Wonderful story about taking care of animals and also waiting for the sequel to come soon.

I would highly recommend this book because the author gives background knowledge with regards to poaching.

My jury is still out on this novel.

As a South African, I picked holes from the minute I started reading the book. It’s so obvious that the author might have visited the country and sort of soaked up the atmosphere, but………… from a foreign perspective.

The description of the rhino and her calf poaching is accurate. And anyone with a heart will be deeply affected by the scene painted. Catching one of the poachers? Yes, they do it for money. They are poor. However, most lodges now work with the chiefs and their inhabitants usually work for the lodges. There are so many jobs available in this industry.

What I thought was the downfall of the novel, was the two main characters. Anna, never setting foot in Africa suddenly has not only the courage associated with a game warden but is also able to take on duties associated with someone who must be extensively trained. Chris is described well, but he was one dimensional.

I’m sure this book will appeal to people who don’t know South Africa except as a place where there are wild animals and lots of lodges that offer fantastic safaris.

Imbali

Elite Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

*Spoiler Alert*

As someone who falls firmly into the category of "rhino gal" I can appreciate what the author was trying to do in the name of conservation with this book. However important the message, the writing and story were pretty flawed, which ultimately detracted from the effort the author was trying to make. I really, really loathed Anna. She is written as a stereotypical rich white American woman who is self-centered and closed off to the issues of the world as they don't affect her. Her self-conscious yet egotistical attitude in the beginning of the book had me praying that she would be eaten by lion or killed by a poacher. She and each of the other characters in this book are written with very little depth beyond generalized stereotypes, as I mentioned above. Chris is a loud and boisterous, rogueish South African bush guide who immediately fills the deeply flawed love interest role, the other couples on the trip are an American dentist with big white teeth in his big white mouth, his demure and reserved wife, a pale and lanky aristocratic British couple, and an aloof couple from France. No interest, no diversity, no effort.

I also have a big problem with the authors inclusion of the attack on the baby rhino, as being poached for it's horn. Baby rhinos are not actually born with horns and won't start developing them for several months after birth. While the age of the animal wasn't ever specifically mentioned, context clues lead the reader to believe that it was recently born, and thus would have had no horn to be taken. So while I understand why he wrote it in, it doesn't actually make sense realistically.

Things that I liked were the scenery and atmosphere, the authors use of details to build imagery, and the passion behind the message of conservation. There are a couple really beautifully written paragraphs in this book that you just want to highlight and save.

All in all a decent effort but not my favorite.

I loved this book! I have followed WildEarth Live for years. That made this book very interesting to me.
The only thing that I didn't like, somehow I missed out on the fact that this is a series.
That said, I will be picking up the next book. I can't wait for it to be finished.
The writer did his homework. I could see the landscape where everything took place.

Thank you so much, NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this great book!

It was okay. There is a definite market for this book, however I am not it. Thanks for the arc. Many will like it.