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Cryptid Zoo #1
Cryptid Zoo
As a child, rare and unusual animals, especially cryptid creatures, always fascinated Carter Wilde.
Now that he’s an eccentric billionaire and runs the largest conglomerate of high-tech companies all over the world, he can finally achieve his wildest dream of building the most incredible theme park ever conceived on the planet…CRYPTID ZOO.
Even though there have been apparent problems with the project, Wilde still decides to send some of his marketing employees and their families on a forced vacation to assess the theme park in preparation for Opening Day.
Nick Wells and his family are some of those chosen and are about to embark on what will become the most terror-filled weekend of their lives—praying they survive.
STEP RIGHT UP AND GET YOUR FREE PASS…
TO CRYPTID ZOO
Now that he’s an eccentric billionaire and runs the largest conglomerate of high-tech companies all over the world, he can finally achieve his wildest dream of building the most incredible theme park ever conceived on the planet…CRYPTID ZOO.
Even though there have been apparent problems with the project, Wilde still decides to send some of his marketing employees and their families on a forced vacation to assess the theme park in preparation for Opening Day.
Nick Wells and his family are some of those chosen and are about to embark on what will become the most terror-filled weekend of their lives—praying they survive.
STEP RIGHT UP AND GET YOUR FREE PASS…
TO CRYPTID ZOO
150 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2018
566 people are currently reading
578 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 141 reviews
April 18, 2024
Ah...People! People! People! 🤷🏽♀️
A stupid billionaire decides to gather up the world’s deadliest animals (mythical or real) and place them in a special zoo-park.
Any violent or deadly animals that aren’t available, he has scientists use advanced technology to clone and create.
Like all good ideas that are stupid, the animals escape and now it is hell on earth!
Plenty of violence, plenty of gore and plenty of “That’s what you get!”
I had a great time.😎
Five stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A stupid billionaire decides to gather up the world’s deadliest animals (mythical or real) and place them in a special zoo-park.
Any violent or deadly animals that aren’t available, he has scientists use advanced technology to clone and create.
Like all good ideas that are stupid, the animals escape and now it is hell on earth!
Plenty of violence, plenty of gore and plenty of “That’s what you get!”
I had a great time.😎
Five stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
April 6, 2019
Carter Wilde has built the ultimate adventure theme park. Just imagine a huge dome housing a top-notch bioengineering lab, animatronics workshop, huge viewing areas, a 5-star hotel and every imaginable spa amenity for guests....then add in cryptid creatures of all sorts. Cryptid Zoo has four sections...sea monster cove, a reptile house, mammoth arena and biped habitat, housing some of the most legendary, and dangerous, creatures ever imagined. Some were caught in the wild....others were bioengineered. It's like Disney World....with real monsters.
What could possibly go wrong?
Move over Jurassic Park......it's time for the Cryptid Zoo.
I absolutely love this book! I'm a sucker for monster action stories....and this had every sort of cryptid from the chupacabra to a humongous kraken. Interesting story....lots of action.....and lots of monsters! I could see this easily being adapted into a sci-fi channel monster movie. I would watch it!! Bring on the popcorn! :)
Cryptid Zoo puts a new angle on the theme of poorly thought out dangerous parks. I loved Jurassic Park....but throwing cryptids into the mix is a nice new angle on an old story line.
This is the first book by Gerry Griffiths I've read. I'm definitely going to read more. He has written several other monster stories including The Beasts of Stoneclad Mountain and Silurid. Can't wait to see what other monstrous mayhem his books have in store!
What could possibly go wrong?
Move over Jurassic Park......it's time for the Cryptid Zoo.
I absolutely love this book! I'm a sucker for monster action stories....and this had every sort of cryptid from the chupacabra to a humongous kraken. Interesting story....lots of action.....and lots of monsters! I could see this easily being adapted into a sci-fi channel monster movie. I would watch it!! Bring on the popcorn! :)
Cryptid Zoo puts a new angle on the theme of poorly thought out dangerous parks. I loved Jurassic Park....but throwing cryptids into the mix is a nice new angle on an old story line.
This is the first book by Gerry Griffiths I've read. I'm definitely going to read more. He has written several other monster stories including The Beasts of Stoneclad Mountain and Silurid. Can't wait to see what other monstrous mayhem his books have in store!
