Natural Enemies

Natural Enemies is about environmental terrorism and manipulation. Almost every character in the book is a victim of some kind. All are struggling to find a way out but none of them can succeed without leaning on others for help. There's a interesting parallel between the dependency of human lives and the lives of the elephants Cameron portrays. It is possible to read the book superficially, just for the action, but there are also profound undertones.

Natural Enemies provides a dramatic portrait of elephant life, behaviour and communication in the context of a fast-paced action thriller. The writing is vivid, conjuring strong images of Africa. "The wind blew across the Amboseli Pan drawing up small twisters of white dust that the Masai call "women's tempers" because they flare up out of nothing so easily..." The characters are powerfully drawn, especially the assassin Silvia and the Kikuyu detective Wangai. "Natural Enemies" won a Turner Tomorrow Award (judges included Nadine Gordimer, Wallace Stegner, William Styron, Ray Bradbury, Carlos Fuentes, Peter Mathiesson among others.) It also won the Edward Abbey Award for Eco-Fiction. I recommend it to anyone who loves elephants AND a good book.

I read it in one go. Couldn't put it down. The character of Silvia was really well done. She has done really terrible things but you still feel sympathy for her. The elephant descriptions are very powerful. The whole book is fast moving. You never know what is coming next.