Border Prey (Rachel Porter Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Jessica Speart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 6, 2000 | Series: Rachel Porter Mysteries

Even Murder Is Bigger In Texas

Primates are being smuggled over the Mexican border, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agent Racheal Porter has a hot tip that they're hidden somewhere on the Happy Hunting Ranch. Bad enough that the game ranch provides rare antelopes, Indian deer, and African oryx for the rich to hunt. Now Rachel's sure the hidden illegal chimps are being used for a far more nefarious purpose than exotic target practice.

But when a smuggler is murdered minutes before Rachel can get his insider information, and a mysterious thug comes gunning for her after she unearths enemy territory. For on the border, where coyotes roam and mountain lions prowl, the rule is kill or be killed, and Rachel's no longer a hunter-now she's become the prey.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Another heart-pounding adventure with the most stubborn and entertaining agent in all of law enforcement. Read the whole series." -- Glynco Observer, GA

"BORDER PREY is fresh and close to the bone ... endlessly fascinating." -- Nevada Barr, author

"Fresh and close to the bone...Fascinating." -- --Nevada Barr

"Takes readers to all sorts of interesting places. She has a real flair for bringing colorful characters to life." -- Connecticut Post

A rattling good yarn. Rachel Porter has a mouth on her, as they say, and ... a very good traveling companion. -- The Boston Globe, 4/30/00

About the Author

Jessica Speart has been published in The New York Times Magazine, Omni, Travel & Leisure, Audubon, National Wildlife, Mother Jones, Wildlife Conservation, Earth Journal and any other publications. She lives in Easton, Conneticut.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Avon (June 6, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380810409
• ISBN-13: 978-0380810406
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,317,654 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I began as an investigative journalist with a focus on wildlife law enforcement, endangered species issues, and the environment. I created my sleuth, U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent Rachel Porter, after years of investigating wildlife and drug trafficking crimes for publications such as The New York Sunday Times Magazine, National Wildlife, Travel & Leisure, Mother Jones, Audubon, Wildllife Conservation, Animals, and E Magazine.

Then something strange happened. I discovered that truth really IS stranger than fiction. I learned about a 3 year undercover operation that resulted in the arrest of the world's most notorious butterfly smuggler. The story was so dark and twisted that I was fascinated by it. But I didn't stop there. I decided I had to meet the smuggler, himself. That's when my book, WINGED OBSESSION, took on a totally unexpected element.

Prior to writing, I worked as an actress on everything from off-Broadway to commercials, industrials, and soap operas.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Border Prey, July 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Border Prey (Rachel Porter Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

In BORDER PREY, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Special Agent Rachel Porter has been booted from her post in Miami to the ever scenic El Paso/New Mexico border with Mexico. Here in the desert Southwest, she takes on the illegal monkey trade, lecherous ranchers, mad scientists, and vultures. Dealing with smuggling and the misuse of monkeys is bad enough, but the stakes are raised when her only informant is murdered. However, Rachel is no shrinking violet; she and her in-your-face attitude will get the job done, one way or another.

Like Speart's previous novels (GATOR AIDE, TORTOISE SOUP, and BIRD BRAINED), one of the book's biggest strengths is its original, colorful characters! Rachel herself is smart and determined, in addition to possessing a wonderfully dry wit. The supporting characters, from Rachel's tracking mentor Sonny Harris to the lecherous rancher Frederick Ulysses Krabbs (a.k.a. F.U. Krabbs) to the mysterious Dan Kitrell along with numerous other characters, add regional flavor and a richness to the book. And, Rachel is not immune to romance, but Jake Santou hasn't come back into her life just yet.

Perhaps the book's biggest strength is its humor, not unlike that of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. The humor comes from both Rachel's dry wit and the Lucy/Desi type physical comedy situations that she gets herself into. This colorful, zany, mystery is about serious topics (murder, animal smuggling, and research), but will make most readers chuckle if not laugh-out-loud. This is a very entertaining read!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Border Prey, July 14, 2000

By 

Lisa Cook - See all my reviews

This review is from: Border Prey (Rachel Porter Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the 4th installment in the Rachel Porter Series and it's not a disappointment. After the first few pages of the first book, Gator Aide, it's evident that Rachel Porter is not one to mess with. She is a great sleuth and truly has a heart...don't mess with her animals or her friends! In Porder Prey, Jessica Speart clues the reader in on the underworld of primate smuggling and manages to throw in real facts and information without sounding like a Biology 101 lecture. You can be confident you are really learning something and know that Speart is not just making things up. Her background as a freelance journalist covering wildlife issues is her badge of credit. Along with mysteries that keep you thinking and guessing, Speart keeps you entertained with extraordinary descriptions of the scenery and the animals. Her writing style is smooth and you can feel the desert heat without even consciously thinking about it. In addition, Speart gives plenty of detail and attention to the cast of characters that surround Rachel Porter. They may not be the people you run into everyday, but they are interesting and you know that they are out there somewhere! All in all, Jessica Speart is an excellent author who has given us a great mystery series with all those added twists and turns that keep you turning the pages. And, Rachel Porter is a US Fish and Wildlife Agent on a mission!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rachel Porter rules - Prickly and passionate heroine, July 16, 2000

By 

Jessica Agullo (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Border Prey (Rachel Porter Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Border Prey is a book that really reads like an action- adventure thriller movie:- full to bursting with sensory imagery and personal asides from the hard-edged but soft-hearted fish and wildlife agent, Rachel Porter, who recounts the story in ultra-first-person narrative. The action is super-charged with suspense, danger, and genuine outrage at the environmental atrocities that we all know go on, but don't really stop to think about until we read a book like this. I found it near impossible to put it down once I got into the thick of it.

It's always hard to put yourself in someone else's skin, and Rachel's can be a little abrasive at first. She has clearly been jaded by more than a few confrontations with the slimy underbelly of human nature (see books 1, 2, and 3 of the series)and her outlook has become a little, shall we say, prickly....until you get to know her better. Then, when you least expect it, Porter shows her vulnerability; lapsing into musings of lost love and self doubt while breathlessly watching the death-defying aerial mating of bald eagles, or stifling child-like exuberance while watching a coyote being released from a trap, or waxing maternal gazing the eyes of a trained chimp.And then of course, she's so damned true to her cause, and so in love with nature and animals you can't help but soften to her, then sweat bullets with her, even choke up with tears along with her, and, of course, root for her and her cause. It's really fun!

I do hope, (and I'm sure that Speart intends us to)we see through the broad, often comical strokes that the colorful characters are drawn with, and become aware that many of these scenarios are frighteningly for real.