What she didn't know was that this cagey smuggler was planning to turn the tables and use her as a patsy for continuing his illegal butterfly trade.

Like Newcomer, she was going to betray Kojima. Working under-cover to research this book, Jessica Speart befriended Kojima as well. This obsession, along with his continued mania for butterflies, could finally spell the downfall of the untouchable smuggler.īut the story doesn't end there. Somewhere in the hunt, Kojima had become obsessed with the agent. Winged Obsession: The Pursuit of the Worlds Most Notorious Butterfly Smuggler Jessica Speart 3.99 - 15.04 Gator Aide Jessica Speart 3.99 - 4. Just when it seemed Kojima was out of reach, Newcomer was given one last chance to reel him in. But twice the agent's inexperience allowed this criminal, with a nearly supernatural sense of survival and an overwhelming sense of paranoia, to get away. Fish and Wildlife Agent Ed Newcomer became close to the smuggler, posing as a young apprentice eager to learn the smuggling trade. One of the world's most beautiful endangered species, butterflies are as lucrative as gorillas, pandas, and rhinos on the black market.Īnd in this cutthroat $200 million business, no one made more money than-or posed as great an ecological danger as-Yoshi Kojima, the kingpin of butterfly smugglers.ĭetermined to capture Kojima, rookie U.S. Save up to 80 versus print by going digital with VitalSource. Winged Obsession is an unputdownable thriller.The Pursuit of the World's Most Notorious Butterfly Smuggler Winged Obsession: The Pursuit of the World's Most Notorious Butterfly Smuggler is written by Jessica Speart and published by William Morrow. Lee Child, New York Times Bestselling author this expose reads like a thriller and proves once again that truth is stranger than fiction. Meet the Hannibal Lecter of the conservation world. Spearts forte is the detective/mystery genre and Winged Obsession is her first attempt at full length non-fiction. It’s a journey with the twists and turns of a taut thriller - like The Orchid Thief, only with wings. Miami Heraldīutterfly smugglers? Who knew? Journalist Jessica Speart chases down the butterfly world’s most elusive criminal, the notorious Yoshi Kojima, in her fantastic new book. Winged Obsession offers a fascinating glimpse into the illegal market in exotic and endangered butterflies.By the end of Winged Obsession, I was rooting for creatures I didn’t know existed before I read the book. “Reads like a suspense thriller.” - Oklahoma City Oklahoman Fish and Wildlife agent hunting for the ‘human vacuum cleaner’ of the insect world.” - Cleveland Plain Dealer

“A true thriller about an undercover U.S.

Winged Obsession by Jessica Speart