October 15, 2018
Now this is my kinda zoo!!!! Any and all cryptid lovers will have a total blast with the latest from Gerry Griffiths. Great build up to what we all know is going to be a catastrophic end. A perfect read for the Halloween season.
May 19, 2021
Very fast read! Billionaire builds a Jurassic park type facility and either hires people to capture creatures from folk lores... yeti, abdominal snowman etc or have scientists create them from the DNA of extinct animals. A group of people that work for the billionaire are given a preview tour of facility and of course the animals escape their cages and eat the people. Their wasn’t anything really creative in this book that I haven’t read before.
July 23, 2018
Oh, this was fun!
In Cryptid Zoo, Griffiths brings us EVERY CRYPTID EVER! (Okay, the truly determined among you will like come up with one or two he missed, but there are seriously a ton of them in this book).
And, oh, they're so chompy!
Aside from his bitey things, Griffith gave us a set of characters I fell in love with. I was so rooting for our family. I won't tell you what happens with them, but it was so good.
Gruesome, fun, and it has an ending with bite - in good way!
In Cryptid Zoo, Griffiths brings us EVERY CRYPTID EVER! (Okay, the truly determined among you will like come up with one or two he missed, but there are seriously a ton of them in this book).
And, oh, they're so chompy!
Aside from his bitey things, Griffith gave us a set of characters I fell in love with. I was so rooting for our family. I won't tell you what happens with them, but it was so good.
Gruesome, fun, and it has an ending with bite - in good way!
July 14, 2024
Ah a classic creatures feature zoo where the animals escape, Jurassic Park style. Personally, Chupacabras were my favorite.
February 25, 2025
3.5 stars out of 5.
This is basically like Jurassic park but with Cryptid creatures.
So the plot isn’t new, and before reading it you know that cryptids are going to cause gory and brutal carnage, this book is just good old pulp creature feature fun, I would have liked something unexpected in the story, but I still enjoyed it.
So, If you are a fan of Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (dinosaurs) or The Great Zoo of China by Matthew Reilly (Dragons) then you will like this.
This is basically like Jurassic park but with Cryptid creatures.
So the plot isn’t new, and before reading it you know that cryptids are going to cause gory and brutal carnage, this book is just good old pulp creature feature fun, I would have liked something unexpected in the story, but I still enjoyed it.
So, If you are a fan of Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (dinosaurs) or The Great Zoo of China by Matthew Reilly (Dragons) then you will like this.
October 11, 2018
I’ve read lots of horror stories about zoos. There’s the zombies, werewolves, vampires zoo. The dinosaurs zoo. A dragon, crocodile zoo. Why not a crytpid zoo.
So, the plot isn’t all that new. We know going into this that the zoo is a very bad idea. We know the creatures escape and wreak havoc. But this gal says, so what. It’s still bloody good fun.
There’s every kind of cryptid you can think of, and a few new ones for me. They all have their own special killing abilities and, one by one, the humans fall like dominoes.
The author gave me a few characters that I actually liked and wanted to survive. That always adds to the edginess. And not being familiar with this author, I didn’t know if he was willing to kill off prominent characters. I found out pretty quick.
The monsters are out. There’s nowhere to hide. Watch the skies. Stay out of the water. Don’t look it in the eyes. Plug your ears. Stay out of dark places. Who knows if they can be killed. All of this made Cryptid Zoo a fun, scary, atmospheric read for me.
So, the plot isn’t all that new. We know going into this that the zoo is a very bad idea. We know the creatures escape and wreak havoc. But this gal says, so what. It’s still bloody good fun.
There’s every kind of cryptid you can think of, and a few new ones for me. They all have their own special killing abilities and, one by one, the humans fall like dominoes.
The author gave me a few characters that I actually liked and wanted to survive. That always adds to the edginess. And not being familiar with this author, I didn’t know if he was willing to kill off prominent characters. I found out pretty quick.
The monsters are out. There’s nowhere to hide. Watch the skies. Stay out of the water. Don’t look it in the eyes. Plug your ears. Stay out of dark places. Who knows if they can be killed. All of this made Cryptid Zoo a fun, scary, atmospheric read for me.
March 31, 2019
Jurassic Park with Cryptids...but awful.
