Criminal Zoo

by Sean McDaniel

Finalist for the Foreword INDIES Best Horror Novel of 2016

Like millions of children, Samuel Bradbury comes from a broken home. Yet he still enjoys the everyday activities of being a playing basketball, shooting his air rifle, and hanging out. Something else, however, exists inside Samuel—something that sets him apart from other children. He enjoys killing.

Samuel's murderous impulses follow him into manhood and his lethal actions ultimately land him in the Criminal Zoo—society's final answer to a problem as old as mankind. His days are filled with suffering, as visitors with revenge in mind are allowed physical interaction with the inmates. He exists in torturous misery and all hope is lost. Death, an unattainable early release, becomes his only desire. An unexpected guest, however, changes everything; a surprise visit will decide Samuel's fate.

This is his story.

Genres: Fiction, Horror, Thriller

352 pages, Hardcover

First published March 27, 2012

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

What did I just read? This is a book about a really messed up individual who thinks he is becoming a God. It started out kinda sad and I felt bad for the main character Samuel. Then I felt a bit disgusted, then I just felt terrified.

The Criminal Zoo is a new option for criminals because the death penalty is no more. The Criminal Zoo is for the most disturbed inmates who now can’t use insanity to get out of trouble. It is open to the public and allows people to inflict pain on inmates. It’s a place where people can pay to take out their frustrations on a human being deemed unworthy to enter back into society. For those inmates, the Criminal Zoo is hell on earth. Samuel is an exhibit in the Criminal Zoo.

Samuel thinks back on his childhood, his failing marriage, and the acts he committed that sealed his fate. Samuel’s story is really heartbreaking, but then it is really disturbing too. Is his behavior due to his childhood, or was it in his nature? That’s for you to decide as you follow Samuel down the rabbit hole.

This book scared me but I was unable to put it down. I was uncomfortable reading it but felt compelled to follow Samuel into the dark. Criminal Zoo is well written for sure, to draw these emotions out of me. I think how well you enjoy this book will really depend on how squeamish you are. I am not really so enjoyed this book a lot, but it definitely is not for everyone.

[Chloe Haack · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one took me a bit of time to finish because of its disturbing imagery and descriptions of torture. It is incredibly disturbing, but I believe there’s a greater message against unethical incarceration deeper within the book. Samuel does some really awful things — mutilation is the worst of the worst. Yet, the installation of the Criminal Zoo felt just as bad. Do bad people deserve even worse punishment? That’s the main question of the book. I appreciate how unafraid the author is. This is an immensely difficult topic to read about, and certainly write about, so I’m very impressed with his courage.

[Angela Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book for review purposes. This is in no way reflected in my opinion of this anthology. I did not receive any form of compensation for my review.

Criminal Zoo is a compelling and thought provoking story. When I first started reading about Samuel Bradbury I felt bad for him. He comes from a broken home and lives with his abusive father so his bitterness kinda made sense. But then I had to stop and say "Wait,,, WHAT!?! Turns out he's a serial killer. His reasoning and the matter of fact way he thinks about his murders is chilling. After he's sentenced to death as an exhibit in the Criminal Zoo, a prison that allows an eye for an eye type justice for violent offenders, the horror is taken to a whole new level. Much like Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door, this book is very hard to read but at the same time I couldn't put it down. A truly disturbing book that I wouldn't recommend to the faint hearted, but for the rest of you horror fiends I say grab this book and get ready for a twisted tale. An extremely well written 4.5 star read.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won a copy of criminal zoo in a goodreads giveaway

This was probably the most twisted, messed up book I've ever read, but I could not put it down. It was such a fascinating concept, and constantly toyed with my head and my emotions. It went a completely different direction than I had imagined, and I am still trying to process the last chunk I just read. Holy crap. I did struggle to push through a few sections because, as you can imagine, when talking about the worst violent criminals, some pretty horrifying things happen, so that's something to consider when thinking about giving this a read. I'm glad I stuck it out though. I haven't read something that's messed with my head this much in ages.

