Zoo (Patterson novel)

Zoo is a science fiction thriller novel by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge published in September 2012 and appeared on the New York Times best seller list.^[1] A sequel, Zoo 2, by Patterson and Max DiLallo, was released 7 June 2016 as a short story.^[2]

Plot

The novel centers on Jackson Oz, who is an outcast among professional and academic ecologists and biologists. Oz has tried for years to get these scientists to listen to the data he has been collecting on the increasing numbers of mammal attacks on humans. He becomes so obsessed with this goal that he quits graduate school and devotes himself to full-time data collection and arguing his case. Finally, on a trip to Botswana, he survives an attack by a large band of male lions in which about 100 people are killed over a large area. He saves the life of ecologist Chloe Tousignant. Upon returning to America he finds his girlfriend dead in his apartment, killed and partly eaten by his pet chimpanzee.

Five years later Oz has married Chloe and has a son named Eli with her. His theory becomes accepted as all over the world packs of animals are entering densely populated cities and killing humans en masse. He is recruited by the US president to research the cause but before he and his team of scientists can find an answer the presidents daughter died due to their dog and the military launches strikes against affected cities which worsens the attacks. Continuing his research, he discovers that animal pheromones have changed due to the widespread use of radio communication (cellphones) and petroleum products (notably automobile exhaust) and these disrupted pheromones are enlarging the animals amygdalae and causing the aggression. The United States president orders all electricity, cellphone and automobile usage banned for two weeks and animal attacks cease nearly immediately as the ban takes effect. But after one week people return to their previous habits and the attacks return with increased ferocity. Oz, his wife and son along with some scientists and political leaders are evacuated to Thule, Greenland where research into how to reverse the changes will take place.

Scientific Concept

In the book cell phone radiation "cooks" the new petroleum by-products in the air, like car exhaust. This creates a new hydrocarbon that changes mammal's cerebral physiology and enlarges their Amygadala, increasing brain mass by 1.3%. The mammals this affected the book mentioned are gorillas, chimpanzees, squirrels, bears, rats, beavers, cats, foxes, jackals, lions, wolverines, leopards, racoons, rhinoceroses, dolphins, dogs, wolves, bats, boar, elephants and possums while other animals like birds, snakes and vultures remained unaffected. This is not true in the T.V. series where birds, reptiles, and insects are also affected. In the book it is explained that the reason humans aren't affected is they lack the vomeronasal organ, which is important for interpreting pheromones.

Once the pheromone-mimicking hydrocarbon has changed the physiology of the animal's brain it does lots of things to the animal which can be read as signs they are affected. These include a spike of activity in the amygdala, gradual (over a few weeks) decline in vocalisation and increased use of pheromones to communicate. The animal also develops a hive mind and in the case of dogs, secretes a chemically unique hydrocarbon similar to dodecyl acetate, a common ant pheromone. The new chemical has an extremely high molecular weight and dissolves slowly, which might help explain its unusually strong effect on larger animals. Some other results of this chemical change are very fast metabolism, dull and perverted brain functions, flashes of energy, running noses, sweating, increase in blood pressure, blood flooded with adrenalin and bristling hair standing up with the dendrites and synapses in the brain firing, stimulated by the chemical. When car driving and cell phones are banned internationally, all of the symptoms vanish and the animal returns to normal within a day.

Human sebum gains a new compound, along with pentanol and methyl butanoate whose chemical structure resembles that of many insect attack pheromones. When a mammal smells the new compound in human sebum with its vomeronasal organs, its amygadala subconsciously makes the animal want to attack the humans. This causes a sensation for the animal like an "itch" that goes away when the animal smashes something, like in the case of Atilla, Jackson's chimpanzee. Later the itch returns and the animal once more becomes violent.

Reviews

Zoo has received mixed reviews. The Hutchinson Leader says "It's a page turner that's for sure. The ending is sort of lame, but overall I enjoyed it."^[3] A review of the audiobook by Publishers Weekly states: The Bookreporter.com website rates Zoo very positively, saying, "What is really chilling about Zoo is its plausibility. You may not agree with all of the points of view presented here, but at the very least it will keep you reading—and thinking—from first page to last."^[4]

Adaptation

In 2015, CBS adapted the novel as the television series Zoo. It is developed by Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec, Jeff Pinkner, and Scott Rosenberg. James Wolk was the first to be cast, in November 2014,^[5] followed later the same month by Nora Arnezeder^[6] and Nonso Anozie.^[7] The main cast was rounded out in January 2015, with Kristen Connolly and Billy Burke.^[8] In February, Geoff Stults was cast in a recurring role for a "multi-episode arc".^[9] In March, Carl Lumbly was cast in a recurring role.^[10] In March, 2016, Josh Salatin and Alyssa Diaz were added to the cast as series regulars in season 2.^[11] In April, Joanne Kelly was cast in a recurring role.^[12] On August 10, 2016, CBS renewed the series for a third season.^[13]

Sequel

A sequel, Zoo 2, written by James Patterson and Max DiLallo, was released on 7 June 2016, as a short story. The plot has humans becoming 'infected' and possibly being the next stage of human evolution.^[2]

References