for Alex.

I enjoyed reading more about the endangered jaguars, and I hope they one day thrive again.

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.

I adore this series. Yes the story lines are pretty far-fetched (I hope!) but reading about the adventures of Alex Carter while she works on the continent's most beautiful spots is so fun. In this installment Alex is in New Mexico tracking jaguars that come across the Mexican border. She meets all sorts of neighbors both good and bad along the way of course. I read this mostly in one sitting because I couldn't wait to see what would happen next!

Jaguars! This fourth in the series (which is readable as a standalone) sees Alex, a wildlife biologist, in New Mexico tracking jaguars. Unfortunately, she's in the middle of an area of conflict over immigration and land use. And there's a predatory wealthy man. You'll learn a lot about jaguars (who knew about Obsessi0n?) and the way they have been worshipped. This is heavy on info and it's also very atmospheric as Alex lives in her small off the grid cabin and as she both treks and flees through the desert. The bad guys are appalling and know that this does go a bit over the top. And know also that the resolution is a tad implausible but that didn't keep me from turning the pages. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. I'm a fan who is looking forward to Alex's next job.

I read this book in like 2 sittings, it moves pretty quickly, but I found the first half of this book to be a little repetitive and almost like a data dump for lack of a better word. Call me uneducated but I didn’t know there are jaguars in the US? That was pretty cool to learn about! The story telling is well done about the wild life and I’ve never really read a book with this subject matter. But, the white supremest rampages could definitely be a triggering subject matter, especially with the existing political climate.

This anti immigrant group wants to stop illegal immigrants from crossing the border, but also jaguars? Idk I was just a little confused. I feel like Henderson tried to combine 2 massive political issues and it wasn’t working for me.

Also I was expecting Alex to be a little more of a bad ass. She’s this brilliantly educated wildlife biologist who apparently spends much time on her own, I was hoping to get “international superspy” vibes from her, and I felt she was sort of consistently in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Apparently this is the 4th book in the series and they’re all stand alone stories, but I’m not running to pick up the other stories.

While The Vanishing Kind, by Alice Henderson, had its moments, for me at least they were outweighed by the book’s several flaws, making it a book I can’t recommend. As usual in these cases, I’ll keep the review brief as I don’t like belaboring the point I didn’t care for a book.

This is the fourth in this series by Henderson, but the first I’ve read, and I can confidently say that not having read the other is no barrier. The book does fine as a standalone, and while the main character, wildlife biologist Alex Carter, reacts to events based on prior experiences and some characters from those earlier books make appearances, Henderson gives the reader enough “recap” material so that one isn’t at sea ever about who Carter is talking about or why she responds the way she does. So that’s a plus. Another is Henderson description of the natural world, which is always vividly sharp, precise, and makes one feel like she is describing a specific place rather than generic “nature.” Carter herself is an engaging enough character, the book offers up some detailed information about jaguars (Carter’s focus in this novel), and several scenes do a nice job of creating suspense and a sense of propulsive tension.

As noted, the above positives were outweighed for me by the several negative elements. One was a heavy reliance on contrivance and coincidence. Like, a really heavy reliance. So much so that Henderson even has the narrator note at one point that “Alex was staggered by the coincidence.” But noting it doesn’t make it any more plausible or any better of a craft technique. Another issue for me was the pacing and exposition, with the book’s plot often coming to a screeching halt for several paragraphs while we were informed about various facts on habitats or jaguar biology or the wildlife service’s killing of animals. The exposition was often clunky in its execution and had an adverse effect on plot. That said, outside of those expository segments, the book moves along quickly, taking only an afternoon to read.

If you’ve read the other Carter books, I’m assuming this isn’t much different in quality, so chances are if you’re a fan you’ll enjoy this one as well. As a new arrival though, this book didn’t entice me to read any more in the series unfortunately.
2.5

This book didn't hit the 5 star mark for me, but it was still a very hard hitting emotionally. For anyone who can be triggered by it, definitely pay the biggest attention to the "group of anti-immigrant vigilantes" mentioned in the synopsis. It is such a huge part of this book and it honestly made me feel a bit ill at times, especially with how the political climate in the US currently is. Don't get me wrong, I loved this book. I think it does a great job showing how awful these things are that are happening to people, I just want anyone going into it to be prepared that it's a hard book to read because of it.

I read this book in one sitting, just a few hours, and couldn't put it down because I just wanted to know what happened next and to see the bad guys get what they deserved. I can see where other people weren't the biggest fans of the info dumping, but going into this fully because I am interested in the wildlife biologist aspect, I was here for it. I love learning these things when it comes to these books. I would LOVE to see one with wolves one day, maybe??

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for early access to the ebook.

Wildlife biologist Alex Carter is back and this time she's looking for jaguars in a wildlife preserve in New Mexico. Along the way she'll encounter both friend and foe, along with danger and a touch of romance. Alice Henderson has a formula and it works; this book was delightful. A few times I found myself drifting during the plight of the species and terrible government decisions exposition but the story moves quickly. Side note, a tiny bit disappointed that she didn't stick with the title tradition and give us A Prowl of Jaguars or something fun.

Alex Carter #4. In this mystery/thriller, Alex is called to New Mexico to possibly locate jaguars in a sanctuary, and see what can be done to encourage their return to the region. Once again, the wilderness becomes a very busy place, full of very nasty people.
I really enjoyed the first three in the series, but was disappointed in this one. This one seemed to follow formula alone. Alex almost immediately finds evidence of a jaguar. On her first trip to town, white supremacists go on a rampage, and when she visits a nearby archaeological dig, they arrive again. As soon as she is in the wilderness, she is immediately approached by a corrupt wildlife agent, and later by a bizarre local billionaire. Boom, boom, boom. My favorite part of this series is the integration of the wildlife work with the story, but even that and the conservation information come through as a data dump, and don't flow with the story. It's very exciting, and the action is spectacular as always. But the way her mysterious friend always rides to the rescue has become a bit annoying. Handy, but annoying. As if the only solution to these dreadful problems is to have some shining knight in armor willing to cross all the lines come in and obliterate the bad guys. Interesting and dramatic, but disappointing.

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.

This is a tough review for me to write. I love Alex Carter as a character and love the overall arch of this series - following a biologist as she works on jobs related to different endangered animals in the US is super interesting to me. I love the variety of locations and animals the series has explored. The first two books were favorites for me.

Unfortunately the two most recent books were both misses. In this latest one - Alex is working to locate jaguars in New Mexico. If you’re interested in a lot of over the top action - a Mission Impossible: Biologist if you will - perhaps this is for you. It was a big miss for me and it took me forever to get through the last bit of the book because I kept getting distracted and not wanting to read it. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the free ebook and audiobook to review.