I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this enthralling, harrowing story of caring for the natural world. Anse Caulfield runs a wildlife sanctuary, but it is not as safe as it may sound. He rescues animals by any means necessary, and it's dangerous, heartbreaking work. This is not an easy read, but it is one that you'll be better off having read. I've been a Taylor Brown fan since Gods of Howl Mountain, and I look forward to whatever he writes next.

I have tried to read this book several time and the amount of animal abuse present is just hard to read about. I believe that I am just not in the right head space to read such a heavy book right now.

The style of this novel kept me engaged and turning pages cover to cover. The shifting perspectives took the reader so many different places, but still managed to draw them all together in the end. So interesting the timing of the release of this book and the popularity of that awful Tiger King show.... I hope the author gets a bit of a bump from that. Great story skillfully told. I look forward to seeing more from Taylor Brown in the future.

Oh me. I love Taylor. This was a definite step away from what he normally writes. I was unable to finish it. The writing was well done. For me the subject manner did not connect. I would recommend it to others....it was not a good fit for me....sadly.

I started this book and realized that it is not a genre that I am interested in reading more of. Thank you for this opportunity- the book seemed like a good one for people who are interested in this type of story.

I think Taylor Brown is great writer. His God's of Howl Mountain is phenomenal. This one just fell short for me. I actually had to give up on it. The subject matter was just too intense. I couldn't take the vivid descriptions of animal cruelty. This does not take away from his talent. He writes so wonderfully that when reading, you can't help but picture what is happening. Both a blessing and a curse I guess. Either way, if you enjoyed Howl Mountain, give this one a shot. Just prepare yourself. Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC for review.

Southern Setting✔️
Wildlife Sanctuary ✔️
Per @publisherswkly "a heartbreaking yet hopeful message of humanity’s moral responsibility for the natural world and its magnificent creatures"✔️✔️⁣
⁣
Thank you so much to St. Martin Press for providing an egalley and physical copy of @taylorbrown82’s latest novel my way. This book checked all of my boxes and reading it while watching Tiger King take over the world made it all the more timely. I really enjoyed this gritty look at the dark side of the exotic animal trade.

After reading Taylor Brown's [book:Gods of Howl Mountain|34964885] I rushed to request this book. His descriptions were so lush that the scenery came alive for me.

Here in <b>Pride of Eden</b> Brown's descriptions have transported me again. Back in time to the age where large mammals like the Wooly Mammoth and the Sabered Tooth Cat roamed. To the jungles of Vietnam. Amidst a confrontation with poachers in Africa. At times his writing is surreal, a dreamscape that you can get lost in. At other times the brutality that he captures is visceral. Descriptive language is Brown's sword. And cut your heart into little pieces he does with Pride of Eden.

In <b>Pride of Eden</b> our protagonist is a Vietnam War veteran with just as many emotional scars as physical. Anse Caulfield is worn, especially after the death of his prized lion Henrietta. His slice of paradise, Little Eden, just does not feel the same. He feels old and that his time to be useful may have passed.

In a world where men are destructive, callous and brutal Anse finds a kindred spirit in Malaya.
His sense of purpose is renewed. He is invigorated for the battle - Free the animals. Restore them to a place of dignity.

It was hard not to think of Tiger King when reading this. This book definitely was hard to put down.

This book was well written, but the subject matter was not for me. I am an animal lover for sure and definitely can’t handle anything ok gruesome. (I’m a nurse, but a very wimpy one). I loved The Gods of Howl Mountain so I love this author. Just not this particular book.

I had never heard of Taylor Brown before I received a free electronic copy of [book:Gods of Howl Mountain|34964885]. I put off reading it because the summary wasn't something I was interested in.
Let me tell you, the same is true with this book. The descriptive copy doesn't do Taylor Brown's writing skills or his novels justice. I loved <I><b>Gods of Howl Mountain</b></I> so much I have since bought a physical copy for my own shelves.

