Jackson Oz, a biologist/blogger, has been warning people for years about the increase in animal attacks on humans. To his dismay, nobody had ever taken him seriously until the attacks become more and more frequent. Animals are behaving out of character, brutally attacking people all over the world and yet Oz still faces a large number of people who think he’s a joke. With the help of Chloe, an ecologist he meets in Africa and a handful of other scientists, Oz tries in vain to get a video out into the world with damning evidence of his theory. To what lengths and extremes must the attacks go before Oz successfully captures the attention of the government?
I absolutely devoured this book (no pun intended). What actually initially attracted me to Zoo was the cover, and upon reading the premise, I was even more intrigued. This was a book I could not put down. Patterson poses some really poignant and timely statements and ideas and really makes you think about what would really happen to society if this were to actually come true. Even the varying reactions of everyone and the attempts towards a solution are notable because we as the reader can absolutely see humanity reacting in the way that they do in this book.
Keeping a fast paced narrative, this story just speeds along from one horrific moment to the next, at times making me cringe at the imagery. While I’m not expertly-versed in all the biology and ecology way of things, I felt Zoo was completely plausible and believable. I was completely sold on it. Funny enough, the one thing that originally hooked me was the cover, and in the end, while I do love it, it really doesn’t have much to do with the actual story. Sure, the animals have unleashed a global attack, but the story isn’t set in Paris at all and actually has very little to do with the it.
Zoo reminded me of Jurassic Park, with the intensity and unpredictability of animals gone wild. If you love this type of edge-of-your-seat read, you’ll love Zoo as much as I did!
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ (5/5 stars)
Available: September 3, 2012
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I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I haven’t heard of this one, but it sounds incredible!! Thanks for the fab review and putting this on my radar!
Amy @ Book Loving Mom recently posted..Sweet Evil Read-Along Week 2: Pear or Citrus Recipes
This sounds AWESOME! I love Jurassic Park! I will definitely have to check this out.
Great review, Michele!
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I’ve been reading this book, nearly finished…and though I love Patterson I think he should stick to crime novels. A great premise, but not Patterson’s best book. By the way, animal lovers could be disturbed by some of the content.