Zoo

December 24, 2012
Lions, and tigers, and bears! Oh my! In this thriller from Patterson and Ledwidge, all members of the animal kingdom, from true predators to man’s former best friends, decide that humans are what’s for dinner. The book’s follows narrator, Jackson Oz, an environmental biologist who has lost his reputation, his university position, and nearly all of his money trying to warn the world about just such a cataclysmic disaster. Reader Jay Snyder provides Oz with a touch of breezy optimism—at least early on—that takes the edge off the grim slashing and that occurs in the alternating third-person descriptions of man-beast encounters. Snyder also delivers a fair amount of suspense, as Oz embarks on a desperate search for the cause of and the antidote to the sudden worldwide wilding. And while the book’s conclusion may strain credulity, Snyder’s Oz presents his case so positively and persuasively that it’s not until the final disc plays—when all the dogs and cats and rats have returned to their natural states—that anyone is likely to care. A Little, Brown hardcover.

Starred review from September 1, 2012
Just when everyone (well, almost everyone) thought the world was ending due to global warming, here comes another threat to keep us up at night: animals behaving badly . . . very badly. Zoo is the newest thrillfest from the prolific fiction factory that is James Patterson et al. Something unnatural is causing normally placid animals to savagely attack humans all over the world. First, it begins with animals in the wild, like lions, elephants, and dolphins; then moves into neighborhoods, with raccoons, rats, and bats; and then finally into our homes, with man's best friend becoming man's worst nightmare. This animal violence catches the scientific establishment by surprise, except for Jackson Oz, a biologist who had been predicting these attacks for years but had been labeled a crackpot and mocked by his colleagues. The savage attacks quickly escalate to the point where martial law is imposed and people huddle inside fortifications to hide from what were once cute and fluffy fellow mammals but are now preternaturally alert and vicious monsters. Unfortunately for humans, the solution to nature's onslaught may be one that is equally as unacceptable. High-Demand Backstory: As with all Patterson novels, this one will surely rocket to the top of the best-seller list, so be sure to stock a sufficient supply of copies.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)