*Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an early copy of this one - releasing March 17, 2020!*

“Sometimes he longed for the lands of prehistory—a world before cages or bombs, when titans roamed. A world before sin. Sometimes he wished the rain would fall and fall, drowning the histories of men, letting the world begin anew. Anse shook his head, blowing smoke. Too easy, he knew.” – Taylor Brown, Pride of Eden

Taylor Brown wins again! I first fell in love with his writing in Gods of Howl Mountain (a book I still constantly recommend to anyone who’ll listen), and Pride of Eden doesn’t disappoint.

Evocative of Old Florida – careworn roadside stands and attractions, family-operated amusement parks, that all too familiar wet-blanket humidity of the South, buzzing insects humming in your ears canals. Completely unfiltered, neither the setting nor the characters are artificially prettied up. Everything is glazed in simmering heat and violence. And it’s glorious.

You’ll never find me happier than with an underdog, someone who has fallen to the bottom of the pack, elbowing their way out of whatever circumstance happened to bring them low, and this book features a whole pack of them. Characters broken by war or abuse or tragedy who, banded together by their shared passion for animals, turn into vigilante saviors – seeking out and rescuing neglected and abused exotic animals. Leopards, elephants, tigers, lions, a giant three-legged Nile croc, the group of misfits in this story will stop at nothing to liberate an animal in need.

Readers beware – Brown pulls no punches. The writing in this book is graphic and gritty, raw and bloody. Like the predators inside, it has teeth.

Highly recommended for fans of Ron Rash, David Joy, and Brian Panowich.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Pride of Eden was a tough book to read, due to the horrific treatment of animals, as well as the difficult experiences of the characters. However, Brown includes only what is necessary to help the reader understand the world he is presenting without going too far. For every description of an animal horribly mistreated, Brown balances it with the respect and love Anse, Lope, Malaya, and Taylor have for the animals they rescue. The relationship between nature and humans is a complicated one, and this novel gives me much more to think about. Beautifully written.

I received this from Netgalley.com for a review.

"Vietnam veteran, retired racehorse jockey, and keeper of secrets, Anse Caulfield rescues exotic big cats, elephants, and other creatures for Little Eden, a wildlife sanctuary near the abandoned ruins of a failed development on the Georgia coast."

This was kind of an erratic story. It jumped back and forth and I found it confusing at times.

Warning: Extreme animal abuse.

2.75☆

Pride of Eden by Taylor Brown was such an intense book! I loved every second of it and found the story fascinating.

Vietnam vet Anse Caulfield has created a wildlife sanctuary along the Georgia coast called Little Eden.  When his favorite lion escapes and has to be put down, Anse begins the search for a new rescue.

Malaya, a former soldier who spent time at an animal refuge in Africa after her discharge, joins Anse in his mission to save these beautiful animals from exploitation by smugglers, breeders, and trophy hunters.

Anse and Malaya operate in a gray area: their rescues aren't always legal but they wholeheartedly believe in their mission.  
Tyler, the veternarian at Little Eden, isn't privy to the details but understands Anse's dedication.
Lope, a trained falconer, joins Little Eden and offers his help by operating surveillance drones on rescue missions.
After the successful rescue of Mosi, a lion who survived a trophy hunt only to become a gas station attraction, the group finds the lion has been stolen from them.
On a remote private island off the Georgia coast, Anse and his team search for Mosi and face the danger of doing so.

Taylor Brown is an incredible writer.  After reading Gods of Howl Mountain, he has become an auto-buy author for me.  Pride of Eden is a lyrically written story about nature and humanity and where they intersect.  Brown creates a captivating atmosphere that is almost palpable and brings readers on the journey to understand the characters and their motivations in an intensely emotional way.

I recommend Pride of Eden to readers who appreciate stories of nature and man's connection to it.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.  Pride of Eden is scheduled for release on March 17, 2020.

