Idealistic biologist Alex Carter, the heroine of this middling series launch from Henderson (the Skyfire Saga), did an environmental study in Boston that thwarted plans to turn a tract of wetlands into commercial real estate. At the dedication ceremony for the nature preserve that was established instead, a man who lost money as a result is about to shoot Carter when an unknown sniper blows his head off. Traumatized by the violence, Carter leaps at a job offer to study wolverines in Montana on land donated to the Land Trust for Wildlife Conservation. After she arrives, someone leaves a note on her windshield warning her off, and someone else almost drives her off the road. She has apparently become the target of those who object to land being used to benefit animals rather than people. The stakes rise when Carter finds a badly injured man in the woods who disappears before she can return with help. A plot that strains credulity is matched by characters who lack depth. Readers interested in conservation-themed thrillers will be better served by the novels of Jon McGoran. Agent: Alex Slater, Trident Media Group. (Nov.)