Unflappable: A Novel

by Suzie Gilbert

Overview

Luna Burke and Ned Harrelson are on the run. Licensed to care for injured and orphaned wildlife, Luna is determined to smuggle a homicidal Bald Eagle out of her husband's private zoo in Florida, reunite the bird with its mate, and get them both to an eagle sanctuary in Canada. Trying to stop her are her obsessed husband and the authorities, and aiding and abetting her are a smitten young tech guy, a lethal Navy SEAL turned panther advocate, and an underground railroad of wildlife rescuers. Unflappable is a comic suspense story, an epic road trip, and a page-turning adventure with a big cast of unconventional characters, both human and not.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780578612003
Publisher:	Perch Press
Publication date:	03/24/2020
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.73(d)

About the Author

Suzie Gilbert has been a wild bird rehabilitator for 30 years. She is the author of Hawk Hill (Chronicle Books), Flyaway: How a Wild Bird Rehabber Sought Adventure and Found Her Wings (HarperCollins), and blogs for 10,000 Birds.com. Unflappable is her first novel.

Editorial Reviews

04/19/2021

Gilbert channels her interest in wild birds (as documented in the memoir Flyaway) into a rollicking debut novel revolving around the restoration of a bald eagle to a Canadian refuge. Luna Burke’s billionaire financier husband, Adam Matheson, runs a private zoo in Florida and has just stolen an eagle named Mars from a wildlife rescue center in Pennsylvania. Luna hatches a plan to take Mars and his mate—still in Pennsylvania—to Canada. What follows is a vivid primer on the world of wildlife rehabilitators and private zoos as Matheson enlists right-hand man/bodyguard Roland Edwards, a former football pro with a bum knee, to find Luna and Mars. Luna, meanwhile, calls on a naive, reluctant rescue volunteer named Ned; her ex-Navy Seal friend, Warren, who is renowned for single-handedly saving the Florida Panther; and a slew of rehabbers to aid her and Mars on their journey. Also on her trail is Federal Wildlife Officer Erik Gunderman, who is intent on arresting Luna and returning Mars to safety. Gratuitous, clumsily written sex scenes don’t do Gilbert any favors, but she does a great job describing the distinct world of her characters (“We’re the poster group for people with no social skills,” Luna says), and the plot builds nail-biting suspense. Fans of Tiger King will find much to love. (Self-published)

Publishers Weekly

"In this eco-woke suspense story... excitement, adventure, romance, and sex fill the book's pages, as does a wacky cast of characters...This zany rescue tale starring an eagle offers readers a great escape." - Kirkus

"A rollicking debut novel ... Gilbert does a great job in describing the distinct world of her characters, and the plot builds nail-biting suspense. Fans of Tiger King will find much to love." - Publishers Weekly

"Unflappable by Suzie Gilbert is up there with the best of Carl Hiaasen, and in lots of ways is similar in style and humor."

-Ted Williams, environmental journalist and author of Earth Almanac

"What a ridiculously fun read: part road trip, part escape thriller... highly recommended." - Bookfoolery

"Longtime bird rehabber Suzie Gilbert's funny, fast-paced novel follows zookeeper Luna Burke's wacky journey to deliver a stolen Bald Eagle and its mate to a raptor sanctuary. A great beach read..." - Audubon Magazine

"Unflappable is everything you could want in a novel - witty, hilarious, heartfelt, passionate about its cause, and so very magical." - Bookie's

"Gilbert showcases humanity at its battiest, its strangest, its nastiest, but also at its comic best: she peels away layers of personal strife and trauma to reveal an inherent core of compassion that entangles us with the natural world. Hope and hilarity resonate throughout this marvelous, crazy story of love and escape." - Amy Bouwer, NetGalley

"Fast-paced, crisp, smart, and passionate, Unflappable took me on a road trip unlike anything I've read before. Full of laugh out loud moments, it's a comic, romantic suspense story about how animals help us find the greatness within ourselves."-Sy Montgomery, author of The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness and The Good Good Pig

From the Publisher

2020-06-16
A tycoon’s young wife and an injured bald eagle take flight in this eco-woke suspense story.

In Gilbert’s novel, graying billionaire Adam Matheson believes only his mesmerizingly beautiful young wife sets him apart from other men in his class. Adam became besotted with Luna when she managed his small private zoo, and following a brief courtship, she became his fourth wife. But after six months of marriage, bird-loving Luna wants a divorce from Adam and an exit from his high-end lifestyle. To woo her into staying, Adam presents her with an eagle stolen from a wildlife center. Luna, appalled at the theft, vows to deliver the bird, named Mars, from Adam’s Florida estate across the international boundary line to an eagle sanctuary in Ontario. Ned, a 26-year-old wildlife center volunteer, abets Luna and Mars on their clandestine wild ride north. En route first in a classic Caddy and later in a red ’57 Chevy ragtop, they go “rehabber-hopping”—only staying at animal rehab centers that have a flight cage big enough for an eagle. Hot on their tail feathers are the police, a federal wildlife officer, and Adam and his bodyguard. Excitement, adventure, romance, and sex fill the book’s pages, as does a wacky cast of characters—perhaps too many—that includes gun-toting, panther owner Warren and tarantula-loving Harper. The story is laced with humor. For example, when Warren falls and lands on spilled wine, he explains he is fine on the floor, simply “marinating.” Gilbert gives just enough backstory to key characters to make them—even Adam—sympathetic without bogging down the narrative. A wildlife rehabilitator, the author knows of what she writes, and the novel has a built-in audience of nature lovers and animal enthusiasts.

This zany rescue tale starring an eagle offers readers a great escape.

Kirkus Reviews

"Unflappable is a gripping read and a multi-leveled love story that hits many sweet spots. It's a true to life depiction of humankind, and how our fate is intertwined with how we choose to connect to nature.

Birder and American Birding Association events coordinator - Liz Deluna Gordon

"No writer captures the wild and reverent soul of wildlife rehabbers like Suzie Gilbert. Unflappable is a thrilling take of heedless, consuming, undeterred love.

Founder of 10,000 Birds - Mike Bergin

Fast-paced, crisp, smart, and passionate, Unflappable took me on a road trip unlike anything I've read before. Full of laugh out loud moments, it's a comic, romantic suspense story about how animals help us find the greatness within ourselves.

Author of The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness and The Good Good Pig - Sy Montgomery