This book is not only a rushed, cryptid version of Jurassic Park, but the author should have done more research and put more thought into how the story went along. I can look past the fact you that most authors use the term clip instead of the proper term magazine. I can look past the fact that one of his characters is the only person that has a Glock pistol with a safety. I can't seem to get past all the parts where I was rolling my eyes every few pages and over how ignorant the characters are. Only in a rushed book would anyone act like this. The ending was awful too, in my opinion. If you want to read a mind-numbing story where almost everyone dies a brutal and senseless death, then you might like this book. I, personally, am amazed (and super happy for the author) that someone actually published this book.
This book is not only a rushed, cryptid version of Jurassic Park, but the author should have done more research and put more thought into how the story went along. I can look past the fact you that most authors use the term clip instead of the proper term magazine. I can look past the fact that one of his characters is the only person that has a Glock pistol with a safety. I can't seem to get past all the parts where I was rolling my eyes every few pages and over how ignorant the characters are. Only in a rushed book would anyone act like this. The ending was awful too, in my opinion. If you want to read a mind-numbing story where almost everyone dies a brutal and senseless death, then you might like this book. I, personally, am amazed (and super happy for the author) that someone actually published this book.
November 5, 2021
This was a fun read! I liked that we were introduced to all of the cryptids along with the characters before the action started. But once the action did start, it was just awesome, bloody cryptid rampage and I loved it! I also have to admit the Yeren was my favorite and pulled at my heartstrings a bit. 4/5 baby Chupacabra skulls 💀
March 31, 2021
3.5 Stars
This was a decent enough story for the length and topic. Like Jurassic Park this story was about a group of people brought to an unknown island where they will come up against their worst nightmares AKA scientific monsters. I did enjoy that many of the monsters were based off of mythical beings such as Big Foot and the Yeti. The book holds no punches when it comes to the brutality of the creatures, even young children are unlucky and will meet their unfortunate demise. It's sad to know these people were all brought here so unaware and now have no options as far as seeking damages.The billionaire behind it all will also likely face no punishment. Wish the book was longer but I notice there are more books in the series, I'm assuming stories about the escaped creatures now haunting the world.
This was a decent enough story for the length and topic. Like Jurassic Park this story was about a group of people brought to an unknown island where they will come up against their worst nightmares AKA scientific monsters. I did enjoy that many of the monsters were based off of mythical beings such as Big Foot and the Yeti. The book holds no punches when it comes to the brutality of the creatures, even young children are unlucky and will meet their unfortunate demise. It's sad to know these people were all brought here so unaware and now have no options as far as seeking damages.The billionaire behind it all will also likely face no punishment. Wish the book was longer but I notice there are more books in the series, I'm assuming stories about the escaped creatures now haunting the world.
October 20, 2018
It is 6:43AM! I stayed up ALL night reading this! I literally could not put it down! This book is everything I've searched for in a scary monster book. There's absolutely no boring lag, it's action packed and most importantly, it's monster packed. There isn't a single thing about this book I didn't like, the imagery, setting, writing, characters- it was all, dare I say, PERFECT! Read this book, I implore you. You'll absolutely love it!
September 19, 2019
literally no human character in this book has a personality, so if you're just interested in giant monsters, then you might enjoy this.
every time there's a piece of media obviously inspired by jurassic park, i just can't help but think: does jurassic park not exist in this universe? did you learn nothing from that movie? what the fuck are you doing? the answer is obviously no, you learned nothing, and what you're doing is just ripping it off - and i say that because the explanation for the park malfunctioning is a employee deliberately destroying it so that he can secret away the babies created. hm, i wonder where i've seen that plot before -
maybe i could forgive the blatant rip-off if the pay-off was a little better - but like i said, the characters have no personalities, and so i can't really get invested in them/want them to survive. they're just there to be terrorized by these creatures, and it isn't even fun to read, since you can't really envision it because of terrible writing. there are short, choppy sentences; there are run-ons; there's a lack of showing that borders on unbearable. it feels very juvenile in its execution and delivery.
on the topic of the characters: one of the primary narrators, nick, has a really weird moment on their way to the zoo where he has "bad feelings" about where they're going, and there's an attempt to draw a parallel to "people on railcars riding to their death." it's a minor thing, i know, but that just Really bugged me.
there isn't much to say beyond this. if goodreads offered the ability to do half-stars, i'd give this a one-and-a-half, but since it doesn't, i'm offering two stars, primarily because of lennie the yeren, literally the only character in this book i could find myself interested in at all.