4.5 animal protection stars

I read this author’s book -- “Gods of Howl Mountain” – and rated it 5 stars so I was excited to see he was out with a new one. That book was a southern masterpiece with memorable characters. This one was completely different plot-wise. The consistencies are excellent writing, interesting and memorable characters, and mostly a southern setting.

There are a few storylines going on – one features Anse – a very complicated character, he’s a Vietnam vet, former jockey, and now runs a wildlife sanctuary for rescued animals. There’s also Malaya, who is a former soldier and also spent time as a contractor fighting poachers in Africa. She’s complicated too! They have strong passions about protecting animals.

The other story is a man who runs a wolf sanctuary and we learn about his tortured past as well. As you can see this book has a LOT of animals in it. In fact, some of the chapters are from an animal’s point of view. There are definitely a few instances of animal abuse, but they weren’t so horrific that I had to put the book down.

I think this one is worth your time, but very different than my expectations going in!

I love Taylor Brown’s beautifully descriptive writing. I admire his inventiveness - his books are all quite different. Pride of Eden centers on exotic animals, their mistreatment, their habits, and an odd assortment of characters who love and care for them. This is not a sweet and sappy animal story. It’s a story of dark characters with dismal backgrounds. Somehow they were all woven into a story of abuse, poaching, war, climate change, individuality, along with a touch of hope and mystery. It’s an absorbing story.

In particular, I am grateful to have become better educated at what is done to animals. Among the more shocking things, that I really should have known about, was the exotic animal hunts. How sad for the animals and for the humans who feel this is a sport. I won’t even mention what is done to the rhinos.

This book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an unbiased review.

While I ended up enjoying this title to a degree, it took a while to get fully enraptured in the tale. Unlike some other genres, I could not just sit down and speed read through the book. Rather, I had to stop to digest what had happened on occasion. Most likely this was a combination of the subject matter and the author's style.

At times you are seeing the world through the eyes of the main characters of the story. Such as Anse, a Vietnam vet and owner of a wildlife sanctuary called LIttle Eden. Or Malaya, a veteran from Iraq who is lost after being forced to leave her job helping track and stop poachers. They share an appreciation of the animals they work to save.

At other times, the story is seen through the eyes of a few animals. A long dead sabertooth cat which Anse dreams about. And a regal lion who was "saved" from a rigged safari experience by a gas station mogul who put him on display outside one of his stations.

By the end of the novel, I felt like I had been somewhat schooled on the plight of many exotic animals which have been hunted to the verge of extinction or sold off to collectors who do not even understand the animal they've purchased. And I have even more respect for those people who are doing their best to fight those trends and preserve these marvelous creatures.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the ARC provided.

Gripping and inspired but not for the faint of heart! This is a book for the permanent best books list and one that will stay with you long after the last page is turned. On the surface, this is a novel about a team of broken souls that come together to rescue exotic wild animals in South Georgia. On a deeper level its a graphically detailed expose of the illegal trade in exotic wild animals in the US and how from birth they are mistreated for the benefit and amusement of private owners, roadside zoos and illegal animal fights.

The team of wounded warriors who seek their own salvation by saving the animals is lead by Anse, a Vietnam vet and owner of Eden the wildlife sanctuary. he built in the swampy coastal plains of Georgia. He lives there with his long time partner and lover Tyler who's the vet for the sanctuary. Lope is a local firefighter that practices his falconry in the sanctuary while trying to resolve his childhood and adult guilt over a dead lion. The newest member of the team is Malaya, an Iraqi war vet and former mercenary in Africa where she hunted poachers that were after the rhinos and other wild animals.

The author has done a deep dive into the world of wildlife sanctuaries, especially those for the big cats and researched the black market trading that these animals are rescued from. She gets inside the head of the animals and the human and has a way with words that makes you believe that you are slogging through the swampy marshes and can smell the humidity and muskiness of death. She's a gifted storyteller that teaches without preaching and puts the reader directly into the psyches of her characters. It's a moving tribute to the dignity of the wild creatures that live every day at risk and brings awareness to a global problem. Highly recommend this novel.

