I am not a big fan of books about game wardens (aka conservation officers, federal agents, woods cops). Most of the fiction works I've read (and a fair number, strangely enough) feature too little plot development and too much thesaurus. The nonfiction treatments, mostly autobiographical, tend to be flurries of anecdotes, with a Joseph Wambaugh-wannabe style to them, but absent Wambaugh's sneaky and wholly effective gambit of avoiding the first-person.

An exception is Willie Parker's Halt, I'm a Federal Game Warden (1977), documenting intriguing, dangerous, humorous, self-righteous and self-deprecating episodes and exploits of "the toughest game warden of them all." It was a fun read, in part because of its novelty and in part because it brought to mind Dirty Harry in hipwaders. Parker emerged as a folk hero if not a literary giant.

I think most game wardens, by whatever title, are folk heroes ? at least those who truly put conservation first and a Broderick Crawford persona second. What they do is hugely important for resource management. They are the Fort Apache faction of the profession ? doing the frontline, often dangerous work, with little back up, stymied by criminal rights, buffeted by bureaucratic strata and for limited pay and less recognition. Most members of the thin green line, within my frame of experience, are very good at what they do. Writing isn't necessarily one of those things.

With that wordy preamble, let me tell you about a nonfiction woods cop book actually quite worth reading. It is A Hunt for Justice (2006), authored by former federal agent Lucinda Delaney Schroeder. The book is a semi-thriller.

Schroeder went undercover to attempt to get evidence on a serious game violator operating in Alaska's Brooks Range. The bad guy was an outfitter who was guaranteeing results for wealthy clients, none of whom themselves could recite the Boy Scout oath without fear of a direct lightning strike. To produce results, i.e., trophy big game, the bad guy violated nearly every significant federal and state hunting law and regulation. He was able to do so with impunity by virtue of intimidation and because his outfitting area (which he extended liberally) was accessible only by small aircraft. (As an aside, I was in the area several times while the outfitter was operating, and witnessed at least one violation ? locating and hazing moose with an airplane ? that I'm told likely was him or one of his henchmen.)

To get the goods on the sleazebag (please note the impressive and subtle cop-speak), agent Schroeder, attractive and petite, posed as a woman of wealth and bloodlust. She finagled the time and resources to cultivate a connection with the outfitter, whose defensive antennae were lowered by her spirited demeanor, perseverance, shooting ability and gender. Still, when flown to the hunting camp on the Ivisak River, with only a goofy and lethargic non-agent conspirator for cover and corroboration, she had to contend with the weighty uncertainty of discovery and the weighty certainty of its beyond-dire consequences.

She got the goods, so to speak, from some comically stupid Spanish clients, from an arrogant German sportsman/liar, from suspicious guides at the base camp and not-so-suspicious guides at drop camps, from her own hunting experience and observations, from the outlaw's spouse, from the outlaw himself and, finally, from her "cover" partner. Harrowing stuff.

But the goods, it turned out, weren't goods enough. Schroeder ended up going to Europe to get substantiating testimony. Interpol got involved. It was all very "Mission Impossible."

All in all, it would be mediocre fiction. But what mostly recommends this book is that it wasn't fiction at all. The story was the real deal and, in terms of enforcement of wildlife laws, it was a very big deal.

Like most other game warden books, this one isn't great prose. I can only imagine what Wambaugh or Peter Maas might have done with it. Instead, A Hunt for Justice reads like a drawn-out movie script. And don't be surprised if that's just what becomes of the story, probably starring Renee Zellweger. I am not much for the cinema, but I will go to the theater to see this film. Just in case no one scoops up the movie rights soon, read the book for the drama; you won't be disappointed.

A Hunt for Justice was published by The Lyons Press, an imprint of The Globe Pequot Press (globepequot.com) of Guildford, Connecticut. It retails for $21.95.