Book excerpt: A supercharged, international, Internet adventure. Ned is a wizard with a computer. The king of the remote control. He adores snakes, lizards, and skinks, but people are less appealing. Less reliable. Ned is . . . Remote Man. What will it take to peel away his protective layer of indifference? How about a mother on the edge? A wild cousin from the Northern Territory? A sudden extended trip to the States? A goofy new neighbor? Nope, it’ll take a snake. Or two–one an endangered Australian python, and the other a smuggler who sells wild animals to the highest bidder. When Ned discovers what this animal poacher is doing, his anger forces him into action. Now Remote Man is more like a superhero or super sleuth–tracking down clues and enlisting the help of some Web-wise teens. Can five kids on four continents linked only by the Internet manage to foil a very real-world criminal? You bet your Oenpelli python they can.