[Laura Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bravo!!!!!!!!!!!!! Honestly, this is not "my type" of book. I don't like horror and I've never read a book as utterly disturbing as this. That being said, I could not put it down. It was well written and the story was incredible. And the end - there has not been an end to any story that shocked me like that since "The Sixth Sense". Congratulations Sean McDaniel on a truly amazing novel. I will recommend it highly

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy messed up book. Guy thinks he is becoming a part of the "god race" and punishes people.Ends up in the Criminal Zoo where citizens can pay to mutilate and torture the criminals the same way they treated the victims. Wow. Makes you think. Plays out like a really great crime drama. Good book, if you like these things.

[Odette Solberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a good book....In a twisted Stephen King way...it is disturbing and gory. The only drawback would be that it should have been longer....(I am a sucker for really long books anyway) Sean McDaniel has really good potential as a new writer...

[TK421 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This might be the most disturbing book I've ever read. As with most great books, the rollercoaster of emotions I experienced made me think deeply about how humanity can be so vile in the name of justice.

[Ethan Drott · Rating 3 out of 5]

That was so fucked up but I couldn’t stop reading. What does that say about me? 🤔

[Jacinta Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the initial premise of this book: Criminals who commit atrocious crimes can avoid the death penalty by spending a year in a "Criminal Zoo," where they are put on display and people can pay to torture them. After that they go into general population at a maximum security prison where they are treated like gods. But the more time I spent with the main character, a man who kills people and then cuts out their eyes, ears, and tongues as a way to cleanse them so they can go to Heaven, the less I enjoyed the book. None of the characters (except a few murder victims) have any redeeming qualities, so it's hard to find anyone to root for. The main character blames everyone but himself for his problems, claiming that he turned out the way he did because of his upbringing, despite the fact that his sister lived the same life and turned out fine. He's also one of the dumbest fictional serial killers I've ever encountered, but it took a long time for anyone to catch him, which seems incredibly unrealistic.

[Emma Ashworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d give it five stars for the writing, but I withhold the last star for the absolutely horrifying trauma. Haven’t been as shocked since a little life. Good ending

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
Wowza, so disturbing but I really enjoyed it!

[Andrea Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This read was an emotional roller coaster for me. I went from being sad to being frightened. Samuel's childhood made my heart heavy in the beginning and then the darkness began. So much of it could be true and it was written so realistically, it just drew me in. So many twists, I just couldn't wait to read the next chapter for what was to come. Loved this book and highly recommend it! I can't wait to read his next!!

[Pat Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm biased, of course, but this book is a one of my favorites ever. Terrifying, provocative, dark, manipulative, thrilling....

[Debra Jeakins · Rating 4 out of 5]

CRIMINAL ZOO BY SEAN MCDANIEL is one of the most unusual reads I think I have ever read. It it told in the perspective of Samuel Bradbury, serial killer. Starting with his childhood, Samuel has murdered animals and people. The book leads the reader into his adulthood where his killing and mutilation continues. Samuel is caught and sentenced to the Criminal Zoo,created for people just like him, people convicted of horrendous crimes. The Criminal Zoo is opened for people to come in and observe and torcher its inmates.

A very disturbing book but are really good read

I recieved this book free from goodreads in exchange for a review.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

What would happen if America lost its belief that criminals could be reformed? What if average people could exact retribution? This is the premise of "Criminal Zoo" - giving criminals the choose of spending the rest of their lives in sensory deprivation or becoming exhibits in a zoo, a zoo at which people could pay to torment them.

The book is raw, from the horrible upbringing of the central character, to his crimes, to his punishment. It definitely isn't for the faint hearted. I don't know whether I recommend it because it was so disturbing, I found it quite difficult to finish.

[Rose · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m giving up in the middle of this. When I read the description of the book, I was worried that it would be difficult to read a whole novel without likable protagonist and I was right. It started to become a narration of series of tortures. The word choices and turns of phrase also needed a bit of editing. They don’t ring true or sound authentic.

