The Falcon Thief

A well-written, engaging detective story (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) about a rogue who trades in rare birds and their eggsand the wildlife detective determined to stop him. On May 3, 2010, an Irish national named Jeffrey Lendrum was apprehended at Britains Birmingham International Airport with a suspicious parcel strapped to his stomach. Inside were fourteen rare peregrine falcon eggs snatched from a remote cliffside in Wales. So begins a vivid tale of obsession and international derring-do (Publishers Weekly), following the parallel lives of a globe-trotting smuggler who spent two decades capturing endangered raptors worth millions of dollars as race championsand Detective Andy McWilliam of the United Kingdoms National Wildlife Crime Unit, whos hell bent on protecting the worlds birds of prey. Masterfully constructed (The New York Times) and entertaining and illuminating (The Washington Post), The Falcon Thief will whisk you away from the volcanoes of Patagonia to Zimbabwes Matobo National Park, and from the frigid tundra near the Arctic Circle to luxurious aviaries in the deserts of Dubai, all in pursuit of a man who is reckless, arrogant, and gripped by a destructive compulsion to make the most beautiful creatures in nature his own. Its a story thats part true-crime narrative, part epic adventureand wholly unputdownable until the very last page.