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The Zoo Gang
The Place--The glittering French Riviera
The Action--A giant jewel heist, an artistic theft of great paintings, a cunning kidnapping, a savage duel to the death against a sinister drug-smuggling syndicate.
The hero--a man named Roquebrun, otherwise known as The Fox, the leader of--
The Zoo Gang. A group of French Resistance Fighters from WWII. Join them in their fight against crime and evil doers.
The Action--A giant jewel heist, an artistic theft of great paintings, a cunning kidnapping, a savage duel to the death against a sinister drug-smuggling syndicate.
The hero--a man named Roquebrun, otherwise known as The Fox, the leader of--
The Zoo Gang. A group of French Resistance Fighters from WWII. Join them in their fight against crime and evil doers.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1962
About the author
Paul Gallico
192 books319 followersPaul William Gallico was born in New York City, on 26th July, 1897. His father was an Italian, and his mother came from Austria; they emigrated to New York in 1895.
He went to school in the public schools of New York, and in 1916 went to Columbia University. He graduated in 1921 with a Bachelor of Science degree, having lost a year and a half due to World War I. He then worked for the National Board of Motion Picture Review, and after six months took a job as the motion picture critic for the New York Daily News. He was removed from this job as his "reviews were too Smart Alecky" (according to Confessions of a Story Teller), and took refuge in the sports department.
During his stint there, he was sent to cover the training camp of Jack Dempsey, and decided to ask Dempsey if he could spar with him, to get an idea of what it was like to be hit by the world heavyweight champion. The results were spectacular; Gallico was knocked out within two minutes. But he had his story, and from there his sports-writing career never looked back.
He became Sports Editor of the Daily News in 1923, and was given a daily sports column. He also invented and organised the Golden Gloves amateur boxing competition. During this part of his life, he was one of the most well-known sporting writers in America, and a minor celebrity. But he had always wanted to be a fiction writer, and was writing short stories and sports articles for magazines like Vanity Fair and the Saturday Evening Post. In 1936, he sold a short story to the movies for $5000, which gave him a stake. So he retired from sports writing, and went to live in Europe, to devote himself to writing. His first major book was Farewell to Sport, which as the title indicates, was his farewell to sports writing.
Though his name was well-known in the United States, he was an unknown in the rest of the world. In 1941, the Snow Goose changed all that, and he became, if not a best-selling author by today's standards, a writer who was always in demand. Apart from a short spell as a war correspondent between 1943 and 1946, he was a full-time freelance writer for the rest of his life. He has lived all over the place, including England, Mexico, Lichtenstein and Monaco, and he lived in Antibes for the last years of his life.
He was a first-class fencer, and a keen deep-sea fisherman. He was married four times, and had several children.
He died in Antibes on 15th July, 1976, just short of his 79th birthday.
He went to school in the public schools of New York, and in 1916 went to Columbia University. He graduated in 1921 with a Bachelor of Science degree, having lost a year and a half due to World War I. He then worked for the National Board of Motion Picture Review, and after six months took a job as the motion picture critic for the New York Daily News. He was removed from this job as his "reviews were too Smart Alecky" (according to Confessions of a Story Teller), and took refuge in the sports department.
During his stint there, he was sent to cover the training camp of Jack Dempsey, and decided to ask Dempsey if he could spar with him, to get an idea of what it was like to be hit by the world heavyweight champion. The results were spectacular; Gallico was knocked out within two minutes. But he had his story, and from there his sports-writing career never looked back.
He became Sports Editor of the Daily News in 1923, and was given a daily sports column. He also invented and organised the Golden Gloves amateur boxing competition. During this part of his life, he was one of the most well-known sporting writers in America, and a minor celebrity. But he had always wanted to be a fiction writer, and was writing short stories and sports articles for magazines like Vanity Fair and the Saturday Evening Post. In 1936, he sold a short story to the movies for $5000, which gave him a stake. So he retired from sports writing, and went to live in Europe, to devote himself to writing. His first major book was Farewell to Sport, which as the title indicates, was his farewell to sports writing.
Though his name was well-known in the United States, he was an unknown in the rest of the world. In 1941, the Snow Goose changed all that, and he became, if not a best-selling author by today's standards, a writer who was always in demand. Apart from a short spell as a war correspondent between 1943 and 1946, he was a full-time freelance writer for the rest of his life. He has lived all over the place, including England, Mexico, Lichtenstein and Monaco, and he lived in Antibes for the last years of his life.
He was a first-class fencer, and a keen deep-sea fisherman. He was married four times, and had several children.