[Tracey Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

You won’t want to put this down

This book was recommended to me by a friend. I started it and could not put it down. I had so many questions as I was reading, and I knew the answers were in the remaining pages. I was totally engrossed from start to finish.

[Ashley Slater · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book kept me on the edge of my seat until the final word. Wonderfully written, and creepy as hell

[Kate]

... Yikes... not necessarily in a bad way, but yikes.

[Amber Marble · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not finish this book. I got about 80 pages in and had to stop. Within three or so chapters the main character had murdered two animals. I could not read further.

[Kenzie Mulconery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark, disturbing, eery, graphic, and overall makes your skin crawl. I have read this about 3 times and it gets better and better each time! Truly a horrifically wonderful book

[Cindy Roesel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author, Sean McDaniel introduces readers to a fresh twisted spin on horror in his novel, CRIMINAL ZOO (Defenestration Press). He takes us inside the head of a serial killer and we get to live there for three-hundred plus terrifying pages.

Samuel Bradbury comes from a broken home. His mother left Samuel behind with his sister and their abusive sicko father when they were young. He doesn't have many friends, but he likes to play basketball, shoot his air rifle, and hang out. Samuel also really likes doing something else. He enjoys killing.

Samuel's killing spree leads him into the Confinement Center, where he obsesses over the red button, knowing to push it means, he goes to the Criminal Zoo and certain torture. It's not long before the absolute absence of anything else has Samuel reaching for the button. Soon he's meeting his Zookeeper that carries around a Zap-stick able to shoot 150-thousand volts into Samuel at any given time and he's being tattooed his identity "C-Z-One-Zero-One-Three."

You don't want to become a resident of the CRIMINAL ZOO. After being numbered and caged, you get the option, after one year in the Zoo, of a life sentence in maximum security. It all sounds pretty simple, except for one thing - the constant fear of being terrorized and tortured. You have to survive one year.

Grandma's over her time limit, but she keeps slashing. "Ma'am, please!" the Keeper yells. "You must control yourself." "Oh my God, oh my God ... " She shakes her head. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." "It's okay, ma'am, it happens." Evil is real. Criminal Zoo breeds it, nurtures it. Man is far crueller than any animal.

This is Samuel's story. An unexpected guest, however, changes everything and decides Samuel's fate, or so he thinks.

CRIMINAL ZOO is a compelling story centered around a highly charged topic in our current social and political landscape - criminal justice. I can't help but think some might argue it could offer an alternative, capitizing on both the entertainment and monetary values. The characters are well-developed and the plot is very unique and grabs readers from the beginning.

On a side note: A friend asked me what I was reading recently and I began to describe Criminal Zoo. Soon a couple of people were looking at me strangely and I realized how my description must sound. In other words, this novel is not for the timid or those with weak tummies. CRIMINAL ZOO is in the family of SILENCE of THE LAMBS or SEVEN.

[Audra (ouija.reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review here: http://www.shelfstalker.net/blog/crim...

This is Samuel Bradbury’s story. His is not a happy one—I’ll warn you now—and he doesn’t end up in good places. His mother leaves early and he’s (barely) raised by his religious, emotionally abusive, and absent father. No one understands him and from an early age, Samuel had bad impulses, urges to kill, and he doesn’t feel a bit bad about it. He only feels he’s becoming something more.

He’s telling his story from a point later in his life, when an eager governor gets backing to create a criminal zoo—if your crime was bad enough, you are locked up for the pleasure of the paying public. To make matters worse (or better, I suppose, depending on your point of view), you can pay an extra fee to join the criminal in their cage and torture them for just a few minutes. If the criminal lasts one year in the zoo, they are released to a normal prison to live out a life sentence.

They asked for it, right? Take a human life and treat it like nothing but dirt and you deserve to be subject to the worst that humanity can offer.

The book raises so many interesting and provocative questions. From the beginning, I felt sorry for Samuel. He is mistreated and emotionally stunted and abused his whole childhood, and even suffers from a bad head injury that went without proper treatment; without a doubt that could contribute to some of his psychopathic tendencies.