A book that swept me away a book that will stay with me.The interaction of humans with animals.An author Inwil be reading all his books and recommending them.#netgalley#st.Martinsbooks.

Taylor Brown's Pride of Eden did not hold my attention., nor was it entertaining. There were several characters and their lives kept going back and forth from present-day to days past. Hard to keep up.

Pride of Eden is a gritty book inhabited by gritty characters. Anse Caulfield is a Vietnam vet and retired racehorse jockey. He is joined by Malaya, a discharged soldier who hunts poachers on an African wildlife preserved; Lope, a falcon-trainer who hunts surveillance drones; and Tyler, a female veterinarian and Anse’s lover. The writing here is at times beautiful and at times a bit over-the-top. Some areas seem almost jagged, but those areas increase the intensity of the four people, all somewhat loners and hanging onto the outer rim of humanity, who come together in a “pride” of their own. They rescue—often with less-than-legal methods—big cats, wolves, elephants, crocodiles, and other creatures and have established Little Eden, a wildlife sanctuary on the Georgia coast. Brown binds together prehistory (for example, saber-toothed cats and mammoths trapped in the La Brea tar pits) and present times to establish a human-animal interconnection and has these animals narrate parts of the story.

Pride of Eden is a beautiful story of a Vietnam veteran and the world of animals that I found captivating and extremely difficult to put down. Before starting this book, I was really surprised by how much was going on in the blurb and I was unsure how Taylor Brown planned to work everything together into a book that's barely three hundred pages--fortunately I was really pleasantly surprised by how well everything melded together into a really thought-provoking story.

**Full review to come closer to publication!**

Well... I did read the blurb, Somewhat misleading. I could have abandoned this book at any time, but felt obligated to finish it. I've read numerous books with damaged and dysfunctional characters--this one was loaded with them!

Just not my kind of book. I never got into it. Too gruesome/gory. But giving a 2 because the writing was ok. I'm in the distinct minority of reviewers.

Some vivid descriptions:

"...massive paws pancaking beneath his weight."

"...scarlet macaws with yellow coverts at their shoulders, worn like the epaulettes of a colonial army."

Followed by other phrases that had me going yuck and ugh--multiple times!

I learned a new word: caparisoned.

I was drained but pushed on to finish. Thankfully, the book was not [too] long.

Great concept. Okay story, characters and read but nothing great. Not something I would recommend or read again.

Loved this one . I thought it was fast paced with good plot. Thanks for letting me review this book

Little Eden is a wildlife sanctuary on the Georgia coast. Rather low rent and shabby. Much like the ruins of an entire development that failed when the interstate moved locations. 

Anse Caulfield runs the place. We aren't sure how he manages that financially but he is a character. A veteran of Vietnam, Jockey, and lover of all wild animals. Especially Henrietta, his prized cat that Anse loves fiercely. When she gets out and is killed, he is obsessed with finding more, saving more animals and righting wrongs.

Anse and Tyler, a vet, live together at the sanctuary and she worries endlessly about Anse.  When another former soldier and animal activist, Malay, shows up looking for work, Anse hires her. She feels the same respect for the animals and the rage at how they are treated. Along with local friend Lope, they take on the smugglers, the back alley sellers of rare cats who are soon abandoned and left to die. 

But someone else wants one of the cats they saved. And for a reason, you won't believe until you read it!

If you read The Gods of Howl Mountain, you know Brown has a gift for weaving stories and characters that is magical. For me personally, my family is from Sapelo Island and St. Simon's Island. We grew up speaking Geechee and running wild much like the feral cattle left to roam the island. This was very personal to me. The cruelty of people to raise an animal by hand and then let men come in a fenced area to kill it is mindboggling. What kind of person does that?  Turns out, a lot of them.

Thank you, Ms. Brown, for another brilliant read!

