The Lizard King: The True Crimes and Passions of the World's Greatest Reptile Smugglers

Written by Bryan Christy

Narrated by Tony Ward

Freelance writer Bryan Christy's The Lizard King "is a wild, woolly, finny, feathery and scaly account of animal smuggling on a grand scale" (New York Times). For one U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent, stopping the dealings of a notorious snake trader became a personal crusade.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 13, 2009
• ISBN: 9781440708596

Reviews for The Lizard King

[liz.mabry · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Really well written and engaging.

[mirkwood-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I knew I would be interested in this book but I enjoyed it well more than I thought I would. A real insight into the world of animal smuggling and the men who fight it.

[satyridae · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Gripping true-life drama about reptile smuggling. So very sad, though. And disillusioning- I really thought that animals labeled "Captive Bred" were, in fact, not wild caught. But I should have realized it wasn't so. Clear and engaging writing, and a story that deserves a much wider audience. Recommended for anyone with pets that are not from around here.

[reenum_4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Awesome look at the rare animal smuggling trade. Christy does a great job of populating the book with the various characters and oddballs who travel in these circles. He knows just when to put in that quirky extra details that lifts an anecdote from good to great.

[helcura_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

An interesting story, but the book really needed pictures. I had to keep stopping to go online and look up the animals mentioned. Worth reading if you're interested in the machinations of the reptile trade.

[prettysinister · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A truly fascinating and engrossing read. Christy focuses on one criminal (Mike Van Nostrand) in the vast worldwide reptile smuggling business and the one man (Chip Bepler)who was determined to take him down for his multiple crimes. I learned that although the US seemed to be the only nation in the world that was attempting to enforce wildlife sanctions and wildlife protection laws they were in fact nothing more than slaps on the wrist - misdemeanors with less than a year in jail (sometimes only a few days!) and paltry fines ranging from across the globe, but notably those in Asia were inherently corrupt and actually helped the smuggling go on for decades! The time frame of the book focusses on late 1970s through the late 1990s and we get all kinds of insights into the overworked, underappreciated men and women who work customs and the US Fish & Wildlife Agency. The book abounds with stories of the ingenious methods of smuggling and the mania that was worldwide with collecting illegal species that then could become legal captive bred species. In a way some of the smuggling was a backwards kind of conservation plan for rare species done on a massive but thoroughly illegal method. There are additional anecdotes about cases that arose that redefined the way citizens and state legislatures viewed their own wildlife protection laws. In particular the slaughter of protected turtles in Florida during the late 70s and early 80s in the most compelling story. One case headed by a junior prosecutor single handedly had laws rewritten in Florida and made state and national headlines bringing out of the closet and into the forefront brutal killing of an animal Florida considered one of its treasures. This is well worth reading and an eye opening experience. Bravo to Twelve, this small press that plans on publishing only one book a month each year, for publishing a book on a type of environmental crime that continues worldwide to this day.