Zoo [Hardcover]

James Patterson (Author), Michael Ledwidge (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 3, 2012

Once in a lifetime, a writer puts it all together. This is James Patterson's best book ever.

Total

For 36 years, James Patterson has written unputdownable, pulse-racing novels. Now, he has written a book that surpasses all of them. ZOO is the thriller he was born to write.

World

All over the world, brutal attacks are crippling entire cities. Jackson Oz, a young biologist, watches the escalating events with an increasing sense of dread. When he witnesses a coordinated lion ambush in Africa, the enormity of the violence to come becomes terrifyingly clear.

Destruction

With the help of ecologist Chloe Tousignant, Oz races to warn world leaders before it's too late. The attacks are growing in ferocity, cunning, and planning, and soon there will be no place left for humans to hide. With wildly inventive imagination and white-knuckle suspense that rivals Stephen King at his very best, James Patterson's ZOO is an epic, non-stop thrill-ride from "One of the best of the best." (TIME)

Editorial Reviews

Review

CRITICAL ACCLAIM FOR JAMES PATTERSON:

"The Man Who Can't Miss." (Lev Grossman, Time)

"When it comes to constructing a harrowing plot, author James Patterson can turn a screw all right." (New York Daily News)

"Patterson's novels are sleek entertainment machines, the Porsches of commercial fiction, expertly engineered and lightning fast." (Publishers Weekly)

About the Author

James Patterson has had more New York Times bestsellers than any other writer, ever, according to Guinness World Records. Since his first novel won the Edgar Award in 1977 James Patterson's books have sold more than 240 million copies. He is the author of the Alex Cross novels, the most popular detective series of the past twenty-five years, including Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider. Mr. Patterson also writes the bestselling Women's Murder Club novels, set in San Francisco, and the top-selling New York detective series of all time, featuring Detective Michael Bennett. He writes full-time and lives in Florida with his family.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; BOOK CLUB edition (September 3, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9780316097444
• ISBN-13: 978-0316097444
• ASIN: 0316097446
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.5 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1,294 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,515 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

It is no surprise that in January, 2010, The New York Times Magazine featured James Patterson on its cover and hailed him as having "transformed book publishing," and that Time magazine hailed him as "The Man Who Can't Miss." Recently, NBC's Rock Center with Brian Williams profiled Patterson's prolific career, AARP named him one of the "50 Most Influential People Who Make Our Days a Little Brighter," and Variety featured him in a cover story highlighting his adventures in Hollywood.

In 2011, it was estimated that one-in-four of all hardcover suspense/thriller novels sold was written by James Patterson, he is the first author to achieve five million ebook sales (and is expected to hit ten million in early 2013), and he holds the Guinness record for the most #1 New York Times bestsellers of any author. And his success isn't based solely on thrillers like the perennially popular Alex Cross, Women's Murder Club and Michael Bennett series. Patterson is now also the current bestselling author in the young adult and middle grade categories.

He's been called the busiest man in publishing, and that's not just because of his own books. For the past decade, James has been devoting more and more of his time to championing books and reading. From the James Patterson Pageturner Awards, to his website ReadKiddoRead.com, to his College Book Bucks scholarships and his regular donations of hundreds of thousands of books to schools here in the states and troops overseas (see interviews on Fox & Friends, The Dennis Miller Radio Show and CNN.com), Patterson has passed on his passion of books and reading and supported those who do the same. Jim personally funded a major ad campaign re-printing a recent opinion piece on CNN.com about how it is our responsibility to get our kids reading. The ad has run in the New York Times, The New Yorker, and USA Today. Those ads are a call to action to parents to make their kids reading a top priority; and were featured by USA Today here. Patterson believes that we cannot rely on schools, teachers or the government to get our kids reading; only parents can make this crucial change in the reading habits of our kids. Here are links to some interviews on his first-ever dual lay down (two books, one for parents and one for kids, in one day): AOL's You've Got, NBC's "Today Show" with Hoda and Kathie Lee, USA Today and Family Circle, NBC's "Today Show" with Al Roker, as well as an interview with AARP.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#2 Overall (See top 100 authors)

#1 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Police Procedurals

#1 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery

#1 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery

#2 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers

#2 in Books > Literature & Fiction

#1 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Police Procedurals

#1 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery

#1 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery

#2 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers

#2 in Books > Literature & Fiction

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

391 of 415 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst book I've read in years September 6, 2012

By Howard V. Tayler

Format:Hardcover

"Zoo" is full of point-of-view errors, sloppy dialog, one-dimensional main characters, tell-don't-show, and artificially-induced pacing. There are a few neat action sequences, and the premise is fascinating, but the science is horrible, and the moral posturing is infuriating. Ecologists and "green" folks everywhere should bury all the remaindered copies of this book, because the best use it can serve for our ecology is as a carbon sink.

SPOILER ALERT: human-induced ecological collapse is a neat premise. The accidental generation of a pheromone that makes animals hate people is a bit of a stretch. The way in which these premises and plot-whoppers are worked into the story, however, is stupefyingly clumsy to the point of being insulting.

The publisher says "Zoo is the thriller he was born to write." That's a little bit like saying "this cardboard box is the mansion he was born to build," or "this steaming pile of excrement is the meal he was born to eat." My only consolation for having my intelligence insulted by Patterson is that Patterson's publisher has inadvertently insulted him with the glowing praise.

185 of 201 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Ugh September 4, 2012

By Mc

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Ugh. The plot is nonsensical. It reads like something out of an old Sci-Fi/Horror film. The only reason I even bothered to finish the novel was just to see what new level of idiocy it would reach. Do NOT buy this book.

163 of 180 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars None September 4, 2012

By S. A. Burdette

Format:Kindle Edition

A big waste of time and money. I am really disappointed with Mr. Patterson. He is so much better than this mess of imagination and lengthy descriptions.