SAVAGE BEAUTY

The honeymoon is over for Seattle Fish and Wildlife agent Venus Diamond. Literally. Hawaii and her new husband must wait while she heads a massive search into the disappearance of a baby in the Bogachiel wildlife preserve. Natives believe the baby was snatched by "the Unknown," a half-man, half-elk creature of Native American lore. Venus suspects the incident may involve a recent elk poachings in the area, and carcasses found with sawed-off hooves.

Human greed and ugliness threaten even the timeless beauty of the vast Northwest wilderness, in the form of illegal slaughter of Roosevelt elk, the harvesting of endangered plants for their healing properties and, as Venus discovers, a fanatical quest for the eternal youth that drives human desires to hideous proportions where no one is safe ... not even the most innocent.

*** AMATEUR SLEUTH ***