JASSICA SPEART

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent Rachel Porter's devotion to endangered creatures has carried her to many remote, exotic places. Now she's in Port Elizabeth, New Jersey, trying to help stop the import of illegal flora and fauna. This is a different jungle—dark, dangerous, and filled with predators—a fact that's driven home when a body is discovered just steps from Rachel's post.

She would gladly steer clear of this homicide investigation except for two things: It may touch an old woman Rachel's recently befriended . . . and the victim had been wearing a priceless shawl made from the skin of an Asian animal perilously close to extinction. And when a second murder occurs, Rachel suddenly realizes she's already neck-deep in this deadly affair—and her return to ""civilization"" may soon be cut short by a killer's primal urge for blood.