He died in Antibes on 15th July, 1976, just short of his 79th birthday.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 17, 2017
In reading this book I was reminded of the TV series Mission Impossible. I thoroughly enjoyed this story with it's imaginative and well-written vignettes about five men called the Zoo Gang. Each chapter is a separate story and each story refers back to the previous ones. The Zoo Gang are a group of French Resistance fighters during WWII. Now it's the 1960's and 70's and they are living in the French Riviera. The men are much older and are having difficulty dealing with the changing times.
The characters are as follows:
- The main character and leader of the gang is Colonel Pierre Roquebrun (A.K.A. Le Renard) - The Fox. He now owns an antique shop. His specialty was plotting out the missions.
- Jean Soleau - The Elephant. He is now a wholesale dealer in onions. During the resistance his specialty was sabotage.
- Gaston Rive - The Leopard. He now owns an electrical contracting company. His was a wizard in communications and anything to do with electricity.
- Antoine Petitpierre - The Tiger. He now grows carnations. He was the executioner; and if there was a need to kill, he did it.
- Alphonse Cousin - The Wolf. He is the owner of a bar. His specialty was locksmith and his natural method for making life difficult for occupying Germans had been breaking and entering.
- In one of the stories we discover there was a 6th member of the gang called The Antelope. He was a crippled boy who wore steel leg braces and was invaluable to the others as a courier as well as for his brilliance. He was the pet of them all. He was betrayed by a collaborator, rounded up by the Germans, and tortured to death. Revenge for his death takes place in one of the stories.
The clever vignettes include:
- The Picture Thieves - The theft of twelve famous Renoirs from a museum. Sarah Howard, the daughter of Joel Howard who loaned the paintings to the museum, comes to Roquebrun because she suspects that four shady characters she and her friends has been partying with may have had something to do with the theft. Roquebrun suspects the Gang. In this chapter we are introduced to Captain Claude Scoubide, Chief of the Detective Force of the Service Regionale de Police Judiciaire. He's a friend of Roquebrun, but always suspicious of The Gang when a crime occurs.
- How to Stick Up a Fifty-Million Dollar Riviera Gala - Detective Scoubide visits Roquebrun because he is concerned about security at the annual August Ball and Gala to be held at the Silver Sands Casino. He wants to know how The Gang would rob the guests of their jewels. Then he can plan out security. Roquebrun becomes concerned that The Gang may be planning a heist without telling him. There are twists and turns, red herrings, and a surprise ending.
- Snow Over the Cote D'Azur - Drug smuggling is on the rise and taking over the Riviera. Roquebrun's niece, Madeleine Renault dies of a drug overdose. The Captain disappears; and when he returns much later, the drug trade seems to have dried up. After smuggling in the biggest drug shipment ever, seven drug dealers and the drugs disappear. The bodies and drugs cannot be found. Detective Scobide should be happy about the disappearance of drug dealers and drugs but he is obsessively curious to know what happened. He knows that Roquebrun wanted revenge and that the Gang was involved, but he can't prove anything without bodies. Roquebrun enlists the aid of Papa Santoro, a building contractor who is building a new resort. This is a clever and captivating story.
- Le Snatch Double - a cunning kidnapping of a child from rich parents. Scobide enlists the help of Roquebrun to get the child back when a note says the child will be killed if the media is notified and because his job is on the line. Roquebrun's plan involves kidnapping another child to divert attention. This caper has a very clever ending.
This book was a delight to read. Lots of wit and memorable characters, red herrings, and surprise endings. Well worth reading.
The characters are as follows:
- The main character and leader of the gang is Colonel Pierre Roquebrun (A.K.A. Le Renard) - The Fox. He now owns an antique shop. His specialty was plotting out the missions.
- Jean Soleau - The Elephant. He is now a wholesale dealer in onions. During the resistance his specialty was sabotage.
- Gaston Rive - The Leopard. He now owns an electrical contracting company. His was a wizard in communications and anything to do with electricity.
- Antoine Petitpierre - The Tiger. He now grows carnations. He was the executioner; and if there was a need to kill, he did it.
- Alphonse Cousin - The Wolf. He is the owner of a bar. His specialty was locksmith and his natural method for making life difficult for occupying Germans had been breaking and entering.
- In one of the stories we discover there was a 6th member of the gang called The Antelope. He was a crippled boy who wore steel leg braces and was invaluable to the others as a courier as well as for his brilliance. He was the pet of them all. He was betrayed by a collaborator, rounded up by the Germans, and tortured to death. Revenge for his death takes place in one of the stories.
The clever vignettes include:
- The Picture Thieves - The theft of twelve famous Renoirs from a museum. Sarah Howard, the daughter of Joel Howard who loaned the paintings to the museum, comes to Roquebrun because she suspects that four shady characters she and her friends has been partying with may have had something to do with the theft. Roquebrun suspects the Gang. In this chapter we are introduced to Captain Claude Scoubide, Chief of the Detective Force of the Service Regionale de Police Judiciaire. He's a friend of Roquebrun, but always suspicious of The Gang when a crime occurs.