NetGalley/ March 17th, 2020 by St. Martin's Press

I finished this book not only emotionally drained, but also throughout awed by the talent of this author. His first book, Fallen Land, captured my attention, his following endeavors firmly cemented him into an author that I will drop everything to read immediately. He can put together characters and events in a detailed manner, making them unforgettable.

Here the world is on the verge of a collapse, due to mans mistreatment of nature , and his own greed. There are few main characters, but all have suffered emotionally and physically in the past. They come together at Eden, a sanctuary for mistreated animals. If you are an animal lover this will be a hard read, but it also shows that their are still those who care, have in fact made it their lifes mission to serve and protect.

This is intense, descriptive, so much do that I felt as if I was not only reading, but was instead watching from within. Do you know there are more tigers in the state of Texas, than there is left in the wild? I couldn't believe this, so had to look it up and yes, it is true. Fixed hunts, where the animals are set up for the hunter. Big men, big hunters, can't take on the animals on the own terms. Sickening, some of the horrible things people do and accept.. Lawrence Anthony, the elephant whisperer, a man I much admire, makes a few short appearances. Mans cruelty to animals, the animals like Mosi, the lion, who is only acting to his nature, doesn't kill just to have or destroy, but for food. By books end one should realize that the animals are much nobler, than the humans who attempt to capture, maim or kill.

One should finish this book angry, angry at our lack of respect and caring for the animals of our world. A little hopeful to that there are still those who care enough to try to help and save. At the end of the last chapter there was something that made me smile, perfectly placed and so right. This is a book I will never forget and one that I encourage all to read.

ARC from St. Martin's press.

I have enjoyed Taylor Brown’s previous novels. However, this one fell flat for me. The premise as outlined in the blurb didn’t yield a satisfying plot and there was no buildup to an ending.

When I was much younger, I would visit a zoo, and other places where animals were displayed and be happy to see those bars that held them back from me. They couldn't hurt me, but as I grew older, I soon realized how awful it was to cage these animals. My heart would break and as I looked intently at these creatures, I saw sadness, a deep sadness that entrapped behind these bars was a way of life for these creatures. Those feeling made this book even more heart rending for me. For they, unlike me, could never go home again.

Anse Caulfield is a rescuer. He is a Vietnam veteran, intent on his mission of being a man who saves exotic animals. He has established a sanctuary for lions, elephants, and other exotic animals and has called it Little Eden. There the animals are provided for, given love, attention, and most of all an environment of semi freedom. When Anse's prize lion escapes and is killed by an assistant, it sets in motion a deep desire in Anse to replace this beloved animal.

There are not only animals in the world of Little Eden. There are other people dedicated to the lives of the animals they save and rescue, even if not legal, their intent is the life of the creatures they have sworn to guard. There is Malaya, a former soldier, once a chaser of people who poached animals in Africa. There is Tyler, a veterinarian, important to Anse and much more than a doctor to his charges, and there is Lope, a falconer, a worker of drones. These people live their lives in service to the animals in their care and engage in a conflict to rescue animals trapped in lives of desperation, hunted for their body parts, their trophy value, their breeding ability, and as a lure or deterrent to nefarious business dealings.

There are notes of fantasy as Taylor Brown seems to crawl into the minds and hearts of not only his characters, but also the animals of the present and past. It is a tribute to what animals once were, where they came from, and how they roamed this planet free with the power of life within them. It's a look at the earth we now occupy where animals are often valued for what they can bring to their owners in the way of money, trapped in a world not of their making, having no way to escape. It is a sad commentary of where we are and how no matter what we seem to do, animals of the past, present and future are in danger. .....and is it not so that we, too, are animals? Are we not in the same kind of danger as our animals?

I recommend this beautifully written story to all those who not only love animals but also fear for the future of all. It is a tale containing harshness and riveting detail that is often times hard to read as often the truth is. It is the story of life, of dedication, of a person crying in the wilderness for the creatures of the past, present, and what is to come.

Thank you to Taylor Brown, St Martin's Press, and NetGalley for a copy of this book due out on March, 20, 2020.