Serpientes is imaginative fiction based on non-fictional data. Diney wrote this book for sheer entertainment, although it is educational concerning the black rat snakes that share the earth with humans. Blacksnakes are a large part of our ecological environment, preceding man by millions of years. She hopes to edify respect for the creatures, even though Serpientes is creepy, weird and scary. The story delves into possibilities that man may not always be the dominant animal, if people are not careful. Evolution and adaptation of any species is very real. Awareness of our slithering neighbors is humbling, especially when toying with the idea of abnormal tampering with the beast. The psychological twists and turns the characters reactions have to their discoveries are fascinating. Mark Gordon, the small town biologist in Greenland, Kansas, is one of the first to stumble upon these very large creatures that are unbelievably living underneath his town. He calls in a professional, Barbara James, to help unearth his findings - to find out if the surreal will harm his town's population. However, he keeps quiet from the citizens about what he suspects is a dangerous situation. Mitch and Ann Rock, the young newlyweds who move to Greenland to start their adult lives, just happen to buy the old farmhouse where the unusual, new breed of snakes has made a den close by. Unaware of the treacherous, the two eventually have some pretty hairy run-ins with the large ophidians. In the end, Mark and Barbara's theories about the reptiles prove to be wrong and what happens is totally shocking