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| The Lizard King: The True Crimes and Passions of the World's Greatest Reptile Smugglers | 
 enlarge | Author: Bryan Christy
Publisher: Twelve
Category: Book
List Price: $24.99
Buy New: $12.49
You Save: $12.50 (50%)
Buy New/Used/Collectible from $11.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  (10 reviews)
Sales Rank: 12897
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 5.6 x 1
ISBN: 0446580953
Dewey Decimal Number: 364.18
EAN: 9780446580953
ASIN: 0446580953
Publication Date: August 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Imagine The Sopranos, with snakes! The Lizard King is a fascinating account of a father and son family business suspected of smuggling reptiles, and the federal agent who tried to take them down.
When Bryan Christy began to investigate the world of reptile smuggling, he had no idea what he would be in for. In the course of his research, he was bitten between the eyes by a blood python, chased by a mother alligator, and sprayed by a bird-eating tarantula. But perhaps more dangerous was coming face to face with Michael J. Van Nostrand, owner of Strictly Reptiles, a thriving family business in Hollywood, Florida. Van Nostrand imports as many as 300,000 iguanas each year (over half the total of America's most popular imported reptile), as well as hundreds of thousands of snakes, lizards, frogs, spiders, and scorpions.
Van Nostrand was suspected of being a reptile smuggler by Special Agent Chip Bepler of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who devoted years of his life in an obsessive quest to expose The Lizard King's cold-blooded crimes. How this cat-and-mouse game ended is engrossing and surprising. (2008)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 good subject but scattered writing October 21, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Being a reptile lover, I loved how the book was well researched with reptile smuggling history and how the popular names in the industry had their part in it. A more linear story-telling would have helped though, I got confused as to who is what jumping from chapter to chapter. Also, the whole process of capturing van nostrand took about less than 1/4 of the book; and wasn't such a spectacular ending. It's a nice book for reptile people, but may be very confusing for everyone else.
 Fascinating read September 27, 2008
We have all heard of smuggling. There is drug smuggling, even people smuggling. But very few of us have ever heard of reptile smuggling. And even fewer of us have any idea what a massive industry it is. The Lizard King opens our eyes to this industry and gives us a crash course in the players and the game pieces that make up this multimillion dollar, worldwide game.
The story follows the Van Nostrands, a family enterprise that has cornered the market in the reptile industry. From the outside they look like a well-run and extremely successful family-run business that has cornered the market of reptile supply. However, Chris Bepler, an agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, knows that this success has come, in part, due to the family's less-than-legal dealings in the reptile world. He starts a cat-and-mouse game that will traverse the globe and test the limits of the Fish and Wildlife Service and Agent Bepler himself.
Unexpected relationships form throughout the book as each strand of the smuggling web connects. These relationships are the core of the book and take a smuggling case from something you read in the paper to something that happened right next door.
The only hang-up I had with the book is that there is some jumping around in the timeline, which can leave you confused for a page or two while you try to replace yourself in the time and space the book has jumped too. This is not a big problem though and is far outweighed by the great storytelling and fascinating people.
A book unlike any you have read before, The Lizard King will take you on a twisting journey in which you will crave the culmination of the story while at the same time not wanting it to end.
Armchair Interviews says: A most interesting read.
 Incredible True Story - We Loved It! September 17, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
"While reptiles slither, the Van Nostands run a creepy business in Florida called Strictly Reptiles and sell to your local zoo, pet shop and collectors. This is an incredible true story of the worldwide trafficking in lizards, snakes, turtles and other strange household goodies. The Perfect gift for a truely twisted friend!"
"Snakes (Smuggled) on a Plane" September 15, 2008
Author Bryan Christy exposes the seamy underbelly of black-market reptile smuggling around the globe. The narrative reads like a detective story, pitting dedicated but under-resourced government officials against a network of clever reptile smugglers. It is amazing the dollars involved in the game of black market reptiles and amphibians.
"The Lizard King" is an eye-opening true life crime drama that illustrates how many endangered species are threatened by the lure of fast money.
One might hope that more resources would be directed to the anti-smuggling efforts but that will likely be a tough sell amidst a wide array of priorities that will be seen as more pressing than curbing the trade in exotic tree frogs.
Eye-opening, captivating, and at times terrifying September 5, 2008
I really loved this book. I love Christy's story telling style and desire to tell the story from both sides - from the viewpoint of the agent and the smuggler. His ingeniously creative way of analyzing wildlife trade laws through the perspective of the 'bad guys' was really eye-opening and perfectly illustrated the shortcomings of well intentioned laws. Anyone who ever considers buying a reptile - or any animal for that matter - should read this.
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