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The Gaia team is dedicated to stopping the illegal elephant hunts that result in the indiscriminate killing of the large beasts to harvest their valuable ivory. Gaia's core consists of journalist Emily Rosen, former Army Ranger Jake Spinner, helicopter pilot/mechanic and former Army Cavalry pilot "Snake" Robideaux, and former Navy SEAL sniper Oliver Sweet. Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, the team is struggling with the lack of park rangers to help survey and protect wild game. Stationed at the Tarangire National Park in Tanzania, they find the illegal killing of wild game is increasing with this shortage of rangers. Adding to that, arms dealer Kinyonga has teamed with Colonel Fortunatus Jawari, the notorious commander of the Somalian terrorist cell al Shabaab. They are engaged in the lucrative trading of blood ivory to finance their terrorist and gun trading activities.
With the number of slaughters increasing, Rosen proposes a radical solution. Recruit young women from the two neighboring villages to work as rangers and assist the team. But there are concerns about her proposal. Will the female rangers clash with each other as their two villages are rivals, and the recruits may find it difficult to meld into a united team? Will the government and people of Tanzania accept women filling jobs traditionally filled by men? With village youths being recruited by the terrorists as poachers, how will the recruits react if they face one of their own villagers? However, Rosen and the team members quickly discover the ability and courage of these brave young women, and they accept them wholeheartedly.
This is a disturbing novel in many respects. The attack on a tribe of elephants is graphically written, and its cruelty aptly illustrates the horror of real-life poaching. However, even in the graphic cruelty portrayed in the novel, there are moments of calm and healing. Spinner performs a miraculous rescue of a baby elephant, and Rosen develops an unbelievable relationship with the aged lion, Cedric. These are beautifully written and sensitive sections of a novel with plenty of violence, and they illustrate the power of hope and love. However, the team's emotional pull to these animals isn't enough to save them. Not only that, the ruthless perpetrators and terrorists have put bounties on the heads of the young female recruits and have attacked their villages, kidnapping the young women with the intention of providing wives for their soldiers. The Gaia team realizes they must rescue the girls at any cost, but can their small group successfully stand against a group of hardened criminals who outman them?
Gentile shines here for those who enjoy battle scenes. He takes the reader into a strategic fight against the arms dealer, using blood ivory to finance his munitions, and the Somalian terrorists who need the weapons supplied by the arms dealer. It is written realistically and gives readers a sense of the urgency felt by the Gaia team. The author captures the fear and courage possessed by the team during their battle to rescue the village girls. Throughout the novel, the dialect is believable, and interactions between characters are often humorous, providing a break from the intensity of the novel's action. He also uses descriptive and captivating language to describe the Tanzanian landscape and the amazing interactions between beast and human. Though second in a series, this novel can be read alone. Enough background information is given for readers to easily pick up any important information from the first book. Anyone interested in novels concerning animal rights, Africa, covert strategy, and strong characters will find it all here.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review
A 2026 Eric Hoffer Book Award Grand Prize Short List book