Honestly, I didn't love this one <I>quite</I> as much. <I><b>Pride of Eden</b></I> is a grueling read. I'm pretty much a First World, pampered person. Not really, but in terms of the rest of the world, I have a lot of privileges. I've known, vaguely, of the exotic animal trade and abuse of animals. But I've never really thought about it in terms of deeper level thinking. Taylor Brown doesn't ease you into it. He pretty much eviscerates an animal and rubs your face in the bloody carcass immediately.
Obviously, trigger warnings for animal abuse, torture, suffering and death.

My favorite genres involve plenty of maimed bodies and dead people. I can handle that. But please, God, don't let the dog die. Taylor Brown takes this waaaay beyond the dead dog. He makes you see that animals may not perceive pain and suffering the same way humans do. You definitely come to a realization that animals are a hell of a lot more noble than us.

So, if you can't handle it, don't go here. if you can hack it, this is an adventure tale to rival Hemingway. In many ways, this book is an homage to Hemingway and the Great White Hunters. Turned on its ear for a new culture and a new mindset. At shy of 300 pages, this is not a long book but it is intense and satisfying.

P. S. - that cover is absolutely fantastic. Like my advice for <I>Gods of Howl Mountain</I> , read this book.

Actual Rating: 4.5 stars

"Pride of Eden", by Taylor Brown, follows Anse, a Vietnam veteran who runs "Little Eden" an animal sanctuary on the Georgia coast. He rescues exotic animals - lions, elephants, etc. He is assisted by Tyler a veternarian and his girlfriend, Lope a falcon-trainer who hunts surveillance drones and Malaya a discharged soldier who used to hunt poachers in Africa.
The relationships between the characters and the animals is beautifully written. It creates an appreciation for what they are and their wildness. It confirms that wild animals are only truly beautiful and powerful when living in their natural habitat.
The extreme animal abuse was necessary for the story but difficult to read.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an arc of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Excellent. I would love to recommend this novel for my book club but the content is not for the faint of heart. I don’t think some of them could handle it. That said, this author has a way with words...it’s exquisite. Hard to say I enjoyed it, but I can say I eagerly looked forward to reading it....this after binge watching The Tiger King, and living in pandemic times when the wildlife is coming back into urban centres. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Taylor Brown’s “Pride of Eden” was a yet another superb novel, wholly unique in its narrative, yet familiar in the way Brown masterfully weaves his storied language. I was spellbound!

Strong writing and some tough, battle-hardened characters. As an animal lover, I also really loved the cast of animals and the varied, cool settings (Africa, Baghdad Zoo, etc.) but if you have a hard time with violence to animals, it may be a tougher read. I have read and loved The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony and I loved his appearance in the story. However, I do feel like there were a lot of things the author was trying to fit into the story, a lot of really cool things, but at times it felt a little overdone and unrealistic. The author's reference list at the end is a wonderful list of books, great research and I admit I'm a little envious! Overall, a really good read.

*Trigger Warning, animal cruelty.*
Anse Caufield has established the wildlife refuge Little Eden, near the coastline of Georgia.
A Vietnam vet and retired jockey, deeply committed to rescuing animals.
He hires Malaya, an Iraqi vet, who also hunted poachers in Africa.
After his favorite animal, a lioness named Henrietta escapes the sanctuary and is shot and killed, Anse is overwhelmed with guilt. It spurs him on to save more exotic animals, but not always in a legal way. It becomes a dangerous mission.
An intense, beautiful and brutal story. The non linear narrative was difficult to follow at times.
Magnificent and passionate writing, with a diverse group of complex characters.
Not always an easy read, but an important one.
Thank you St. Martin's Press for the e-ARC via NetGalley.

So I had to think about this one for a bit. It's a very unique story and unlike most books I normally read. The author does a great job with the pace, always keeping things happening and avoiding dead spots.. However, the abuse and neglect of animals is a central theme making it painful and difficult to read and I had to skip over parts. There's also a bit of mystical fantasy that didn't work for me. I guess to be fair it's a good suspenseful book if you're not bothered by the subject matter.