every time there's a piece of media obviously inspired by jurassic park, i just can't help but think: does jurassic park not exist in this universe? did you learn nothing from that movie? what the fuck are you doing? the answer is obviously no, you learned nothing, and what you're doing is just ripping it off - and i say that because the explanation for the park malfunctioning is a employee deliberately destroying it so that he can secret away the babies created. hm, i wonder where i've seen that plot before -
maybe i could forgive the blatant rip-off if the pay-off was a little better - but like i said, the characters have no personalities, and so i can't really get invested in them/want them to survive. they're just there to be terrorized by these creatures, and it isn't even fun to read, since you can't really envision it because of terrible writing. there are short, choppy sentences; there are run-ons; there's a lack of showing that borders on unbearable. it feels very juvenile in its execution and delivery.
on the topic of the characters: one of the primary narrators, nick, has a really weird moment on their way to the zoo where he has "bad feelings" about where they're going, and there's an attempt to draw a parallel to "people on railcars riding to their death." it's a minor thing, i know, but that just Really bugged me.
there isn't much to say beyond this. if goodreads offered the ability to do half-stars, i'd give this a one-and-a-half, but since it doesn't, i'm offering two stars, primarily because of lennie the yeren, literally the only character in this book i could find myself interested in at all.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 29, 2020
“Don’t you think we should correct the existing problems first?”
“Nonsense,” Wilde said. “Now is the time to prepare our ad campaign.”
“Shouldn’t our first priority be public safety?”
“Lucas, don’t you think every person knows there’s a certain amount of risk every time they go to an amusement park?”
“Honestly, no. We just assume everything will be fine.”
Nick Wells and his family are invited to his company's newest secret project - a sort of resort/zoo, but with critters unlike anything you've ever seen before. What could possibly go wrong?
Honestly, it's a rip-off of Jurassic Park only not as well-written or compelling, and with characters made of even more cardboard than Crichton's. Still, it was a fun page-turner!
“Nonsense,” Wilde said. “Now is the time to prepare our ad campaign.”
“Shouldn’t our first priority be public safety?”
“Lucas, don’t you think every person knows there’s a certain amount of risk every time they go to an amusement park?”
“Honestly, no. We just assume everything will be fine.”
Nick Wells and his family are invited to his company's newest secret project - a sort of resort/zoo, but with critters unlike anything you've ever seen before. What could possibly go wrong?
Honestly, it's a rip-off of Jurassic Park only not as well-written or compelling, and with characters made of even more cardboard than Crichton's. Still, it was a fun page-turner!
July 14, 2020
An okay book, seemed like a copy of Jurassic Park. Rich old dude decides to open a theme park with very rare creatures, anywhere from giant Octopus to Blue Tigers to the Yeti and Big Foot. Of course, during a pre-opening every thing that can go wrong does, the animals escape and human lives are lost. Apparently there are at least five more sequels to this short story.
November 5, 2018
I am always trying to re-capture my Jurassic Park experience with similar books. It’s not fair to the new books, and it doesn’t work. However, Cryptid Zoo was similar to a JP movie. Yes, that’s a compliment and an insult. It all comes down to expectations…let me explain…
When comparing the books to the movies, I like the iceberg analogy. The movie is just the tip we see as we crash headlong into it. The book contains the extra layers and details hidden under the water. I expect more nuances and subtleties in both the character development and plot when reading books. I expect dramatic chase scenes, loud explosions, and pretty actors in movies. Both are enjoyable in their own way as long as that’s what you’re expecting.
I expected a book in Cryptid Zoo and got a movie instead.
There’s action and excitement, but neither the characters nor the plot are that deep. And yet, I still enjoyed it and was compelled to turn the pages. Any time an author can make me more to continue reading (esp an accelerated pace) I consider that a good book. Any time an author can make me care either about the creatures or the humans, I again consider that a good book. I must confess my favorite creature was the blob…which is again a compliment and yet an insult. It was a nice and more subtle element in my opinion.
Despite some confusion in my expectations, I still consider this a fun read. If you are looking for a creature feature then there’s plenty of screams, blood, and monsters in here for you to enjoy!
When comparing the books to the movies, I like the iceberg analogy. The movie is just the tip we see as we crash headlong into it. The book contains the extra layers and details hidden under the water. I expect more nuances and subtleties in both the character development and plot when reading books. I expect dramatic chase scenes, loud explosions, and pretty actors in movies. Both are enjoyable in their own way as long as that’s what you’re expecting.
