Angie is an attractive divorcee in her thirties who was once a wildlife officer and now runs a pest relocation service. She hates to see the destruction of the Florida environment caused by the encroachments of civilization and also hates to see animal abuse in any form. Angie has a take-charge personality and is occasionally hot-tempered. When she sees a poacher maul a fawn, she feeds his hand to an alligator. This action causes her to lose her job.

Because she is a crusader for the underdog—both human and animal—she finds herself swept up in Diego’s fight for justice. Angie has lost faith in the legal system after her own run-in with the law, so she is willing to use unconventional means to accomplish her goals. She eventually secures Diego’s release by blackmailing the First Lady.

The choice of codename is descriptive of the character of the sitting President in the novel. A mastodon is a massive lumbering beast, now extinct, that resembles an elephant. The author depicts POTUS in much the same way. He is obese and ungainly, with an excessive appetite for food and sex.

The President’s physical ungainliness is matched by his mental awkwardness. He has a short attention span, makes frequent verbal mistakes, and doesn’t verify his facts.