VILE, venomous and best kept under lock and key – and that’s just the people in this gripping book. Jennie Erin Smith spent a decade investigating the strange world of reptile collectors and dealers who specialise in rare species. I couldn’t put this book down, partly because it’s a ripping yarn of wildlife cops versus reptile robbers, but also because I was mesmerised by the horror of it all.
Don’t be fooled by these colourful characters. They are no herpetological Indiana Joneses, but criminals in it for the money: loathsome, scary and prepared to let their animals die to evade capture themselves. Most shocking is the revelation…
