2020-12-25
Screenwriter Staples’ first novel provides a kaleidoscopic view of the horrors of African poaching.
Locals and visitors alike have been poaching wild animals for years. But as endangered species dwindle, their disfigurement, capture, and slaughter have become steadily more systematic and centralized. Now the word is that the Sun Yee On triad is making a bold move to corner the market by lobbying to loosen the laws that protect the magnificent creatures and seizing a controlling interest in their distribution. Staples follows several characters interested in triad head Wan Koi’s plans for very different reasons. Cobus Venter is a Kruger National Park ranger who’s quit and gone freelance in a rage over the restrictions placed on his work. Kevin Davis is a CIA money-laundering specialist who wants to form a task force that will force his bosses to grant his long-deferred promotion. Randall Knight, a partner in Carlyle Insurance, wants to identify the parties who supplied a sick tiger that infected the other animals at a Miami zoo. Inspector Audrey Lam, a member of the Hong Kong Police Narcotics Bureau, wants to track down the person who poisoned the rhino horn that nearly killed her seriously ill 12-year-old. Since the poisoner was Cobus Venter, determined to put a spike in the illegal trade by undermining its product, it’s clear from the beginning that the principals will be working at odds with each other. The author’s conscientious, sometimes labyrinthine plotting takes quite a while to gather momentum. From the beginning, however, he excels in creating scene after scene of uncompromising cruelty and sadness.
Above all, Staples brings out the beasts in his human cast.
