The Big Squeeze - Dave DeWitt - Bog

South Florida has a reptile dysfunction. Tens of thousands of huge, feral Burmese pythons have taken over the Everglades and the suburbs of Miami and are decimating the wildlife, eating house pets, and terrorizing the populace. Sam Dalton, formerly of NCIS, is still tormented by the suspicious death of his wife and son in an car crash nearly a decade ago. He is recruited by his best friend Phil Everett to join him as a special agent with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to investigate wildlife crimes, including reptile smuggling, perhaps the main cause of the python explosion. Their main suspect is Bruno Zimmerman, the owner of World of Reptiles, the largest reptile retailer in Florida. Also investigating Zimmerman is the ruthless and hedonistic investigative reporter Diana Ventura, who is undercover as the spokesperson for Save Our Snakes, an organization controlled by Zimmerman. As the investigation draws them closer together, sparks fly between Dalton and Diana. Unbeknownst to the investigators, outside of Everglades City, chemical engineer and honorary redneck Big Ink-so named for his outrageous tattoos-runs the Manatee Fish Meal Plant, a cover for a crystal methamphetamine production facility funded by moneyman Bone Mozell, the distributor of the fish meal and other products for Florida chicken farmers. Mozell's silent partner in the meth operation is Bruno Zimmerman, and they make a good pair, since they are both sociopathic killers. They plot to take out Big Ink because of his meth addiction. When the two rogue Florida wildlife agents try to destroy all the pythons with a GMO snake virus, a wildlife disaster ensues and sparks dangerous encounters with ruthless reptile smugglers, murderous meth makers, and devious assassins in a tale of vengeance, violence, and sexual intrigue.