A Layla Remington Mystery set in California, this
crime
tale chillingly presents the bizarre amid the normal. Law
enforcement officers are concerned about a wildfire as
they
look over the hillsides, when word reaches them that a
maniac has shot down a captive band of chimpanzees. Anyone
who would do this must be a serious danger to the public,
so DA Sheila Hightower, Detective Investigator Layla
Remington and ADA Rick Stills have to investigate the
murder of 13 HOLLYWOOD APES.
One young male chimp survived, with a bullet to his
shoulder. The fire burned through the Malibu sanctuary
area
later so clues are hard to find. And it's not as if the
survivor Angle can provide information. Where to start?
The
coroner states that it's the wrong species. He'll try to
find a forensic veterinarian. Layla goes to visit the
survivor Angle and discovers just how close to us these
near relatives really are. His two keepers were on the
property, and took risks to rescue the wounded ape - they
could have been shot. Now along comes a rock star, Mace
Arthur, who states that the chimp is nobody's property but
belongs to himself, and Mace is taking him away to give
him
good care. Angle seems entirely trusting of Mace, so Layla
decides that the case is getting stranger by the minute.
I found that a whole Pandora's Box is opened as human
deaths occur, not alone raising the issue of ape
fingerprints and styles of violence, but the philosophical
issues of freedom of sentient beings on one hand, and
disturbing racism on the other. The reader is continually
confronted with previously unconsidered issues through the
journey of the characters. If an ape kills a person, is
that murder, manslaughter, or dumb animal attack? Then
what
about a person who kills an ape? Or who uses an ape as a
weapon? In some countries monkeys and apes are killed and
eaten, which is how the three strains of HIV entered the
human population. What about if a chimp can communicate
via
American Sign Language? If a bloodhound can legally
testify, can a chimp?
I would say this is a cross between a police thriller and
Michael Creighton's Congo, with copious detail and some
unpleasantly gory scenes. Some readers are not happy to be
challenged in their ways of thinking but 13 HOLLYWOOD APES
is not only a provoking read, it provides a lot of
information and ultimately invites readers to make up
their
own minds on the issue. I recommend this work by Gil
Reavill, who has written several crime-fact books, to
adults, but it's not for the squeamish.
In a savvy, stylish thriller debut perfect for anyone who
loves the crime novels of Michael Connelly or Nevada Barr,
Gil Reavill unravels a chilling tale of murder and mayhem
among humans and their closest evolutionary relatives—a
primate family that may just be too close for comfort.
As a wildfire rages outside the Odalon Animal Sanctuary in
the rugged Santa Monica foothills, the retired Hollywood
movie chimpanzees housed there are shot and left for dead.
When Malibu detective Layla Remington reaches the grisly
scene the next morning, she’s deeply disturbed—and even
more
confused. The victims are not human, so the attack cannot
be
classified as homicide. Yet someone clearly wanted these
animals dead, and executed them with ruthless efficiency.
Miraculously, there is one survivor: a juvenile male named
Angle.
But as Layla reaches the veterinarian’s office where Angle
is recovering, a man with rock-star good looks and a
laid-back Southern California attitude swoops in and
removes
him. And just like that, an unusual case turns truly
bizarre. Soon reports surface of ferocious attacks against
Odalon employees . . . with Angle as the prime suspect. As
a
wave of senseless violence reaches its apex, Layla chases
a
mystery man and his chimp—but everything comes back to
that
terrible night at the sanctuary.
© 2003-2024 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy