The zoo is nearly empty
as Joan and her four-year-old son soak up the last few moments of
playtime. They are happy, and the day has been close to perfect. But
what Joan sees as she hustles her son toward the exit gate minutes
before closing time sends her sprinting back into the zoo, her child in
her arms. And for the next three hours—the entire scope of the novel—she
keeps on running.
Joan’s intimate knowledge of her son and of
the zoo itself—the hidden pathways and under-renovation exhibits, the
best spots on the carousel and overstocked snack machines—is all that
keeps them a step ahead of danger.
A masterful thrill ride and an exploration of motherhood itself—from its tender moments of grace to its savage power—Fierce Kingdom
asks where the boundary is between our animal instinct to survive and
our human duty to protect one another. For whom should a mother risk her
life?
My Review:
This is one of these books that really frustrated me because the plot was such a great idea and the execution of the story was sadly lacking. Joan and Lincoln are enjoying another afternoon at the zoo, and have to hurry towards the zoo exit to get out before it closes. As they come towards the exit Joan sees a man with a gun kicking in the door to the toilets and dead and dying bodies on the ground outside. She decides to flee back into the zoo, hopeful that she can hide and avoid the shooter long enough for the police to get the situation under control. She remembers that there is an empty exhibit in the primate area that used to house a porcupine and they climb into it, hiding behind some boulders in the centre of the enclosure. Able to briefly connect with her worried husband a couple of times, she takes up the challenge of getting Lincoln to keep quiet and hide.
This was where the book started to go wrong for me. The idea that Joan had was solid-hide out of sight and wait for help to arrive. What it turns into is a bunch of chapters with Lincoln whining and having tantrums because he isn't getting his own way, Joan endlessly thinking of everything 'cute' that Lincoln ever did, the games they played, how amazing her child is, and it got very bogged down in detail that really didn't interest me. Add in the stupidity-Joan texts her husband Paul about them hiding from multiple gunmen so he decides then to phone her to 'hear her voice' which could have alerted the bad guys to her position! Joan doesn't call the police herself, letting Paul, who isn't there and knows nothing, do it for her. She loses the chance to tell the police where the gunmen are, their approximate age etc which would have alerted them to exactly what they were facing. Then she worries that the glow from the screen might give her away so instead of y'know, switching it off, she throws it away! Oh good one! There are countless times later that she could have used the phone to update her position and get the police to her quicker but dumbass throws it away. Good one.
Lincoln drives me mad because he just never shuts up. Joan has explained that bad guys want to kill them about a hundred times but he still continues to whine, shout, yell, sing and I just wanted to tell him to shut up and go to sleep! When he is awake he just yaps about nothing and asks questions all the time. When he finally does stop talking which is good for their survival, Joan thinks he is too quiet and starts getting him to talk again! She goes to all the trouble of getting him to a safe place and because he keeps acting up, decides they better go hunting for a vending machine. Yes sugar is exactly what this kid needs! Not! I also have to question why she let her four year old watch Predator and her claims that he wasn't bothered by the violence and gore yet tries to hide his eyes from the dead bodies in the zoo. I also wasn't convinced that he can't tell the difference between scars and scarves but can use words like apprehensive. Hmm.
We get one brief chapter on Kailynn, who works at the park and had her phone confiscated by her mother for continually sleeping in. She is hiding inside one of the buildings. Outside is retired teacher Margaret who enjoys listening to audio books as she walks around the zoo for exercise. She is heading for the exit when she realises that something bad is going on. But we don't see these people again until about halfway through the book or beyond, which is frustrating! I wanted to know what they were doing and if they were ok. I'd rather have seen what was happening with them instead of Joan endlessly thinking about everything Lincoln did or being subjected to his constant whining and tantrums. Yes I get that kids would be like him under similar circumstances but it really was not fun to read about and it became very repetitive and annoying.
We also get a brief look at the thoughts of Robby, one of the gunmen and following him would also have been more interesting especially when they were still hunting the few remaining survivors. That would have ramped up the tension more seeing him trying to find Joan and the others. Think how interesting it would have been having POV of the killers and the various people stuck inside the zoo like Kailynn, Margaret and the mother of the baby! I'd have also liked the POV of Paul, frantically waiting outside for news with the cops trying to decide what to do about the crisis. That would really have been really good and it would have kept the story moving along at a good pace and kept it exciting. Instead I just felt the plot kept dragging in between the odd interesting event.
I also found Joan annoying. I can understand why Joan left the safe hiding place to get Lincoln food to keep him quiet. I understand her trying to leave a false trail for the killers but throwing away the phone when it was charged and could be used for updating Paul and the police about the survivors, where the killers are etc. It was crazy to just throw it away the way she did and I doubt anyone else in her position would do it. Just keep it turned off until you need to use it and you'll be fine! Duh. I also find it annoying that she berates Kailynn for her nervous chatter yet thinks it is fine for her son to constantly do it. Her attitude to the other survivors bugs me, she judges the baby mother yet then has to make the same choice, she is ungrateful for help and of course her annoying child puts them all in danger.
My biggest annoyance with the book is not getting a fully resolved ending. We are left unsure about what happened to everyone including Joan herself. What happened to the baby and its mother? What about Margaret? Is the groundhog ok? I HATE not having all the answers at the end of the book! Especially the fate of the groundhog-I want to know!!!
Overall I'd say that this book had a good idea but the pacing was poor with too many chapters bogged down by irrelevant details and not enough focus on the actual situation at the zoo. I wanted to see less repetition and more of the other characters. It just dragged a bit too much for me. I'm not sure I'd read anything else by the author.
Read October 2019
2 stars.
Books from the Backlog is a fun way to
feature some of those neglected
books sitting on your bookshelf. You might
be surprised by some of the unread books hiding in your stacks. Go to
Carole's blog and add your blog post link in to join in the fun! Hosted
by Carole at https://carolesrandomlife.blogspot.co.uk/
This seems
like a fun feature and I have been planning to take part since Carole
launched this so at last, here we go! I have a TON of unread books to
choose from in various genres and I'm looking forward to sharing some of
them with everybody.
When Kitty Tylney's
best friend, Catherine Howard, worms her way into King Henry VIII's
heart and brings Kitty to court, she's thrust into a world filled with
fabulous gowns, sparkling jewels, and elegant parties. No longer stuck
in Cat's shadow, Kitty's now caught between two men--the object of her
affection and the object of her desire. But court is also full of
secrets, lies, and sordid affairs, and as Kitty witnesses Cat's meteoric
rise and fall as queen, she must figure out how to keep being a good
friend when the price of telling the truth could literally be her head.
The cover of this paperback book is absolutely gorgeous to look at-it is so bright and shiny and when you run your fingers across it, you can feel the ridges. It has been on my TBR since July 2015 when I bought three books by the author, all based on the Tudor Court. Reading about Catherine Howard is something I always enjoy so I'm looking forward to getting to this one!
This tag was created by Anthony at https://keepreadingforward.wordpress.com/ and this year he has added a new extension to his versions so of course I just had to do this one. I'm going with the original version of the tag plus the five extension subjects.
1) Witch-A book or character that is magical
I've only read the first book in the series but I loved the main character who is a mage. I enjoyed the plot and want to see more of the interesting side characters that appear in the book.
2) Mummies-A book or character you can't wrap your head around
There have been plenty books over the years that had me thinking WTF??? But this book has the worst MC I have ever read and it sounds, from other reviews that I never found out the worst about him. Ugh! He is the biggest arsehole EVER!!!
3) Vampires-A book, series or author you can't live without
If I was on a desert island, I would have to have my Harry Potter books with me. I never get tired of reading them! Makes me want to read it right now!
4) Werewolves-A book best read in the middle of the night
I don't have a thing about reading certain books at certain times of the day or whatever. I just read whatever book I'm on when I want to read it. Sometimes it'll be first thing in the morning, sometimes at night. I try not to read apocalypse books near bedtime as I get too hyper from the danger in them! This was a favourite as a bedtime story as a kid!
5) Zombies-A book you picked up for the second time
I don't generally give books a second chance when I DNF them but I stopped reading The Maze Runner just before the action starts. Now that I've seen and enjoyed the film, I MIGHT give the book a second try.
6) Ghosts-A character you saw right through/book you predicted a twist or ending
Jeez I'm always trying to guess the twists in books and there are some I guess and some I don't. This series has a ton of twists and I saw a few coming but not others!
7) Frankenstein-A book that truly shocked you
This book is about a woman who is kidnapped and is to be star of a rape and murder snuff film but the really shocking thing is what she is prepared to do to save herself. I never saw it coming and it horrified me!
8) Skeletons-a book or character that chilled you to the bone or got your funny bone
One of the best written characters in fiction has to be Tyrion Lannister! He is rude, sarcastic, devious, funny, witty, charming, ruthless and intelligent. I just loved him in the book and he was brought to life brilliantly in Game of Thrones!
9) Ghouls-A book that left you hungry
Does anyone read Harry Potter, see those amazing feasts and not get hungry! Reading about anyone eating pizza or chocolate is hard!
10) Goblins-A greedy character or one who loves gold/silver
This feels the perfect one for Smeagle/Gollum! My Preccciiioouuusss!