But there’s also something off about him. He doesn’t seem to feel at all. And, he has a sister who was raised in the same circumstances who turned out just fine. So, it’s the age old serial killer debate: nature vs. nurture?

In the end, who are the real criminals, us or them? Are we just as bad as they are for continuing to perpetrate the crimes?

Even though this is a horror novel, it will definitely leave you thinking about a lot of different issues.

[Tamara Benson · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Because of a man bent on revenge, and the general public’s crusade to label me a serial killer, I now reside in Florence, Colorado. I am an exhibit in the Criminal Zoo.”
Samuel Bradbury comes from a broken home. He is the poster child for dysfunctional families, which gives the reader some insight and perhaps a grudging understanding of what set him on his lifelong path of killing. There is something broken, some bit of humanity that a normal person has, that this child does not possess.
Sean McDaniel, in his novel The Criminal Zoo addresses the question of what to do with psychopathic serial killer who clearly cannot be incarcerated among the general criminal public. What can be done in a world where capital punishment is condemned, and prisons are overcrowded and cannot be financially supported? McDaniel proposes the Criminal Zoo: a place where not only are serial killers incarcerated, but which turns a profit by putting them on display. While that may seem punishment enough, McDaniel goes a step further by giving the public physical access to those criminals for a price. This obviously leads the reader to ponder the question of inhumane punishment and the cost of justice on the individual inflicting it.
While I believe this book should come with some sort of a warning on it, because the detailed and vivid descriptions of Samuel’s murders will likely haunt the reader's dreams for a very long time, I have to admit that it is an interesting psychological study of the dark mind of the psychopathic serial killer. It leads the intelligent reader to ponder what steps and what early interventions by counselors might have derailed his murderous tendencies. While not a book for the faint of heart or stomach, this novel has a place within psychological and criminal justice research.

[Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a United States that may to not be very far off, revenge by society becomes the means of incarceration for the most reprehensible criminals. They become exhibits in the Criminal Zoo. I read this story in a day and a half, feeling a nearly morbid fascination as the narrator, Samuel Bradbury, alternately recalls the circumstances leading to his display as a Criminal Zoo exhibit and life as an exhibit. The first person story added to the unsettling enjoyment I got from reading, hearing the thoughts of a serial killer completely convinced of his being innocent, while creating a plausible argument that the tourists at the Zoo might be at least equally deserving of the same treatment. This one will stick with me for a while. I did receive this as a prize from Goodreads First Reads in exchange for an honest review.

[Rick Bavera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can't say this was a "good" read, because the story is just so.....chilling.

It is a very well-written story.

And while I am not a criminal, much less a killer like the main character in the story, I think it probably does a good job of getting into what is going on in the mind of many of those who end up in this sort of life.

Chilling. And it shows how all of us rationalize the behaviors we have, especially when they are not good behaviors. Thankfully very few of us take the bad behavior to the levels of criminality.

This was a Goodreads "first reads" giveaway book.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is terrifying and tough to read in some parts if you are a visual person but don't let that stop you. Samuel Bradbury is sick and twisted to put it mildly. I would like to know how the author, Sean McDaniel, came up with this concept and main character. I liked the idea of a criminal zoo but he also gives the criminal side of it so I grappled with it a bit in my mind. I do love a good ending though.

[Janinie Beanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't leave a lot of reviews but for The Criminal Zoo, I have to. The Criminal Zoo is the memoir of Samuel Bradbury. While being on exhibit at the Criminal Zoo, he recounts his childhood all the way up to the present. Once I got into it, I couldn't put it down. I am really impressed with not only the story, but the writing as well. I have another book by Sean McDaniels, The Isreal Project, and I am greatly looking forward to reading that one as well.

[Matt Mullins]

A powerful book. The writing is masterful, when the point-of-view is that of the main character (a serial killer) it makes you uncomfortable. You are in his head and even understand a bit of how he sees the world and the way he feels. This book poses questions about justice, revenge, and violence and accepts no easy answers. While not being preachy or didactic it presents situations rooted in reality that are sure to lead to contemplation and some soul searching on the part of the reader.