Imagine The Sopranos, with snakes! The Lizard King is a fascinating account of a father-and-son family business suspected of smuggling reptiles and the federal agent who tried to take them down.
When Bryan Christy began to investigate the world of reptile smuggling, he had no idea what he would be in for. In the course of his research, he was bitten between the eyes by a blood python, chased by a mother alligator, and sprayed by a bird-eating tarantula. But perhaps more dangerous was coming face to face with Michael J. Van Nostrand, owner of Strictly Reptiles, a thriving family business in Hollywood, Florida. Van Nostrand imports as many as 300,000 iguanas each year (over half the total of America's most popular imported reptile), as well as hundreds of thousands of snakes, lizards, frogs, spiders, and scorpions.
Van Nostrand was suspected of being a reptile smuggler by Special Agent Chip Bepler of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, who devoted years of his life in an obsessive quest to expose the Lizard King's cold-blooded crimes. How this cat-and-mouse game ended is engrossing and surprising.
About the Author :
Bryan Christy is the former head of special investigations at National Geographic and named the 2014 National Geographic Society "Rolex Explorer of the Year." His criminal investigations have been the subject of two award-winning National Geographic documentaries, and his crime writing has been anthologized in The Best American Science and Nature Writing. He is author of the nonfiction book The Lizard King. His education includes Penn State, Cornell's FALCON Program, University of Michigan Law School, Tokyo University Law School, and time at the Iowa Writers' Workshop.
Tony Ward is the narrator of numerous audio books, including titles by Joanne Fluke, Will Allison, and John Connolly.
Review :
"The Lizard King is a wild, woolly, finny, feathery and scaly account of animal smuggling on a grand scale...it is rich with memorable moments."
-- "New York Times"
"Christy mounts an intense and highly readable investigation into this unique black market's surprising depths."
-- "Amazon.com"
"Christy takes us deep inside the world of the smuggler...An exciting story of smugglers, lawmen, corrupt government officials, organized crime, and slithery beasts."
-- "Booklist"
