Zoo

By James Patterson, Michael Ledwidge 

Even though by the time most of you will read this the Hastings District Libraries reading programme will well and truly over I still want to share this post. In fact the category listed as a reading challenge “Watch a movie or a TV programme based on a book or vice versa” has made me consider this new category of TV/MOVIE as something I want to expand now that the initial challenge is over.

Being on holiday has really given me a chance to catch up on not only my reading but binge watching some series on NetFlix. I’ve come across this programme Zoo, based on the James Patterson/Michael Lewridge collaboration. I’ve just finished the first season and I was propelled through it with ferocity of an Alex Cross novel. But now I’ve reached season 2 and I don’t know if I’ve tired of the concept or if the second season has strayed too far from the original idea. Either way, I’ve slackened my pace. It’s still good but… not quite the same somehow.

Synopsis 

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 impending violence becomes terrifyingly clear. 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.

Author 

James Brendan Patterson (born March 22, 1947) is a prolific American author and philanthropist. Among his work are the Alex Cross, Michael Bennett, Women's Murder Club, Maximum Ride, Daniel X, NYPD Red, Witch and Wizard, and Private series, as well as many stand-alone thrillers, non-fiction and romance novels. His books have sold more than 300 million copies and he was the first person to sell 1 million e-books.

Michael S. Ledwidge is an American author of Irish descent. He wrote his first novel, The Narrowback, while working as the back elevator operator for a Park Avenue Coop apartment building. His novel, Bad Connection was written while working as a lineman for the telephone company in NYC.

Other novels 

Haunted (Michael Bennett, #10) (2017)
Chase (Michael Bennett, #9.5) (2016)
Bullseye (Michael Bennett, #9) (2016)
Alert (Michael Bennett, #8) (2015)
Burn (Michael Bennett, #7) (2014)
Gone (Michael Bennett, #6) (2013)
 Zoo (2012)
I, Michael Bennett (Michael Bennett, #5) (2012)
Now You See Her (2011)
Tick Tock (Michael Bennett, #4) (2010)
Worst Case (Michael Bennett, #3) (2010)
Run for Your Life (Michael Bennett, #2) (2010)
Daniel X: The Manga, Vol. 1 (Daniel X: The Manga, #1) (2010)
SeungHui Kye Step on a Crack (Michael Bennett, #1) (2007)
The Quickie (2007)
The Dangerous Days of Daniel X (Daniel X, #1) (2007)

The Spire

By Richard North Patterson  

I came across this author years ago but didn't really enjoy whatever book it was. That was 20 years ago, now I was looking through a variety of authors as I was perusing through the library waiting for my boy to choose a couple of books. I came across the author again, but it was the combination of recognising the author and finding a book about about a school. It intrigued me.  It's been a while since I enjoyed a murder mystery book like this. It's the story of Mark who is invited back as president to clear up a financial crisis but he's draw into investigating afresh the murder that took place years ago when he was at the school as a student. There were so many twists and turns. It kept me turning the pages, right through the Christmas holidays.

Synopsis

Mark Darrow grew up in a small Ohio town with no real advantages beyond his intelligence and his athletic ability. But thanks to the intervention of Lionel Farr, a professor at Caldwell, the local college, Dallow became an excellent student and , later, a superb trial lawyer. Now Farr asks his still-youthful protege for a life-altering favour. An embezzlement scandal has threatened Caldwell's very existence - would Darrow consider becoming its new president?
Darrow accepts, but returning to his alma master opens old wounds. Sixteen years ago, on the night of his greatest triumph as Caldwell's star quarterback, he discovered the body of a black female student named Angela Hall at the base of the Spire, the bell tower that dominates the leafy campus. His best friend, Steve Tillman, was charged with Angela's murder and sent to prison for life. But now, as Darrow begins the daunting taskof leading Caldwell, he discovers that thecase against his friend left crucial questions unanswered. Despite his new obligations - and his deepening attachment to lionel Farr's beautiful though troubled daughter - Darrow begins in own inquiry into the murder. Soon he becomes convinced that Angela's killer is still at large, but only when another mysterious death occurs does he understand that his own life is at risk.

Author

Richard North Patterson is an American novelist of legal thrillers. Before he was an author, Patterson practiced law until he retired to become a full-time writer in 1993. By that time, he had already written several novels. Mr. Patterson studied fiction writing with Jesse Hill Ford at the University of Alabama at Birmingham; his first short story was published in The Atlantic Monthly; and his first novel, The Lasko Tangent, won an Edgar Allen Poe Award in 1979.

Other novels by the author

Christopher Paget
The Lasko Tangent (1979)
Degree of Guilt (1993)
Eyes of a Child (1995)
Conviction (2005)

Tony Lord
Private Screening (1985)
Silent Witness (1997)

Kerry Kilcannon
No Safe Place (1998)
Protect and Defend (2000)
Balance of Power (2003)

Martha's Vineyard
Loss of Innocence (2013)
Fall From Grace (2012)
Eden in Winter (2014)

Other novels
The Outside Man (1981)
Escape the Night (1983)
Caroline Masters (1995)
Dark Lady (1999)
Exile (2007)
The Race (2007)
Eclipse (2009)
The Spire (2009)
In The Name of Honor (2010)
The Devil's Light (2011)
The Final Judgment (2011)