![]() ![]() ![]() Smith's affection for these unsavory people gives the book an intriguing moral ambiguity (which might make some environmentalists cringe), but the subculture's brazen shenanigans make for a convoluted, fascinating tale. Even the curators of the Bronx and San Diego zoos let their obsession with the animals lure them into deals in order to obtain illegally imported rare breeds. ![]() is a reptile dealer who, in the 1960s, unable to get a job with a zoo, began a lifelong career of reptile collecting involving restless international travel, partner-stiffing, and jail time, with an undaunted enthusiasm that's survived into his 60s: "The reptile business is a disease, and you can't retire from a disease."Įqually outrageous is the volatile, knife-wielding Tommy Crutchfield, who expanded his childhood alligator-and-snake business into a million-dollar empire of reptile hunting and dealing. Stolen World: A Tale of Reptiles, Smugglers, and Skulduggery is written by Jennie Erin Smith and published by Crown. Science reporter Smith bases her book on extensive original interviews with two smugglers: Henry Molt Jr. In this very disturbing and very entertaining chronicle of reptile smugglers, the collectors and zoo keepers who trade with them, and the federal agents who try to catch them, the humans are as devious, dangerous, and creepily charming as the cold-blooded creatures they lust after. For writer Jennie Erin Smith, a decade of work has resulted in an incredibly compelling and deeply layered expose that reveals the shadowy underbelly of the reptile trade. ![]()
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