The Lizard King...

NO! I don't mean George Bush...I mean the book by Bryan Christy, "The Lizard King". Steve Grenard, a herpetologist and owner of the venomlist to which I've subscribed for years, says it's "Enthralling stuff."

That's good enough for me. The review is by AZRINA ABDULLAH as follows:

The shadowy world of illegal wildlife trading is laid bare in this
non-fiction book that reads like a thriller.

THE LIZARD KING
The True Crimes and Passions of the World's Greatest Reptile
Smugglers

By Bryan Christy
Publisher: Twelve, 256 pages
ISBN: 978-0446580953

http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?
file=/2008/9/28/lifebookshelf/2000872&sec=lifebookshelf

IT'S been compared to the illegal drugs and arms trade: experts
estimate that profits from the world's illegal trade in wildlife runs
into billions of dollars. But, just like the drugs trade, illegal
wildlife trading is a shadowy, little known world.

This book sheds some light and puts faces to what is a complex
problem; and, most importantly for local readers, it includes an
intriguing Malaysian angle.

The Lizard King begins with the story of one Tomas Medina who
attempts to smuggle snakes and tortoises from Argentina into the
United States by packing them in hidden pockets and pillow cases
distributed among his luggage.

>From there, the book goes on to provide fascinating details about how
illegal traders like Medina are part of a worldwide network - and
it's a network that includes a trader from Penang, too.
We are given a rare glimpse into this network, which is managed like
a well oiled machine able to move one of the world's rarest species,
the ploughshare tortoise from its native Madagascar to overseas
markets where it can fetch up to US$10,000 (RM34,000) each.

Along the way, this page-turner of a book introduces us to the
fascinating characters that inhabit the two sides of this trade: the
dedicated enforcement officers whose job it is to protect endangered
wildlife and those who exploit that wildlife illegally for profit.

The central character of this book is Mike Van Nostrand, owner of
Strictly Reptiles in Florida, a major supplier of reptiles not only
in the United States but globally, too.

Van Nostrand initially had not wanted to continue his father's
reptile business: "... Mike knew he did not want to go into the
reptile business. It wasn't the animals, it was the people". However,
like his father, he was a shrewd businessman and understood the huge
profits the business could reap; how could he say no to pocketing
US$200,000 (RM680,000) a year before he turned 25?

Opposing him is Agent Chip Bepler, an enforcement officer with the US
Fish and Wildlife Service, who starts sniffing into Strictly
Reptiles' illegal activities and pulls out all the stops to arrest
Mike.

Bepler is an inspiring personality, especially when he displays
dogged persistence in bringing Strictly Reptiles to justice for a
crime many consider victimless.

The cat and mouse game between these two main characters escalates to
reveal an international syndicate and the involvement of officials
trusted to protect wildlife but who instead have been corrupted into
facilitating the illegal trade.

Does it sound like a fictional thriller? Well, this non-fiction book
is just as compelling a read as any best-selling thriller.

To make it even more compelling for Malaysians, there is one chapter
devoted to Penangite Anson Wong, our very own major player in the
wildlife trade.

This is riveting chapter, and reading about Wong's take on the
illegal wildlife trade brings new meaning to the phrase Malaysia
Boleh!

The objectivity of Christy's writing is praiseworthy in an area known
for its fierce polemics. For instance, the book leaves you to decide
what type of person Van Nostrand is, and tries to explain where
someone like him is coming from.

What particularly stands out is Van Nostrand's understanding of and
respect for Bepler's work even though they were on opposite sides of
the wildlife trade war.
There are more than enough facts to keep you turning the pages and
learning about the ingenious, and in most cases, the simplest and
obvious ways people have smuggled wildlife.

This seems to be an extremely well researched book, with the author
basing his account on records and transcripts from enforcement
agencies such as the Law Enforcement Division of the US Fish and
Wildlife Service, US Department of Justice, and US Attorney's Office.
Apart from the van Nostrands, interviews were also conducted with the
wildlife traders themselves including Wong, and other players such as
Ralph Davis, and Bob Clark.

It doesn't matter whether you are a nature lover or not because, like
any good book, The Lizard King evokes a rollercoaster of emotions
through Christy's portrayal of his cast of characters. That is how a
book, any book, should affect its reader, and Christy delivers.
Azrina Abdullah is a member of an organisation that monitors the
illegal wildlife trade in the region.