I look forward to a time when the plot of this book seems insane and far-fetched, but that’s not the world we live in. I read this book in the shadow of an American mass shooting; and I write this review in the shadow of another. Always bigger, always worse, ever more common, ever more normalised – never once decried as terrorism by a nation who have covered themselves in true weapons of mass destruction. If I hear one more person with a platform to influence gun control sending “thoughts and prayers” to victims I think I’m going to lose my mind. But I digress.
Lincoln is a good little boy who loves the zoo. He’s four, so he doesn’t like the dinosaur attraction quite so much as when he was only three – he wants to hear about real animals, and figure out how everything works, and play with his superhero ‘guys’. His mother Joan always knew she would do anything to protect him… but never in her worst nightmares imagined she would have to protect him from something like this. As they make their way towards the exit of the closing zoo, shots begin to rain down into the crowd. Those who survive to flee back into the zoo begin to be hunted down one by one.
Fierce Kingdom is almost unbearably tense in places, and while the ending did seem rushed it was almost a relief that it was. My heart. I don’t have any children, but due to the skilful drawing of Joan and Lincoln’s relationship it reminded me of Room, as I wondered ‘what would I do?’. As a lone adult looking at the timeline of the book (set over a couple of hours) it seems like lunacy to risk being found to go looking for food, but as a mother trying to avoid explaining to her hungry child that he needs to stay perfectly silent or he will be another statistic murdered by lunatics it makes sense.
For a book set in a zoo there isn’t a lot about animals, but the setting couldn’t be more perfect. Innocent creatures, trapped behind bars, unable to be free and live their lives, being observed, feeling ever exposed and threatened. Unspeakable creatures, roaming free, who should be behind bars but will never be, picking off those they perceive to be weaker. I’d recommend Fierce Kingdom as a fast-paced topical thriller to anyone with an interest in the genre.
Fierce Kingdom is published by Random House. I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review
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