I expected a book in Cryptid Zoo and got a movie instead.
There’s action and excitement, but neither the characters nor the plot are that deep. And yet, I still enjoyed it and was compelled to turn the pages. Any time an author can make me more to continue reading (esp an accelerated pace) I consider that a good book. Any time an author can make me care either about the creatures or the humans, I again consider that a good book. I must confess my favorite creature was the blob…which is again a compliment and yet an insult. It was a nice and more subtle element in my opinion.
Despite some confusion in my expectations, I still consider this a fun read. If you are looking for a creature feature then there’s plenty of screams, blood, and monsters in here for you to enjoy!
October 24, 2018
Who hasn't watched (or read, for my bibliophiles) Jurassic Park?
One of my favorite quotes from the movie is by Dr. Malcolm, a mathematician whose region of study is the Chaos Theory.
It held true for Jurassic Park and it holds true for Cryptid Zoo. Some things should be left well enough alone. That's the situation created by Carter Wilde, a man who has more money than sense as we say here in the South. When employee Nick Wells and his family, along with many other employees, are flown out on a furtive flight to an undisclosed location, it turns out the fun is just getting started. What is promoted as a family friendly resort quickly turns into killer chaos.
Read more at Cats Luv Coffee
One of my favorite quotes from the movie is by Dr. Malcolm, a mathematician whose region of study is the Chaos Theory.
It held true for Jurassic Park and it holds true for Cryptid Zoo. Some things should be left well enough alone. That's the situation created by Carter Wilde, a man who has more money than sense as we say here in the South. When employee Nick Wells and his family, along with many other employees, are flown out on a furtive flight to an undisclosed location, it turns out the fun is just getting started. What is promoted as a family friendly resort quickly turns into killer chaos.
Read more at Cats Luv Coffee
September 10, 2020
This book was great. I loved the take on “zoo gone wrong.” It was pretty much non-stop action. I wish that the book had been longer and gone into more detail. Or had less going on and focused more on certain events. Thus, the four stars.
I really enjoyed the writing. A couple adjectives were used frequently and, again, it felt a little rushed. All in all, I enjoyed it and plan on reading the other Cryptid books.
I really enjoyed the writing. A couple adjectives were used frequently and, again, it felt a little rushed. All in all, I enjoyed it and plan on reading the other Cryptid books.
October 8, 2018
Would not recommend. The writing was not necessarily bad, but the story was bleh and the characters flat. Didn't like at all.
May 27, 2020
Cryptid Zoo was one of the titles that had me very excited with its "monsters in a Jurassic Park" themed settings. However I really think the author squandered this wonderful idea.
To begin with, we are quickly introduced to the main characters, and how this zoo came to be thanks to its multi-billionaire's fascination with cryptology & a Jeff Bezos type ruthlessness. The author then moves onto introducing the zoo and its inhabitants in all of their vicious glory.
Things play out as they are supposed and we get creature mayhem dialed to the max. So then why didn't I enjoy it so much.
To begin with, the story characters are very cliched. We have a slightly obnoxious couple, their angsty son, his rebellious friend, the secretive and sociopathic CEO and many more such cardboard characters. How do I know this, because the author literally paints them to be as such without explaining their motivations or personas. To his credit, he even gives us a POV from one of the Cryptid monsters but then it fizzles out due to a weird authorial decision (I'm being vague for spoilers but the cryptid is supposed to be very intelligent but doesn't act that way as the chapter comes to a close).
The plot moves along like clockwork as every monster movie trope as well as character cliche is utilized. This really ruined the read for me as I was hoping that the author would have tried to make this a good story but alas he didn't grant his own story & characters the intelligence he obviously possesses. The story is just wasted because it becomes so predictable and here's the major irksome part. It didn't have to be so, he could have tried to better explain the scenario, the presence of cryptids in the first place (before they were bio-engineered) and even grant the characters a modicum of intelligence so they would act as normal people rather than the caricatures they have been presented as.
Overall this book is like a Sharknado movie albeit with a much better premise but it's very much wasted as the author just rests on the laurels of his brilliant idea. I really wish he had taken the time to develop the characters and the plot as this would have been a killer book.
