The Lethal Gorilla

P.C. Hawke Mysteries #4

by Paul Zindel

A scientist at the Bronx Wildlife Conservation Park turns up dead, and P.C. and Mackenzie are sure it's no accident. There's only one way to get a lethal dose of gorilla blood into an unsuspecting human--on purpose.

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction

137 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2001

About the author

Paul Zindel was an American author, playwright and educator.

In 1964, he wrote The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, his first and most successful play. The play ran off-Broadway in 1970, and on Broadway in 1971. It won the 1971 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was also made into a 1972 movie by 20th Century Fox. Charlotte Zolotow, then a vice-president at Harper & Row (now Harper-Collins) contacted him to writing for her book label. Zindel wrote 39 books, all of them aimed at children or young adults. Many of these were set in his home town of Staten Island, New York. They tended to be semi-autobiographical, focusing on teenage misfits with abusive or neglectful parents. Despite the often dark subject matter of his books, which deal with loneliness, loss, and the effects of abuse, they are also filled with humor. Many of his novels have wacky titles, such as My Darling, My Hamburger, or Confessions of A Teenage Baboon.

The Pigman, first published in 1968, is widely taught in American schools, and also made it on to the list of most frequently banned books in America in the 1990s, because of what some deem offensive language.

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun. Good pace. Good length. Interesting setting.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book in the series really didn’t capture my attention at all. I barely paid attention to the plot but I will say the ending was interesting. There were a couple of twists there that I didn’t see coming.

[JohnP · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ivan Allen, a famous zoologist, is murdered and our teenage detective duo (P.C. and Mackenzie) are on the case. An interesting story with even more we-almost-get-killed scenes than the last book. If Zindel could only avoid some simple silliness (like having these teenagers sleep over in the zoo where the murder took place!), I think these stories would be more believable...

[Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creeptastic!

[Steve Mickelson]

This is my favorite of the P.C. Hawke series so far. It made my skin crawl in at least one spot. Nicely creepy!

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was full of adventure and was very informational. I recommend this book to mystery lovers and animal lovers.