Gator Aide — Jessica Speart

STOMPING THROUGH THE SWAMP

A failed New York actress, Rachel Porter figured that any new career would be an improvement--until she became a wildlife agent and found herself stuck in the steamy Louisiana bayous, chasing poachers and fending off mosquitoes the size of Central Park pigeons.

Rachel's first major assignment for the New Orleans Fish and Wildlife Service has brought her to the infamous French Quarter, to deal with a dead alligator chained to a bathtub--not far from an equally dead stripper. But when Rachel discovers that an o. d. of ingested heroin-stuffed condoms--and not the five bullet holes in the gator's head--was the true cause of its demise, the inquisitive agent finds herself perilously caught up in both murder investigations. And with killers, cops, neo-Nazis, drag queens and crooked politicos on her case, it's take more than Big Apple sass to get Rachel out of the Big Easy. . .alive.