The Whale Warriors

The crew of the R/V FARLEY MOWAT, owned by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, sail the Antarctic Ocean to destroy the property of people involved in illegal whaling. They kill no one. The author, aboard on assignment, describes an adventure more gripping than any novel. Narrator James Boles pronounces each word as if it were the most important. His distinctive manner of speaking adds color to the clever similes and portraits of the motley sailors out to save every creature in the sea. His deep voice will hook the listener to a lesson on the environment that seems of little interest to the world so far. The author's descriptive ability and a narrator who can hone it to vocal rapture make for a listening experience that never stops being captivating and informative. J.A.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

September 3, 2007
In late 2005, award-winning adventure writer Heller joined Paul Watson and his 44-person crew on their voyage to find and halt an illegal Japanese whaling fleet en route to the Antarctic sea. Watson, founder of Greenpeace in 1972, says he abruptly left in 1977 to start his current group, Sea Shepherd, because he wanted to take intervening action to enforce international laws; others say he was "ejected for grabbing a sealer's club and throwing it in the water." Either way, Watson is a controversial leader who compels "people to drop everything-jobs, loves, homes-and follow him to the ends of the earth"; one of Watson's all-volunteer staff says, "I don't want to die, of course... But if I die looking to save a whale, that would be OK." Heller's writing is energetic and bold, at times a swashbuckling adventure, at others a portrait of a determined eco-warrior, at others a heart-rending expose on the cruelty of whalers (who use explosive-tipped harpoons and electrocuting currents against the great animals). Shocking and repulsing, Heller's adventures will inspire many readers to agree that "If the oceans are dying in our time, and we kill them... we should have committed a crime so heinous we shall not ever be redeemed."