What readers think of Gator Country, plus links to write your own review.

“Our centuries of war with the swamp have shown that when we attack nature, nature will fight back, and both humans and nature will lose.”

In this fascinating tale of an undercover sting operation to stop alligator poachers and protect the natural population in the Everglades, we meet Jeff Babauta, aka Curtis ‘Jeff’ Blackledge. Babauta is a Florida Fish and Wildlife employee who decides to accept an undercover operation at the end of his career. Jeff believes to his core that protecting the native species and the special terrain they call home is his highest calling and his natural passion. But he knows the dangers that might await when he heads to the remote place he will call home for the next year or more.

True crime comes to life in the pages of this tale and Rebecca Renner herself graces the pages as she does her journalistic research in meetings with the long-time residents and storytellers so she can learn the area and the business of gator egg rustling. She actually meets Babauta after his sting and after his retirement and after winning his trust. He ultimately gives Renner access to all his videos, documentation, and personal knowledge of the people involved.

I absolutely got lost in this mystery world of cypress trees, Spanish moss, and swampland where the case played out. Lydia Millet writes in her review for The New York Times, “Every species, and every person who fights for its continued existence, deserves a book like this.”

I totally agree.