Many books have been written (and movies produced) about animals attacking people, but only a few were made about birds, let alone vultures, attacking people. National best-selling author Michele Wallace Campanelli changed that with her natural horror-thriller “Birds of a Feather” (Dorrance; 2021).
“Birds of a Feather” is told in the first person by Officer Laura Camp, a corrections officer at that Juvenile Detention Center (JDC) in Palm Bay, Florida. She grew up in an area where “people are used to seeing the most beautiful wildlife in the world.”
These wildlife includes vultures which Officer Camp describes as “black as night they are, and they resemble a dark eagle or hawk until they turn around and stare with beady black eyes.”
Officer Camp says about the vultures in Palm Bay: “We even found vultures a very important part of our ecosystems. There was no reason to worry. These birds, nicknamed the 'garbage collectors,' sit perched on the top of lampposts or cell phone towers.
“Vultures clean the streets of roadkill, everything from possum, armadillo, raccoon, and the occasional feral cat. Mostly, they are harmless to everything living…”
Officer Camp has never feared a bird in her life. They leave humans alone, so she doesn't bother them. That is until the day comes when she and many others realize “how huge and ominous the vultures are.”
When vultures start attacking people at the JDC, the facility is placed on a lockdown for at least 24 hours. Unable to return home to her husband, Officer Camp has to help man the security around the facility. However, the vultures aren't even her worst problem.
A local neighborhood gang by the name of Union attempts to break out one of their members, the 17-year-old Jack “the Mack” Stubins, who was arrested for the fourth time for grand theft. He faces up to three years in adult prison for driving away in a Rolls Royce valued at over $150,000. Jack is a celebrity of sorts; he is a boxer with a chance to make it to a national heavyweight championship match.
Jack, after breaking out from the JDC, returns to help Officer Camp and the others fight off the vultures, much to everyone's surprise. Will he turn away from a gangster's life to become the honorable man Officer Camp knows he can be?
But the most important questions: Will Officer Camp and the other succeed in fighting the vulture threat? Will they come out alive of the JDC?
Get a copy of Michele Wallace Campanelli's “Birds of a Feather” today on Amazon and the author's website at https://michelecampanelli.com/
“Birds of a Feather” was exhibited at the recently concluded American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference & Exhibition, held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C.
“Birds of a Feather”
Author | Michele Wallace Campanelli
Published date | November 2021
Publisher | Dorrance
Book retail price | $23.00
Author Bio
Michele Wallace Campanelli is a writer, screenwriter, singer, entertainer, and social media director of the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra.
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