... radiant.

Montgomery, whose 2010 book The Soul of an Octopus made her a favorite of animal-book readers, turns her formidable descriptive passion to hawks, and to the world of falconry.

Montgomery honors the hawk and other birds of prey in this engrossing work.

... a succinct, intimate, and captivating chronicle graced with color photographs.

... impassioned.

Montgomery hooks readers with a striking opening line, the first hint of her passion for the subject. This slender, graceful work, featuring Strombeck’s vivid photos, is more a monograph than a book, though scientific rigor is not its strong suit. Throughout, the author displays her abundant enthusiasm for this unique predator, but she sometimes gets carried away, giving the impression that working with the hyperfocused hawk is like playing Russian roulette with a fully loaded gun. Not that devotees will complain. Montgomery offers a good amount of stimulating information about raptor behavior, a primer on the language of falconry, and some surprising insights into what is thought to be a hawk’s mindset.