Zoo

This book had me glued to the pages. It's an eco-pocalypse thriller in which the natural behaviour of animals across the globe starts to shift, including their hunting and feeding habits, and there is a corresponding rise in brutal attacks on humans. Jackson Oz, a young biologist, has been monitoring this for years, but as things escalate it becomes a matter of international importance to finally get the message into the public eye and try to work out what's causing the change. It's been made into a TV series, which I haven't seen yet, and I found the book gripping, infuriating, suitably shocking in places, and oddly plausible.

I wanted to like the book. I truly believe that authors write to please their audience. Sadly, I am not in the audience for this book.
It feels like a combination of Jurassic Park, Mighty Joe Young and King Kong, gone wrong. What could have been a really exciting novel descends into a fantasy, not quite believable. The author has used the book to advance his political agenda with issues that range from environmental abuse, to governmental arrogance and incompetence, to almost all other social issues, even including a lesbian couple that is attacked in Africa, although their sexuality has nothing whatsoever to do with the story.
After more than a decade of unusual animal behavior, indicating an animal population behaving contrary to their show more natures, turning on humans, the powers that be, meaning government officials, finally wake up and turn to scientists for the answer which will solve what seems to be the possible arrival of the end of days. They turn to a man who originated the concept of a human/animal clash but was previously very unsuccessful in warning the public or getting the ear of the people in charge. Originally on the fast track at Columbia, working toward his PHD, Jackson Oz is undone by this theory. Unemployed and no longer at school working toward his degree, he can’t shake the thought that there is “a paradigm shift underway in the world of animal life, and that animals are behaving strangely” out of character, in a way that will be catastrophic for the world. Too soon, his theory becomes the nightmare of reality.
He rants about an ineffective, corrupt government, peopled by arrogant, spoiled Congressmen, etc., making decisions based on politics rather than common sense(sounds a bit familiar), and he even casts a female President in an important role, but not a thoughtful President in charge of the crisis, rather one that overreacts and makes poor decisions, making the crisis worse. It is not too far into the future since she is the 45th President. Jackson Oz is the name of the quasi hero of the novel. Many of his decisions are uninformed and immature, as well.
The book further declines, in my opinion, with the inclusion of irrelevant sex scenes and very often inane dialogue. In addition, the effort to add wit to the tale, failed for me. The subject matter was not funny, and if addressed with greater seriousness, the author might well have made this novel a warning about what might come if we continue to abuse our world, rather than engaging in an implausible flight of fancy.
Those that like books that combine fantasy, science fiction and horror, and those who eagerly await the next Patterson novel, will undoubtedly find more to like in this book than I did. It is a fast read, it is exciting, but it left me wanting. Perhaps it would best be read on an airplane or on a beach, somewhere on vacation, preferably where there are no wild animals. show less

Worldwide, any and all animals are acting strangely and attacking and killing humans. Oz didn't quite finish his degree, but as a scientist, he has been studying this behaviour for a few years and calls it HAC (Human-Animal Conflict). As things escalate, he joins forces with Chloe as they try to convince the world of what is going on and try to stop it...

This was really good. There is now a tv show based on the book, but it is very different. The premise is the same and the two characters, Oz and Chloe, are the same, but that's just about where the similarities end. I like that Patterson writes in the short chapters he uses, as it spurs me on (of course, in addition to the plot!) to want to keep reading. I was really trying to figure show more out how the novel was going to end, and I think it was... fitting, probably realistic (if such a situation was to be “realistic”, the way they ended it certainly was). show less

Zoo follows Jackson Oz, a college drop out biologist, who sees a rise in animal attacks across the world and tries to warn the world before it's too late.
I'm going to start with one thing I did like: the premise. The idea of animals increasing attacks against humans and something globally is driving them sounds like something I'd be really interested in seeing happen. The issue being, by the end, I was almost rooting for the animals.
Jackson Oz is a good bit insufferable, and even if it was intentional that he was an unlikeable know-it-all (although lacking in the educational and research background to act so smarmy) it was not portrayed in a way that was tolerable. I usually am a fan of the unlikeable narrator, but I just grew tired of show more his thoughts reading like a bad action movie turned cheesy sci-fi. Also the scientist Chloe being downgraded from tough, smart, and actually has a degree to a supportive wife role was a bit disappointing. She could have been a really badass character.
The writing style was very mediocre to me, but I don't know if that is on Patterson or his cowriter. The change in POVs between people and animals were near indistinguishable, as the tone never really altered between them. Everything was written very to the point, with nothing left to make you wonder or come to other possible conclusions. Another thing: did they get paid for all the product placement? So many brand references that I started to wonder if this was sponsored by Red Bull or someone else.
I could probably go on for quite a while but I'll leave it here. If you want a sci-fi/thriller with nuance and twisty endings that makes you think, I would skip this. If you want to turn your brain off and just see words on a page and read the equivalent to a low budget action movie, go for it. show less

I often read books like this for light reading on vacation. Patterson’s are usually fast-moving, suspenseful, and consumable in bits while on the go. This book lived up to those qualities, with the addition of some science fiction components involving animal’s collectively reacting to our over-use of the environment. What fell short was the ending. It’s like the two authors ran out of time and decided to wrap up in 15 pages what should have taken at least a couple more chapters. Rather than including a spoiler, I’ll leave as the explanation that the scientific effects took an unexplained and permanent acceleration. The underlying environmental warning could have been given as metaphor. Instead, it was declared via explicit show more polemic. It’s a fast, fun read to a disappointing end. show less

A warning about the inadvertent dangers of a consumerist and technology driven world? I wasn't sure what I was expecting from this book, but it wasn't the extremist kook, who turned out to be right. Masterfully crafted with heart-stopping action and questions of nature triumphing over humanity's abuses.

This was my first James Patterson book, and I selected it to add to my A-Z challenge. I wasn't expecting a great novel but I didn't think it was as bad as some of the reviews. If you don't like really short chapters and want realistic science, you probably won't like this. If you don't mind a 'what-if' scenario popcorn thriller, then it's nice thriller. I think it hits differently after 2020. I didn't notice the science not being realistic so much as the population not acting at all like they really did during a global event.