Robin Lamont

The Experiment is a plot-driven, complex story focusing on animal abuse and the immense power and overreach of Big Pharma.
Robin Lamont clearly knows her topic. The science presented is scary because it’s true. This could too easily happen and, in some ways, already has.

Usually when I read this type of book, the activists are presented as lunatic bad guys. Here, we see the struggles, reasoning, and, most importantly, humanity driving an animal protection group. I didn’t find the content heavy-handed, though it certainly is thought-provoking.

This is the third book in The Kinship Series. While it reads well as a stand-alone, I found myself wishing I’d read the other two first. The plot is specific to this book, and everything is resolved at the end, but I didn’t feel a strong connection to the characters as individuals outside the group and the mission. Despite that, I still thoroughly enjoyed the story.

*I received a review copy as part of the Partners in Crime book tour.*… (more)

This book is a brave and important piece of work. Like her heroine, Robin Lamont has waded into the deep waters of public land and wildlife mismanagement and uncovers a host of ugly truths. In the West the government agencies that are charged with protecting the land and wildlife have been largely captured by the folks the land and wildlife needs protection from. The secretive US Government Wildlife Services is run by the USDA for ranchers in a way the public would never tolerate if they knew about it. "Shoot, Shovel and Shut-up" is their slogan regarding wolves. Like all Western states, the Idaho Fish and Wildlife Agency is paid for by hunting licenses and run not to protect wildlife but for hunters. In the Western conservative red states much of state legislative agendas are set by the Tea Party's private American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Many rural folks who live near our public lands don't seem to realize that Little Red Riding Hood is not a true story. Hunting psychology is about dominion and is justified in much the same way of that of a rapist. With the lifting of Federal protection for wolves that states have taken over and now hold killing derbies to see who can kill the most wolves and coyotes. Recreational hunters routinely claim without irony that wolves are the only animal that hunts for fun.

The issues are all there and nicely wrapped up in a page turning tale. I read my copy all in one sitting. The protagonist works for a small animal protection group and the books opens with her visiting the gorgeous Lamar Valley in Yellowstone and having the life changing experience of observing wolves in the wild. It is here that she first learns of ranchers and hunters laying in wait at the Park's borders to shoot any wolf that crosses over. A murder is discovered in nearby Idaho of a Wildlife Services agent who appears to have been shot and trapped in his own animal trap. The heroine is sent to investigate and her love for animals and her dismay and disgust at what she learns as she does so keep compelling her to dig in deeper into ever more personal danger. The reader won't know they are being taught an important wildlife management lesson, they will just keep turning the pages to find out what happens.

We need more of such work. Kudos to Lamont for her talent in getting her own work out there. Do the planet a favor, buy this book, read it, then tell two friends to do the same. You will make the world a better place.… (more)

This book is a brave and important piece of work. Like her heroine, Robin Lamont has waded into the deep waters of public land and wildlife mismanagement and uncovers a host of ugly truths. In the West the government agencies that are charged with protecting the land and wildlife have been largely captured by the folks the land and wildlife needs protection from. The secretive US Government Wildlife Services is run by the USDA for ranchers in a way the public would never tolerate if they knew about it. "Shoot, Shovel and Shut-up" is their slogan regarding wolves. Like all Western states, the Idaho Fish and Wildlife Agency is paid for by hunting licenses and run not to protect wildlife but for hunters. In the Western conservative red states much of state legislative agendas are set by the Tea Party's private American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). Many rural folks who live near our public lands don't seem to realize that Little Red Riding Hood is not a true story. Hunting psychology is about dominion and is justified in much the same way of that of a rapist. With the lifting of Federal protection for wolves that states have taken over and now hold killing derbies to see who can kill the most wolves and coyotes. Recreational hunters routinely claim without irony that wolves are the only animal that hunts for fun.

The issues are all there and nicely wrapped up in a page turning tale. I read my copy all in one sitting. The protagonist works for a small animal protection group and the books opens with her visiting the gorgeous Lamar Valley in Yellowstone and having the life changing experience of observing wolves in the wild. It is here that she first learns of ranchers and hunters laying in wait at the Park's borders to shoot any wolf that crosses over. A murder is discovered in nearby Idaho of a Wildlife Services agent who appears to have been shot and trapped in his own animal trap. The heroine is sent to investigate and her love for animals and her dismay and disgust at what she learns as she does so keep compelling her to dig in deeper into ever more personal danger. The reader won't know they are being taught an important wildlife management lesson, they will just keep turning the pages to find out what happens.

We need more of such work. Kudos to Lamont for her talent in getting her own work out there. Do the planet a favor, buy this book, read it, then tell two friends to do the same. You will make the world a better place.… (more)

Free on Kindle. Spoilers exist. This is a political book. Wright is a horrible guy, probably like Rush Limbaugh. The hero is an aspiring actress who works part time for an investigator. She and her co-workers set up buys of illegal/fake merchandise to bring the culprits to light. This is done on behalf of the manufacturers. The case they are working on is documenting a guy who sells fake designer purses. Her brother gets beat up for being gay and the assailants quote Wright so she decides to take Wright down. She creates another identity for herself (so now there are 3) and gets an internship job for Wright. But it turns out that the guy who sells fake purses sells them as a cover for selling weapons, and the FBI is investigating him. She she gets investigated too. There is a cute & smart FBI agent who likes her & she likes him. The satire of the FBI is amusing, but the stuff with Wright is too offensive to be amusing. In the end, a bunch of nice characters make things better for us all.… (more)