Review The Great Zoo of China 4-5* :)

The Great Zoo of China, by Matthew Reilly
pub Gallery Books                                                                4-5*
"Action on a gigantic scale"


The Chinese government are about to unveil their new zoo. A party of Americans; political and journalist, are invited to the preview. CJ, a lady croc expert, tales up the offer along with her photographer brother. Needless to say the security they are allowed past hides a lot more than pandas, and it soon becomes a question of who will survive the experience.


This is a blockbuster of a novel with all the heroes, heroines and villains required for a James Bond script. Indeed, with its emphasis on action scenes, danger and good versus bad this is a very Hollywood storyline.


Add to that the characters are strong, the pace frenetic. I read this with great enjoyment, even after the opening 'spoiler' chapter screamed "I wanna be a movie" at me.


It was therefore just an enormous shame that despite all the publishers' arguments to the contrary this really is another Jurassic Park. It's a zoo. It's been kept secret till ready to wow the world. The black dragons are alternate raptors [yes, huge spoiler, or maybe enough to make you read anyway]. What more can I say, a very enjoyable book, if you don't mind it being such a spinoff, or you are a big Jurassic Park fan. Have to ask why this writer didn't produce something that was truly his instead.
I ended up wondering if the Chinese government will hack the internet - oh really?


:)

Oops

This is where I say sorry, to the BBC
Well, half sorry.


I moaned about them accepting an offer from Nigel Farage - he who has a non English name, a home in France, but purports to speak for the Brits, even to the Americans? - to appear on a documentary about his life after politics.
Well, sorry BBC, I obviously read the wrong account. Turns out the 'Farage Show' was actually a spoof, not a serious item.


But...
As is clear from every sighting, Farage loves media exposure, so I strongly suspect he viewed this as good publicity. [Just like hearingTrump trumpeting his name as his preferred ambassador?]


So maybe I'm not so sorry, cos BBC, you added to the celeb hype the man likes to bask in, and I'm not at all sure that was the action of a responsible impartial TV channel. Farage, and Trump, are not politicians, nor seeking to serve anything or anyone except their own egos. Why would you want to pander to either?