Border Prey

Rachel Porter #4

by Jessica Speart

As U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agent Rachel Porter investigates a mysterious smuggling ring responsible for bringing primates across the Mexican border, she stumbles into a bizarre and dangerous mystery leading to the murder of one of the smugglers, just before he can provide inside information about the ring, a killing that also spawns an attack on Rachel herself. Original.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

282 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 2000

Reviews

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

U. S. Fish and Wildlife Agent Rachel Porter irritates her superiors wherever she is assigned. Consequently, she is now on a remote outpost on the Mexican border. She has cultivated a ‘former’ importer of illegal primates Timmy Tom Tyler. Timmy calls her at the crack of dawn to tell her he’s “going to let her in on something big.” She goes o the meet in the desert only to find Timmy Tom dead with a cell phone shoved down his throat.

Rachel’s trail leads her to a hunting ranch in Texas where remarkable animals are kept in well fed pastures, unafraid of the humans who come to shoot them as trophies, often without ever having to get out of a jeep. She also finds clues to cloning and biomedical research that has frightening implications for all of us. This is a good outdoors mystery that should appeal to readers of Nevada Barr and C.J. Box and make readers more aware of the unsavory trade in smuggled animals and zoo cast-offs. There are some crack pot characters to lighten the mood. Recommended.

Readalikes:
Joseph Heywood – Chasing a Blond Moon; Nevada Barr’s Anna Pigeon series; E.C. Ayres – Night of the Panther; Lee Wallingford’s Frank Carver and Ginny Trask mysteries; Skye Kathleen Moody’s Venus Diamond series; Terry Grosz – The Thin Green Line (True Crime).

Pace: Fast-paced
Character: Dedicated; likeable; good secondary cast
Storyline: Intricately plotted; detailed
Writing style: Engaging
Tone: Suspenseful;
Frame: Texas, New Mexico/Mexican border; Contemporary
Themes: Race against time

Red flags/Trigger warnings: Animal mistreatment; Hunting ranches

[Shirley Breheny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humorous and informative

[Ace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rachel Porter is a US Fish and Wildlife Agent trying to piece together the mystery of smuggled chimps, animals she thinks are hidden on the Happy Hunting Ranch. The setting is intriguing and detailed. Better yet, it hasn't been overused. The plot is fast-paced and exciting. Readers are hooked from the beginning.

The characters, however, are contrived and, in some cases, unrealistic. The owner of the Happy Hunting Ranch is womanizing for the sake of womanizing; his character is a caricature, which detracts from any real character development for him. Rachel is a developed character, but she could be more complex; however, I did not know this was part of a series until I completed the novel and I'm sure I missed some details because of that.

[Darinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fourth book in the Rachel Porter series by Jessica Speart. Rachel is a fish and wildlife agent who often gets caught up in her investigations of endangered species. This book finds Rachel working in Texas on a case involving primates being smuggled across the border. A light and entertaining read.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read the first 4 books in Jessica Speart's Rachel Porter series. I've enjoyed the first 3 - I liked this one, too, BUT it took an unexpected - and unwelcome - jag into cross-genre material. (I'm not going to go any further; I'm not a fan of spoilers.)

Let's just say that it resulted in my usual 4 star ranking was dropped to 3 stars for this book.

[Gary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ain't Nevada Barr that's for sure...

[Galen Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun plot, contrived characters.

[Kelly McCloskey]

Not bad