To begin with, we are quickly introduced to the main characters, and how this zoo came to be thanks to its multi-billionaire's fascination with cryptology & a Jeff Bezos type ruthlessness. The author then moves onto introducing the zoo and its inhabitants in all of their vicious glory.
Things play out as they are supposed and we get creature mayhem dialed to the max. So then why didn't I enjoy it so much.
To begin with, the story characters are very cliched. We have a slightly obnoxious couple, their angsty son, his rebellious friend, the secretive and sociopathic CEO and many more such cardboard characters. How do I know this, because the author literally paints them to be as such without explaining their motivations or personas. To his credit, he even gives us a POV from one of the Cryptid monsters but then it fizzles out due to a weird authorial decision (I'm being vague for spoilers but the cryptid is supposed to be very intelligent but doesn't act that way as the chapter comes to a close).
The plot moves along like clockwork as every monster movie trope as well as character cliche is utilized. This really ruined the read for me as I was hoping that the author would have tried to make this a good story but alas he didn't grant his own story & characters the intelligence he obviously possesses. The story is just wasted because it becomes so predictable and here's the major irksome part. It didn't have to be so, he could have tried to better explain the scenario, the presence of cryptids in the first place (before they were bio-engineered) and even grant the characters a modicum of intelligence so they would act as normal people rather than the caricatures they have been presented as.
Overall this book is like a Sharknado movie albeit with a much better premise but it's very much wasted as the author just rests on the laurels of his brilliant idea. I really wish he had taken the time to develop the characters and the plot as this would have been a killer book.
February 3, 2020
Enjoyable enough without any real surprises, which I was so hoping to find. I didn't think there was much effort in character development in this story either, and that was also disappointing. The plot has now become all too familiar. I keep hoping someone will come up with something so different and shocking, but that has not happened yet. Still, it was OK and not really a waste of time. I did enjoy it well enough, but not enough to bother with any of the "continuing story".
July 25, 2025
First of all 2.5 ⭐️
This was likeJurassic park but with cryptids. I really loved the concept, however I wasn’t a huge fan of the authors writing style. It felt like I had to force myself to finish it. I’m glad I did since the end had a somewhat surprising twist (that I’m sure you can get an answer to later on in the series, probably won’t read more 🤷♀️).
This was likeJurassic park but with cryptids. I really loved the concept, however I wasn’t a huge fan of the authors writing style. It felt like I had to force myself to finish it. I’m glad I did since the end had a somewhat surprising twist (that I’m sure you can get an answer to later on in the series, probably won’t read more 🤷♀️).
March 31, 2022
I read books like this to always remind myself that never in a million year or for a million pound would you get me to go to one of these 'parks'
The story was a fun, if not terrifying idea. A nice quick read.
The story was a fun, if not terrifying idea. A nice quick read.
July 25, 2019
This was a cryptic Jurassic Park. Just different monsters. Same story, same bad guy.
January 18, 2025
THE END?
February 12, 2019
Carter is the 5th richest man in the world and his interest in cryptids has led to him opening up a new theme park with some seriously scary monsters in it. He ignores the issues that they are still having with security, IT and red tape and decides to open the park for a preview before the official opening. Employees and their families are to be given clipboards to review everything from food and accomodation to the staff and the exhibits, so things can be tweaked by the time it officially opens. However, when things go wrong, there are some serious monsters out hunting the guests!
There are a dazzling amount of monsters in this book which I really enjoyed. There is a giant kraken, sea serpent, dinosaurs, thunderbirds, ahools, Yeti, chupacabra, biliapes, mongolian death worms, giant lizards, blue tigers and more. I found myself thinking that this is the kind of zoo that would fascinate me IF everything stayed safely locked up! I mean, imagine a giant kraken at Sea World or Sasquatches in a forest enclosure! I can remember how excited I was to see those gorgeous tigers with the stunning markings...I think I'd go mad over seeing a Yeti! The visitors have mixed reactions to seeing the first couple of enclosures, with some of the kids getting frightened and others being awestruck.
Things go wrong when an animal escape goes un-noticed and a couple of guests are killed. Carter decides to hush this up and invents a story about them going to the hospital to explain their vanishing to the other guests. Things go from bad to worse when kids decide to sneak in at night to one of the exhibits, and then the power starts to fail and the animals are escaping. It then becomes a panic for the remaining guests to try and survive the monsters and find their way out of the park-which is easier said than done! The monsters are really scary and it is tense when we follow the guests and staff as they try to escape the monster carnage.
