“The world was becoming a zoo, without cages.”
One could never imagine that this is in fact a quote from a fictional novel, given its striking relevance to current global politics. James Patterson, infamous author of the Alex Cross series, took on the challenge of the apocalypse, depicting it in ways that are unique, but familiar to the reader. He masterfully symbolizes something personal as a threat and provides an enticing, yet fearful perspective on the nature of animals.
Zoo is the kind of novel that puts the reader at the edge of their seat, literally and figuratively, almost constantly.
It is about people and ignorance, authorities with a complex, and animals out of control.
It is about Jackson Oz, a modern New Yorker and under-appreciated biologist, who has been taking note of increasing animal aggression across the world. He makes many attempts to warn the scientific community about this change and to make them see that the abnormal behavioural patterns consistent in recent animal attacks are not isolated incidents. Unfortunately for Oz, his views are laughed at. It is only when a close friend contacts Oz with a crisis, that he is pulled into the beautiful savannas of Africa and its rebelling animal population.
Patterson’s writing style seemed to fluctuate from chapter to chapter. Sometimes his writing was ominous and it was hard to predict the next chapter. Other times, the future of the plot was glaringly obvious. There were also moments in the book that made me hold my breath in anticipation, but there were other moments that made me roll my eyes. It is hard to really like his writing style, but the one thing I did love about this book were the characters.
Patterson portrayed his characters in ways that make you understand them, no matter who they are. Usually the main protagonist’s love interest is hard to like, at least that much is true for me, but in Zoo, I was supportive of the love interest as much as I was for the main character.
Part of the reason for that has to be Patterson’s narrative technique. The book is written mostly in first person from the perspective of the main character and even though I often dislike first person perspective, this book does a good job of it through its quality of keeping the reader interested.
Overall, Zoo is an extremely adventurous book. It kept me on my toes for most of the novel and I couldn’t put the book down until I finished it. Aside from a few discrepancies in his story, Patterson did an excellent job in capturing the alternate nature of animals and humans in relation to one another.
Aleeza Khalid, Contributor
Featured image courtesy of kindle
