By sympathizing with the devil, Hammer is able to dig deeper into Lendrum’s psyche, proposing that the falcon thief’s motives may be more complex than mere cupidity. These arguments appear to have weight to them, but perhaps that’s merely wishful thinking on the part of the audience, wanting to believe that the antihero can turn hero ... Hammer covers all sides (or is it surfaces?) of this egg-shaped story, giving readers a full picture of the situation with judicious research and insider information gleaned from lengthy interviews, not only with individuals connected to the headline-making saga, but even with the falcon thief himself. The book is expertly organized and the writing is sharp; Lendrum’s risky adventures obtaining eggs, sometimes in the most inaccessible nooks and crannies of a cliff wall, come to life, and the balanced storytelling will give readers an aerial view of this story, a case study of the war between the thriving wildlife black market and crime fighters working, at times in vain, against it. Slipping as perfectly into the newly developing natural history-true crime subgenre as it does into a carry-on, The Falcon Thief both informs and thrills.
Mr. Hammer’s story is part true crime, part nature writing. The criminals are all the more intriguing for being nonviolent, the types motivated by obsession rather than greed ... As a work of natural history, The Falcon Thief is only slightly less satisfying ... Mr. Hammer fails in only one respect: He never penetrates the criminal side of Persian Gulf falconry ... After reading this book, one feels sympathy for both the falcon and bustard, and none at all for egg poachers...or the falconers who keep them in business.
... gripping ... With the instinct of a hunter himself, Hammer tracks Lendrum’s nefarious career, structuring the story with elegant precision ... Hammer’s depiction of the father and son’s sabotage of the African black eagle conservation project is extremely moving ... The problem with a book that focuses on a man who uploads videos of himself to YouTube taunting an Egyptian cobra, or who is accused of turning up the heat on an incubator full of live eggs to destroy evidence, is that it is impossible to feel empathy for Lendrum. What emerges from a series of shady, fraudulent activities is the profile of a blackhearted con man, a Dirty John of the bird world ... Hammer acknowledges that Lendrum’s unappealing sense of entitlement likely derives from growing up white and privileged in colonial Rhodesia. He continually asserts that Lendrum is charming, 'personable and likable,' but he never comes across that way. Following the inventory of awful deeds, the reader is left appalled.
By exploring the outlandish story of 'the Pablo Escobar of eggs,' as media outlets dubbed Lendrum, Hammer also shines a light on the larger landscape of bird traffickers and collectors ... Hammer’s account is both riveting and eye-opening: It is rare to get such an intimate look into the life of a major international poacher. What Hammer does not shed much light on, however, are the buyers on the receiving end of Lendrum’s shenanigans.
The pace is zippy, the narrative action-packed with lots of first-person accounts and recreated dialogue. Many chapters end on an old-fashioned cliffhanger ... The worlds of egg-collecting and wildlife crime may be relatively esoteric, but Hammer crafts a decent thriller out of his material, largely by making much of Lendrum’s feats of derring-do: abseiling down Patagonian cliff faces, dangling from helicopters in Canada and the like. He works hard to structure the book as a classic 'cop vs criminal' story ... The fact that Lendrum is the book’s main character doesn’t mean he should be its hero, but at times Hammer comes uncomfortably—and unjustifiably—close to treating him as one. The Falcon Thief’s second weakness is that Hammer never manages to uncover the nature of the connection between Lendrum and the Gulf states ... There are also unfortunate inaccuracies, too ... Ultimately, Lendrum’s extensive knowledge of raptors is no more glamorous than an MDMA dealer’s knowledge of the chemical precursors used in its manufacture: it’s just part and parcel of a seedy job. The Falcon Thief relies on us finding Lendrum remarkable; but in the final reckoning, common greed and selfishness are rarely that.
Hammer finds that Lendrum is in it more for the excitement and thrill than the astronomical prices racing falcons command. Lendrum’s compulsion is nonetheless portrayed as the definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Hammer’s chronicle is a captivating and surprising read with just the right touch of suspense and mystery.
Hammer has crafted a story that will fascinate readers craving a dramatic true tale of confident criminals, denizens of shadowy underworlds and the law enforcers who strive to catch and punish them ... Hammer’s exploration of the factors that culminated in egg trafficking is thorough and fascinating, offering context and entertainment alike ... Hammer paints a vivid portrait of the thrill of the chase and the long-term relationship between criminal and police officer—both of them smart and daring, neither of them willing to give up. The Falcon Thief also shines a light on the world of wildlife crime: its perpetrators, addicted to their pursuits; its wealthy and Machiavellian masterminds; and our heroes, who work toward ensuring that all creatures are safe from the greedy and devious few. Ultimately, this book is a fine tribute to McWilliam and to others dedicated to conservation, and a compelling deep dive into the psyche of a very specific sort of criminal.
... one thinks of Truman Capote, who elaborated on a tiny news story about the killing of a Kansas farm family, turning that grim tragedy into the seminal feat of reportage In Cold Blood...This is very much what Hammer is after in The Falcon Thief, which can sometimes read like the treatment for a James Bond movie ... Like Capote, Hammer has a keen eye for elegant detail ... The appeal of The Falcon Thief is that it involves us in our own form of compulsion – finding out what will happen next.
... a compelling and remarkable tale, vibrant and authentic, rendered more resonant by author Joshua Hammer’s impressive research ... the delight in reading The Falcon Thief arises not so much from its core narrative of pursuit and unmasking as from the background details the author assembles and energetically presents ... Hammer showcases the heroics of dedicated falcon breeders keen to advance the mechanics of artificial insemination ... fascinating.
His writing style is gripping and fast-paced, but never short on facts and accuracy ... This stranger-than-fiction story is as engrossing as a fast-paced action-adventure, and is sure to hold the attention of a variety of readers.
In his latest page-turner, Hammer...compellingly chronicles the exploits of Jeffrey Lendrum...whom he portrays as a destructive combination of knowledgeable bird-watcher and destroyer ... the author beautifully renders this tale 'of human obsession and nature’s fragility, of man’s perpetual insistence on imposing his will upon the wildness of our world, and of the tiny handful of investigators, most unrecognized, working to safeguard the environment’s bounty and wonder.' A sleek, winning nonfiction thriller.
Hammer...delivers a vivid tale of obsession and international derring-do ... The book’s ultimate concern isn’t with the legal case, but with understanding the roots of Lendrum’s fixation on falcons, and it’s here where Hammer arguably falls short. Nonetheless, this swashbuckling account should hold its audience rapt until the very end.
