This was my first time reading one of James Patterson's adult novels. I've read a couple of his young adult novels before and enjoyed them so when I saw the premise for this one I really wanted to read it and expected it to wow me. Unfortunately that wasn't the case with this book. The reason why I wanted to give it a try was because it sounded like it was an intense read and one that I had actually heard some pretty good things about so when I finished the book and didn't end up liking it I was pretty upside. To me the novel was too jumping and all over the place. It started off on a high note with some attacks within the first few pages but after about page 80 or slow the fast pace really slowed down and from then on it was a huge struggle to continue reading it until the end. One of the main issues I had with the book was that it lacked depth. I mean I didn't go into the book expecting it to be a work that rivaled the literary greats but I expected it to have a certain amount of detail in when it came to the characters and the over all story line. I noticed that the tone of the book seemed to be a little young even though the main characters were in there late twenties to early thirties and it just didn't seem right. The characters were very one dimensional. I didn't really get to know them at all. They lacked in personality and when I finished the book it was like I didn't know much about them at all and I think having well rounded is essential to having a well rounded book. There was absolutely nothing likable about any of the characters because there was so little known about them and the little we did know had them coming off as arrogant and annoying. The story really did have a lot of potential. The whole premise of the book really did have promise. To me it was a bit of a mixture of the new Planet of the Apes movie the one with James Franco. The whole animals rebelling thing while it has been done before it's one of my favourite themes in a book. However I don't think that this book reached it's full potential. As I said before both the characters and the story lacked detail. Another issue I had with the writing was that the story was always jumping from one thought to the next and it lacked continuity. There were many points in the book that the plot jumped so quickly I would have to go back and re-read a few pages here and there to make sure I didn't miss anything. Overall this Zoo didn't appeal to me. This would have been a lot better if it had been better thought out and more attention was paid to certain things. It's a shame really because I wanted to like it. I really did and that is why I read the book right on through to the end in hopes it would get better. However, the beginning, middle and the end all disappointed me. While I didn't like this novel I do see how it would appeal to other readers so I would recommend this to fans of James Patterson. Though I would personally suggest borrowing it from the library first in case you are a little wary. Even though I was disappointed by Zoo I do plan on reading another of the author's books geared towards adults in the near future.

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! This, and other reviews can be found on JustALilLost.com

Zoo is a novel built upon a fascinating plot-line of animals world-wide becoming more and more violent and attacking humans on a wide-spread scale. The theory underlying these attacks (of which I won't say more so that I don't give spoilers) is one I have never considered before, and though I may not resonate with the strong purely evolutionary underpinnings of the book, the actual premise of the book is enough to make me stop and wonder if such a thing could happen. The pacing of the book is swift, quickly drawing you into the story as the characters race to save themselves and society as they know it. I found the characters to be well-developed for being a suspense novel, and there were plenty of pulse-accelerating moments to hold my interest. I must say that once the explanation behind the animal attacks was revealed, I found myself thinking back over a few of the scenes of the story and finding they didn't quite mesh with the explanation. However, on the whole I found this to be a highly enjoyable read, and one that will make me consider the effect my own carbon footprint is having on the world. I strongly recommend this book for pure entertainment value and give it a rating of 4 out of 5 stars. Book has been provided courtesy of the publisher, Hachette Book Group (Little, Brown and Company) for the purposes of this unbiased review.