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A review by carolpk
Winged Obsession: The Pursuit of the World's Most Notorious Butterfly Smuggler by Jessica Speart
4.0
Jessica Speart visited our library as part of the Connecticut Author Trail in 2009. At that time she whetted our interest with a hint of the book she was working on, Winged Obsession. It seemed a natural for Speart, whose character in fiction is Rachel Porter, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agent. Speart’s background in journalism also seemed to make this jump from fiction to true crime a winning combination. I was hooked and couldn’t wait to read this account of a Japanese butterfly smuggler, one who was considered to be the world’s most cunning and notorious.
Who knew? Who knew there was so much to know and learn about butterflies? Who knew how many varieties, sizes, colors, butterflies can be? Who knew the lengths people would go to sell them, to buy them and the price that they command. Who knew that there are people who think that selling, smuggling, killing, and harvesting these winged creatures, often to extinction, should be worth no more than a slap on the wrist and a small fine? Who knew that there are agents with such dedication that they work their tales off to get their man?
As one other reviewer stated, it would have been nice to have some pictures or perhaps a reference to a good internet site to see the butterflies so often mentioned throughout the book. I suspect any good library would be able to help with this quest.
Winged Obsession is an eye-opening, shocking, sometimes titillating read about an illegal market that few of us know about. The quest to bring smuggler, Yoshi Kojima to justice and to shut down his profitable business by Agent Ed Newcomer is a compelling read. I think you’ll come away with a whole new appreciation of these magnificent, beautiful wonders that grace our paths and gardens. Jessica Speart has found a new calling and I’m hoping she’ll write another non-fiction title.
Who knew? Who knew there was so much to know and learn about butterflies? Who knew how many varieties, sizes, colors, butterflies can be? Who knew the lengths people would go to sell them, to buy them and the price that they command. Who knew that there are people who think that selling, smuggling, killing, and harvesting these winged creatures, often to extinction, should be worth no more than a slap on the wrist and a small fine? Who knew that there are agents with such dedication that they work their tales off to get their man?
As one other reviewer stated, it would have been nice to have some pictures or perhaps a reference to a good internet site to see the butterflies so often mentioned throughout the book. I suspect any good library would be able to help with this quest.
Winged Obsession is an eye-opening, shocking, sometimes titillating read about an illegal market that few of us know about. The quest to bring smuggler, Yoshi Kojima to justice and to shut down his profitable business by Agent Ed Newcomer is a compelling read. I think you’ll come away with a whole new appreciation of these magnificent, beautiful wonders that grace our paths and gardens. Jessica Speart has found a new calling and I’m hoping she’ll write another non-fiction title.