This book quite literally wore me out. It's that emotionally draining as Taylor Brown took me into a world of animal cruelty and poachers with details that are not for the faint of heart. I'm not usually squeamish, but this one got to me so much that I had to set it down more than once for something lighthearted. Don't misunderstand me. I didn't lay it aside because it was a chore to get through, and I always had the intention of picking it back up, and I did. Taylor Brown is quite the gifted storyteller, and he certainly knows his stuff when it comes to drawing a reader in. So, it wasn't that the story wasn't good, it was just the heart-wrenching nature of it all. When I think about the people I might recommend this book to, I have to say the list is rather short, but it's completely due to the graphic nature of what is done to the animals. But there is also beauty here with the people who go to great lengths to save them. So, I'll say this - if you're squeamish or can't read about animal abuse of any kind even in fiction, then I'd skip this one, but I would recommend reading other books by this author because he surely knows his stuff.

There are a few things that really make my blood boil and poaching is one of them. It's so wrong to kill an animal for their fur, tusks, head, of just plain ego of the hunter. There's big money to be made, but it's also illegal. It's good to know there are people like one of the characters, Malaya, out there in the real world to find them.

This book is so well written, I was sucked in by the beauty of what I was reading that I had to read every single word. I didn't want miss anything about the setting or the characters. One of the main characters is Malaya and she's really a bad ass. Having served in the military and then lived in Africa to track down big game poachers. One wrong decision and she was sent back to the U.S. Anse is a retired jockey and a Vietnam veteran who runs a sanctuary for big game and any animal that is mistreated or gained unlawfully. He is especially attached to one of his lions, Henrietta. Tyler is Anse's lady friend and veterinarian for his animals. Last is Lope. A good friend to Anse and helps out in the sanctuary and an experienced bird handler.

Each of their pasts is told throughout alternating with the present. These characters eventually come together for one cause. It's exciting and thrilling every step of the way waiting to see if the bad guys get what's coming to them or do they slip through the cracks.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the arc.

I’ve read four of Taylor Brown’s five published novels and have enjoyed all of them. He has an incredible artistry with words. He can make the readers experience his stories with all of their senses and creates magnificently flawed characters that readers can’t help but sympathize with. If there is any weakness in his craft, it is that sometimes he fails to show readers where the story is going. In this newest book, there is a path forward but sometimes you have to take it on faith that you will be rewarded in the end.

Pride of Eden takes place mostly on the southeastern seaboard of the U.S. The setting is contemporary but it has a post-apocalyptic air too it that is reminiscent of a world where climate change has waged war on humanity and won. Abandoned businesses and planned real estate developments are overrun by swampland and kudzu and those who live there are the quintessential outsiders that one would expect to meet in a world run amok.

The residents of Little Eden are an odd assortment of characters from different backgrounds with one shared passion. They all have dedicated themselves to rescuing and caring for those animals that never should have been taken out of the wild. These misfits include Anse, a Vietnam veteran who is alive because of the sacrifice of a war dog; Malaya, a veteran of a more recent war who bore witness to the desecration of the Baghdad Zoo and the bloody work of African poachers, Tyler, a veterinarian and Lope, a master of drones and falconry. Their methods of rescuing lions, tigers, crocodiles and other animals from abusive situations are extralegal, to put it kindly.

Bottom line: Taylor Brown’s prose and elegant descriptions of nature will keep me coming back for more. His potting could be tighter, but with the way he writes, I don’t really care. His is a great example of a modern southern master and I will take all that I can get.

*. The review was based on an advanced reading copy obtained at no cost from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review. While this does take any ‘not worth what I paid for it’ statements out of my review, it otherwise has no impact on the content of my review.

FYI: On a 5-point scale I assign stars based on my assessment of what the book needs in the way of improvements:
*5 Stars – Nothing at all. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
*4 Stars – It could stand for a few tweaks here and there but it’s pretty good as it is.
*3 Stars – A solid C grade. Some serious rewriting would be needed in order for this book to be considered great or memorable.
*2 Stars – This book needs a lot of work. A good start would be to change the plot, the character development, the writing style and the ending.
*1 Star – The only thing that would improve this book is a good bonfire.