Natural Enemies

A Turner Tomorrow Award runner-up, Cameron 's first novel lays out a complex, timely story with dexterity. The plot successfully incorporates zoology, a murder mystery and African politics. As the government of Kenya reconsiders its ban of the ivory trade, the most outspoken opponent of legalization--David Kariuki, head of the Kenya Wildlife Services--is brutally silenced when he and his wife are assassinated in Tsavo National Park, a wildlife preserve. Their bodies are found by American reporter Sam Hawthorne. Accused of the murder, Hawthorne is eventually contacted by the real killers, who claim to be members of an environmental terrorist group called the Enemies of Man. Their mission: to attack other members of the Wildlife Service, including Hawthorne's ex-lover Maya Saito, who is conducting research on elephant communication. Cameron, who has worked with an elephant research team in Kenya, moves with assurance from one point of view to another, all while developing believable characters and maintaining an unobtrusive narrative voice. She knows how to take the reader to unexpected places en route to an unforeseen destination. (Apr.)