The Great Zoo of China

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

'Jurassic Park with dragons' NEIL OLIVER
'Completely believable' WASHINGTON POST

GET READY FOR ACTION ON A GIGANTIC SCALE

The Chinese government has been keeping a secret for forty years: they have found a species of animal no one believed even existed.

Now the Chinese are ready to unveil their astonishing discovery within the greatest zoo ever constructed. A small group of VIPs and journalists has been brought to the zoo deep within China to see its fabulous creatures for the first time. Among them is Dr Cassandra Jane 'CJ' Cameron, a writer for NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC and an expert on reptiles.

The visitors are assured by their Chinese hosts that they will marvel at these beasts, that they are perfectly safe, that nothing can go wrong . . .

READERS LOVE THE GREAT ZOO OF CHINA

'A thrill-a-minute rollercoaster ride'

'Reilly delivers every time'

'Sit back and escape into the world of Matthew Reilly'

'Reads like a Hollywood blockbuster from start to finish'

'The master of high octane thrillers'

' Strap yourself in and enjoy the ride!'

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Reilly (Ice Station) gives the reader a wonderful action thriller with a Jurassic Park-like twist when crocodile expert and writer for National Geographic Dr. CJ Cameron is invited by the Chinese government to visit a zoo bigger than Disney that features dragons. The Chinese, after 40 years, are finally ready to announce to the world they discovered and have built an enormous zoo habitat where dragons can be seen in their natural environment. Of course, things go bad and the dragons run amuck with only Dr. Cameron and a few people standing against the dragons and the Chinese who will kill not to be embarrassed. This gripping tale mixes a wonderful story with Rich Orlow's fantastic narration. VERDICT Highly recommended for all audio collections. ["Despite the lack of originality of Reilly's plot, his fans may still enjoy it, as will readers who love sf/fantasy tales, especially those involving dragons": LJ Xpress Reviews 2/6/15 review of the Gallery hc.]-Scott R. DiMarco, Mansfield Univ. of Pennsylvania Lib. © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

In this entertaining if derivative science thriller from bestseller Reilly (Scarecrow Returns), Chinese officials invite a group of Americans to the opening of a new, groundbreaking zoo in Guangdong Province. On arrival, the guests-who include the U.S. ambassador to China, a New York Times columnist, and the book's plucky heroine, herpetologist CJ Cameron, who's covering the event for National Geographic-are stunned to discover that the Chinese have somehow managed to populate the zoo with a "unique kind of dinosaur." Cable car rides enable people to be right in the middle of flying dragons. Of course, electricity-based protective measures are supposed to insure their safety, but, inevitably, system failures send CJ and the others scrambling to survive. While some readers may consider this more of a rip-off than an homage to Jurassic Park, Reilly makes both the existence of the legendary beasts and the Chinese motivation to launch the project plausible. Agent: Suzanne Gluck, WME. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Booklist Review

Reilly, author of the Jack West Jr. action thrillers (and the earlier Shane Schofield series), gives his usual breathless performance here. A group of visitors to a new Chinese zoo among them, an American reptile expert, a New York Times columnist, and an ambassador's aide with a shadowy past are shocked to learn that the Chinese have discovered a creature that's always been considered mythological. More than that: they've created this zoo to keep the creatures penned in, no small feat since the creatures can fly. Naturally, the carefully planned visit goes awry almost immediately, leaving our group of visitors running for their lives, pursued by creatures whose one purpose is to eat them. Sure, this sounds a lot like Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park (1990), but let's just say Reilly is tapping into a literary theme, and move on. Taken on its own merits, the book delivers the usual Reilly goods: plenty of action, a variety of interesting characters, and some villains we can't wait to see get what's coming to them. It also delivers pacing that borders on frenetic, scene staging that reads like a screenplay, and punctuation that relies a little too much on exclamation marks. Still, for readers who like the feel of a slam-bang B-movie action thriller, Reilly does it as well as anyone. And who says there's anything wrong with slam-bang action anyway? HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: For over-the-top-adventure addicts, a Reilly novel is like a new roller-coaster opening at Great America. Lines form, fans swoon.--Pitt, David Copyright 2014 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review

Dragons, crocodiles and Communist Party bureaucrats abound in Reilly's (Scarecrow Returns, 2012, etc.) latest thriller."China does big better than any other country, including America," says New York Times columnist Seymour Wolfe, one of a handful of Americans invited by the Chinese government to tour a new zoo, a massive project to rival the Great Wall in ambition and splendor. Also on the tour is CJ Cameron, who was a renowned herpetologist until an alligator attack left her scarred and wary of large reptiles. Little does she know how much she'll need to rely on her scientific expertise when the star attractions of the zoo are revealed to be 232 dragons living under electromagnetic domes in a man-made "primordial valley." There's little action in the first hundred pages of the book while the author tries to establish the scientific plausibility of dragons that have escaped detection in the modern world. The dragons are said to be archosaurswith similar features to pterodactylsthat survived extinction 65 million years ago by hibernating beneath thick layers of nickel and zinc deposits. The Chinese have been working on observing, raising and training the dragons for 40 years, but of course, they underestimate the intelligence of these beasts, and things go horribly wrong. Despite the many encyclopedic explanations of reptilian biology and behavior, as well as maps and illustrations of the zoo's various areas and control rooms interspersed throughout the book, no amount of plausibility can overcome the lack of character development or the monotony of relentless action sequences. Although CJ is a smart and brave heroine, the other characters are virtually indistinguishable from one another, and none of the relationships are deepened. This is Jurassic Park retold, without enough of a twist to make the retelling seem necessary. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.