The book takes a similar approach to the Jurassic Park style of novel where you get to see the park through the eyes of the visitors as they go to a preview. I've read a few books with this kind of setting like Great Zoo of China and Salechii and I really enjoy this scenario. It is always entertaining to read a creature feature with varied monsters and a good amount of death! There are some decent characters and the usual monster chow on legs but that is what I expect from this kind of book.
It was my first book by the author and I very much enjoyed it. He has written a couple of Sasquatch books which I already have on my e-reader and I look forward to reading them soon. It's always fun to find a new author to read in this genre.
There are a dazzling amount of monsters in this book which I really enjoyed. There is a giant kraken, sea serpent, dinosaurs, thunderbirds, ahools, Yeti, chupacabra, biliapes, mongolian death worms, giant lizards, blue tigers and more. I found myself thinking that this is the kind of zoo that would fascinate me IF everything stayed safely locked up! I mean, imagine a giant kraken at Sea World or Sasquatches in a forest enclosure! I can remember how excited I was to see those gorgeous tigers with the stunning markings...I think I'd go mad over seeing a Yeti! The visitors have mixed reactions to seeing the first couple of enclosures, with some of the kids getting frightened and others being awestruck.
Things go wrong when an animal escape goes un-noticed and a couple of guests are killed. Carter decides to hush this up and invents a story about them going to the hospital to explain their vanishing to the other guests. Things go from bad to worse when kids decide to sneak in at night to one of the exhibits, and then the power starts to fail and the animals are escaping. It then becomes a panic for the remaining guests to try and survive the monsters and find their way out of the park-which is easier said than done! The monsters are really scary and it is tense when we follow the guests and staff as they try to escape the monster carnage.
The book takes a similar approach to the Jurassic Park style of novel where you get to see the park through the eyes of the visitors as they go to a preview. I've read a few books with this kind of setting like Great Zoo of China and Salechii and I really enjoy this scenario. It is always entertaining to read a creature feature with varied monsters and a good amount of death! There are some decent characters and the usual monster chow on legs but that is what I expect from this kind of book.
It was my first book by the author and I very much enjoyed it. He has written a couple of Sasquatch books which I already have on my e-reader and I look forward to reading them soon. It's always fun to find a new author to read in this genre.
July 3, 2024
It really did feel like a Jurassic Park story on crack, in the best way possible. I almost feel like it was more believable because so many cryptids are a kind of “reality-adjacent” set of creatures. The only reason I’m dropping its grade is because, having recently read the original Jurassic Park and its sequel, I would have liked some of the story a little more fleshed out; some of the characters felt like they were lacking while others were given quite a bit of “screen time” just to vanish at critical moments. I appreciated the author flexing their cryptid credentials and he seemed to know what he was talking about. A great start to a series that I’ll certainly be finishing at a later date.
3.7🌟
3.7🌟
August 13, 2022
This book was awful. It felt like someone had just read Jurassic Park and wanted to write something similar, but they lacked any sort of writing skills.
The random idea that a character we barely saw blew shit up and to steal the baby animals... Then, managed to get out of the zoo while everyone was getting slaughtered.... And then, he gets caught immediately? It seemed like something thrown together last minute.
I also had issues with the amount of character views jumping back and forth. Nick's family was pretty well developed, but the others were not.
The random idea that a character we barely saw blew shit up and to steal the baby animals... Then, managed to get out of the zoo while everyone was getting slaughtered.... And then, he gets caught immediately? It seemed like something thrown together last minute.
I also had issues with the amount of character views jumping back and forth. Nick's family was pretty well developed, but the others were not.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 29, 2022
Gerry Griffiths has a strange mind. That's a good thing. I really enjoyed this romp in the zoo he has created. Poor unsuspecting visitors end up getting chomped, and that's always fun. No, it's not Jurassic Park, as I have seen others post (that was an amazing book and one of my all time faves), but this is one that you can get into very quickly and just enjoy the bumpy ride. I think this is my favourite of the cryptid zoo series, but all his books are a blast.
January 5, 2020
This is my subgenre but this story i could never get into. Terrible character development, felt like a bad rip off of Jurassic Park. I just didn't care about anything that happened and couldn't wait for it to be over. Interesting ending with Shane but still not enough to get me to read the sequel and prequel. It's a hard pass for me
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