Dead On The Delta
Sherry Knowlton
Alexa
Williams has accompanied her boyfriend Reese, to Botswana, where he's
filling in for an Africa Trust colleague, a group dedicated to
wildlife research. Alexa is thrilled to be helping out in the bush
with the lion study and, she's also participating in a commission
dedicated to creating better anti-poaching legislation. Her law
background and work on sex trafficking enforcement have given her
access to some interesting Botswana personalities as a result.
Everything is going well until poachers begin targeting Botswana's
elephant population. At Noka Camp, where Alexa and Reese are working,
they get a first-hand look at the devastation the poachers are
causing, making Alexa more determined to help the commission pass
appropriate laws to curb such violence. But Botswana politics may not
be a straightforward as they appear, leaving Alexa vulnerable to
unseen forces.
Dead on the Delta presents an
accomplished female character who is professional, curious, and
passionate about her work, and at the same time vulnerable in a way
that made me want to get to know her. I found myself rooting for her
the whole way through this story. I also loved the fact that the
author examined lots of social and environmental issues and the
challenges African nations, especially Botswana, face trying to
balance the needs of its people and its wildlife treasures. And to
make it all the more exciting, she was able to incorporate adventure
and a bit of romance to make this a fascinating and well-layered
story. The landscape descriptions were marvelous and so well written
that I felt I was almost there. In fact, that was one of the things I
appreciated most about this book. I was right there in the thick of
things, not just with Alexa and Reese but with the other characters
as well.
I think chapters twenty-two and twenty-three made
this book really work for me. By the time I had read this far, I was
starting to wonder if Alexa and Reese would discover anything about
the real poachers, although I was having my own suspicious by this
point. But, the unexpected events that happened in these chapters
propelled the story forward and made my heart beat a little faster.
The further unexpected twists and turns that came with two of the
main characters were simply icing on the cake for me. I have to say
that one of the main reasons I was drawn to the book was for the
African setting. The fact that it had a great cast of characters and
a fantastic female lead meant that I not only loved it but, now I
want to read the other books in the Alexa Williams series as well,
even if they aren't set in Africa.
This review was written by me originally for City Book Review.
No comments:
Post a Comment