Martina Ziska

This book is a quick and good read. It brings you to the exotic jungles of Cambodia close to even more exotic wood which gives out a divine smell. Many people are after its value and secret. The main character of the book scientist Alan Grace and his charming grad student Betty are on a crusade to save the trees and its powerful wood from many enemies. Throughout the story, the local poachers who make living off the tree and are their enemies become their allies. Together, they fight local police, a corrupted force that works for various powerful players of US political system. Not surprisingly the biggest culprit of the game is the pharmaceutical industry The book has many plots and twists, which, with the author´s colorful descriptions, raise a vivid imagination, not unlike Indian Jones's adventures. The classical good versus bad is sandwiched here with the mystery held by this precious wood. I can totally see the book made into a movie or a documentary. The topic of how we treat our natural resources and for what we use them requires a hightened attention and this book accomplishes it in a novel-like fashion. You be entertained, even thrilled to read it, but also learn a thing or two.