- How to Stick Up a Fifty-Million Dollar Riviera Gala - Detective Scoubide visits Roquebrun because he is concerned about security at the annual August Ball and Gala to be held at the Silver Sands Casino. He wants to know how The Gang would rob the guests of their jewels. Then he can plan out security. Roquebrun becomes concerned that The Gang may be planning a heist without telling him. There are twists and turns, red herrings, and a surprise ending.
- Snow Over the Cote D'Azur - Drug smuggling is on the rise and taking over the Riviera. Roquebrun's niece, Madeleine Renault dies of a drug overdose. The Captain disappears; and when he returns much later, the drug trade seems to have dried up. After smuggling in the biggest drug shipment ever, seven drug dealers and the drugs disappear. The bodies and drugs cannot be found. Detective Scobide should be happy about the disappearance of drug dealers and drugs but he is obsessively curious to know what happened. He knows that Roquebrun wanted revenge and that the Gang was involved, but he can't prove anything without bodies. Roquebrun enlists the aid of Papa Santoro, a building contractor who is building a new resort. This is a clever and captivating story.
- Le Snatch Double - a cunning kidnapping of a child from rich parents. Scobide enlists the help of Roquebrun to get the child back when a note says the child will be killed if the media is notified and because his job is on the line. Roquebrun's plan involves kidnapping another child to divert attention. This caper has a very clever ending.
This book was a delight to read. Lots of wit and memorable characters, red herrings, and surprise endings. Well worth reading.
June 15, 2022
I remember watching the television series in the 70's and came across the book on open library. Quite different, but still enjoyable.
June 19, 2018
Not a novel, but four standalone short(ish) stories. The first is a little clunky, but things improve until we reach the third and fourth, which are thoroughly enjoyable.
April 10, 2020
A gang of aging former resistance fighters operating on the French Riviera? SO much fun! Especially since they continue to operate in the side of good, if not inside the law.
September 14, 2021
A real fun book - top marks to Paul Gallico for some great short strories.
The 'main feature' was spoiled by being too long, but aside from that this is Gallico at his lighest..
The 'main feature' was spoiled by being too long, but aside from that this is Gallico at his lighest..
April 23, 2023
Fun short stories like verbal jigsaws.
September 29, 2013
A group of stories that feature the members of the French Resistance that were known by the Germans as The Zoo Gang because their code names were all those of animals. The Fox, The Elephant, The Leopard, The Tiger, The Antelope and the Wolf. Now most of them are middle-aged men, having to deal with the rapidly changing world of the 60's. But, because of who they were and how all of the inhabitants of the Riviera--on both sides of the law--respect them, they are able to solve crimes that no one else can.
So, join them as they find:
The Picture Thieves
How to Stick up a Fifty-Million-Dollar Riviera Gala
Snow Over the Cote D'Azur
Le Snatch Double
A TV series was made around this book, but unfortunately, it lasted only one season.
Excellent snapshot view of the Riviera of this time and how the "average" man (for a given value of "average") was dealing with all the rapid changes that that turbulent decade was bringing.
So, join them as they find:
The Picture Thieves
How to Stick up a Fifty-Million-Dollar Riviera Gala
Snow Over the Cote D'Azur
Le Snatch Double
A TV series was made around this book, but unfortunately, it lasted only one season.
Excellent snapshot view of the Riviera of this time and how the "average" man (for a given value of "average") was dealing with all the rapid changes that that turbulent decade was bringing.
September 13, 2018
I'd heard of "The Posieden Adventure" from the movie and note that it was from a book by Paul Gallico. So I looked him up and the local library had this book instead. I fell in love with these stories of French ex-resistance fighters trying to deal with the 'new' world of the 60's & 70's. A wonderful read!
May 11, 2008
This is a series of four connecting short stories about five aging resistance fighters who still know how to handle themselves. Their unofficial talents are once more useful.
I liked it much more as a young adult than now.
I liked it much more as a young adult than now.
September 24, 2011
This is a delightful collection of four long stories connected by a common set of characters. Art heists, kidnapping etc. happening in the south of France. Think Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn....as Robin Hoods.
August 29, 2016
A quick and mildly entertaining collection of four short stories about a group of former French Resistance fighters (the titular Zoo Gang) and their exploits as older men on the French Riviera set in the 1960s. Nothing spectacular, but good if you're in the mood.
March 2, 2015
I'm a sucker for retro 60s France!
May 19, 2015
The only book I've read by Galico, don't know why--I thought this was well-written and cunning in the plot. Need to see what else he has done.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews