The Falcon Thief, Joshua Hammer
The Falcon Thief, Joshua Hammer
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The Falcon Thief
A True Tale of Adventure, Treachery, and the Hunt for the Perfect Bird

Author: Joshua Hammer

Narrator: Matthew Lloyd Davies

Unabridged: 8 hr 23 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/11/2020


Synopsis

A rollicking true-crime adventure about a rogue who trades in rare birds and their eggs—and the wildlife detective determined to stop him.

On May 3, 2010, an Irish national named Jeffrey Lendrum was apprehended at Britain’s Birmingham International Airport with a suspicious parcel strapped to his stomach. Inside were fourteen rare peregrine falcon eggs snatched from a remote cliffside in Wales.

So begins a tale almost too bizarre to believe, following the parallel lives of a globe-trotting smuggler who spent two decades capturing endangered raptors worth millions of dollars as race champions—and Detective Andy McWilliam of the United Kingdom’s National Wildlife Crime Unit, who’s hell bent on protecting the world’s birds of prey.

The Falcon Thief whisks readers from the volcanoes of Patagonia to Zimbabwe’s Matobo National Park, and from the frigid tundra near the Arctic Circle to luxurious aviaries in the deserts of Dubai, all in pursuit of a man who is reckless, arrogant, and gripped by a destructive compulsion to make the most beautiful creatures in nature his own. It’s a story that’s part true-crime narrative, part epic adventure—and wholly unputdownable until the very last page.

About Joshua Hammer

Joshua Hammer is the New York Times bestselling author of six books, including The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu, The Falcon Thief, and The Mesopotamian Riddle. His writing has appeared in The New York Times MagazineGQThe AtlanticThe New YorkerNational GeographicSmithsonian, and Outside. He lives in Berlin.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Cindy on March 24, 2021

4.5 stars The Falcon Thief: A True Tale of Adventure, Treachery, and the Hunt for the Perfect Bird by Joshua Hammer is a fascinating read about a man, Jeffrey Lendrum, who spent his life stealing and smuggling rare bird eggs and UK Detective Andy McWilliam who eventually brought Lendrum to justice.......more

Goodreads review by Thomas on November 17, 2019

The authors desire to write this book occurred after reading an article in the newspaper about a thief who had stolen falcon eggs and had jumped bail. He did not believe that there is a black market that has the potential for someone to make a lot of money. But with a little research this book came......more

Goodreads review by anklecemetery on April 11, 2020

Bird crime is pretty much my favorite true crime.......more

Goodreads review by Jamie on April 18, 2020

If you enjoyed The Feather Thief this is a must-read. Also, this is a great read for fans of narrative nonfiction, nonviolent true crime, adventure, and nature. Look, I know this sounds boring like The Feather Thief and Bad Blood because, whatever, how exciting is bird stealing or a Silicon Valley s......more


Quotes

"Narrator Matthew Lloyd Davies infuses this story of rare-egg theft with all the tension and excitement it deserves. In 2010, a man carrying 14 peregrine falcon eggs was detained at a British airport. This audiobook brings to light Jeffrey Lendrum's career as a smuggler of wild bird eggs destined for rich clients in the Middle East, where falcon racing is popular, especially among the very wealthy. Davies expertly matches his tone to the material, which ranges from breathless adventure, as Lendrum scales cliffs seeking aeries, to the tamer but still fascinating history of falconry, oology, and egg collectors. With perfect pacing, Davies brings every aspect of this exotic story to life: Lendrum himself, the detective who helped convict him, and the underworld of wildlife crime."