Storm Warning

Wildlife researcher Henderson brings a sometimes-overwhelming amount of passion and knowledge to her earnest fifth eco-thriller featuring biologist Alex Carter (after The Vanishing Kind). At the outset, Alex is working out of a tent on Honu Beach in Hawaii, where she’s observing and protecting a nest of rare hawksbill turtles with the help of local volunteers. When a hurricane starts barreling toward the island, Alex and her colleagues head to the beach, where they surprise a crew of armed poachers preparing to raid the nest. Fortunately, Alex is well trained in the martial art of jeet kune do and manages to fend off the poachers—but not before they kidnap one of her volunteers. Henderson alternates lively sequences of Alex trailing the poachers with dense lectures on the international exotic animal trade, the remains of prehistoric mammals, and the devastating effects of global warming on various endangered species. The blend of action and education grows increasingly lopsided as the narrative progresses, but there’s still enough derring-do on offer to satisfy thriller fans. Though bumpy in places, this has its charms. Agent: Alexander Slater, Sanford J. Greenburger Assoc. (Mar.)