11) Devil-A dark evil character
There are so many bad guys in the books I read! None more so than Randall Flagg!
12) Grim Reaper-A character you loved or hated that died
In this series there are way too many to choose from on both sides! This particular book had some of my favourite deaths!
13) Scarecrows-A book or character that scares you
No book has scared me in the sense of hiding under the duvet, but when I started reading prepper fiction and first discovered what would happen when the power grid goes down, well it freaked me out and had me wanting to buy a ton of supplies and an underground bunker to hide in!
14) Troll-An underrated book that many may not know about
I read a ton of Indie books and love sharing them on my blog!I recommend Wicked Hunger, a YA paranormal book. A family of teenagers suffer from a strange disease that gives them the uncontrollable urge to kill their peers and they want a cure. A cult of zealots want to wipe them out, a shadowy agency wants to use them as assassins-but all they want to do is be normal. It has family bonds, great non whiny teenage characters, heartbreaking forbidden romance that fits the plot...I just loved this series!
15) Fairy-A character who is mischievious
Coyote from the Iron Druid series can really bring trouble to Atticus and Oberon!
16) Will O The Wisp-A book with an unexpected twist
Man there are LOTS I never saw coming! I'm just going to pick the first one I thought of-the heartbreaking ending of this book.
17) Wraith-A book or character that left you with rage
I always get mad when a favourite character is killed for no reason. There was a book where pretty much everyone died in the space of a few pages and it left me raging! It felt like a cop out and a massacre for the sake of it. Grrr, spoiled the whole book!
18) Creepy Clowns-A book that gave you temporary or permanent fear
I was always nervous of clowns and refused to go near a circus when I was a kid. Something about the white face and blood-red fixed grin gave me the woogies! Having a killer clown who targets children and appears as whatever scares them was great in a book and It has been my favourite stand-alone book ever since. It didn't make me fear clowns but it justified my fear of them!
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish
in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of
2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to
bring bookish friends together. http://www.thatartsyreadergirl.com/top-ten-tuesday/
NB: I don't follow or leave comments on blogs run by
Google Plus, or DISQUS as I refuse to join something just to leave
comments, and I won't allow them to follow new people, update my
profile or post tweets 'on my behalf'. I won't comment on any blog that makes me sign in using another account.
I'm tweaking the topic to interesting book titles that made me grab the book!
1) Help! A Bear Is Eating Me!
A man trapped under his SUV in Alaska is being nibbled by a bear and ponders why it is everyone's fault but his. It sounded funny but I found it dull and the MC was really annoying. I ended up DNFing it. Great cover though!
2) Go The Fuck To Sleep
The rants of a frustrated parent trying to get a child to go to sleep. A short but funny read!
3) Nuclear War: What's In It For You?
When I was about 10 I started becoming obsessed with nuclear war...I was growing up in the 1970's and 1980's Cold War after all! I saw a TV drama at school called Threads about a bomb dropping on the UK and I was fascinated. A week later I was out shopping and with my mum and her cousin. They always bought me a book if I was good so I chose this! I wish I still had my copy as it is so expensive to buy now!
4) The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies Of The Apocalypse
I loved the title and bought it despite being well out of my comfort zone but didn't like it as the characters spoke to each other in nursery rhyme style riddles and it was a quick DNF.
5) The Reformed Vampire Support Group
This was a fun read about the most pathetic bunch of vampires and their rehab support group who set out to find the hunter that killed one of their members.
6) The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Night-Time
This was also out of my comfort zone as I'm not a contemporary fan. I liked the start, laughed at the inappropriate humour but felt the second half dragged a bit for me.
7) The Turning of the Spit
This was a fun short story about a group of armed pigs who decide to get revenge on the slaughterhouse workers. The cover really caught my eye!
8) Hudson Valley Zombie Apocalypse: Apocalypse Sale
This is the prequel to the HVZA zombie series. The apocalypse breaking out has retailers worried about falling sales so they decide to have an apocalypse sale in the mall. Shoppers defy the zombie outbreak to go to the Black Death sales-and soon regret it!
9) Nobody Loves A Bigfoot Like A Bigfoot Babe
With a title like that and Bigfoot in it, I really wanted this book but when I read it, it was a DNF. It was crude, pathetic humour that you'd expect from a 14 year old boy. The characters are sex obsessed morons and I hated this!
10) The Grimoire Of The Lamb
This is a novella in the Iron Druid series which could be read as a stand-alone and falls into the timeline as book #0.4. Atticus stole a book from an Egyptian goddess and has to return there to get it when a thief takes it from him. He and Oberon battle cats, crocodiles and booby traps with the usual action and humour.
