One of the New York Times Book Review’s Best Crime Novels of 2017“Warning: you’ll finish this in one sitting.” —TheSkimm “Expertly made thriller . . . clever and irresistible.” —The New York TimesAn electrifying novel about the primal and unyielding bond between a mother and her son, and the lengths she’ll go to protect him. The zoo is nearly empty as Joan and her four-year-old son soak up the … empty as Joan and her four-year-old son soak up the last few moments of playtime. They are happy, and the day has been close to perfect. But what Joan sees as she hustles her son toward the exit gate minutes before closing time sends her sprinting back into the zoo, her child in her arms. And for the next three hours—the entire scope of the novel—she keeps on running.
Joan’s intimate knowledge of her son and of the zoo itself—the hidden pathways and under-renovation exhibits, the best spots on the carousel and overstocked snack machines—is all that keeps them a step ahead of danger.
A masterful thrill ride and an exploration of motherhood itself—from its tender moments of grace to its savage power—Fierce Kingdom asks where the boundary is between our animal instinct to survive and our human duty to protect one another. For whom should a mother risk her life?
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This was a very touching but disturbing book to read. I would have wished for a better outcome.
Fierce Kingdom is a bold exploration of the ferocity of a mother’s love—riveting and beautiful, and all too real. You’ll find yourself asking, what would I do? It’s brilliant.
It tore at every maternal fiber in my body. I couldn’t put it down.
oh. my. goodness. normally, I run from stories that are horrifying and hit too close to home. I have a 4 year old and we’ve spent many a day at the zoo. I have an innate terror of shooters and the increase in casual violence that seems to be pervading our culture. And yet I’ve been inexplicably drawn to this book, and when I saw it at my library I picked it up. I can’t even tell you how difficult it was to read, but it was absolutely incredible. Gin Phillips has an absolute gift for suspenseful pacing. Her characters are endearing and broken and heroic and human and tragic. More than once, there were tears pouring down my cheeks as I frantically turned the pages – it was devastatingly beautiful even as it horrified me on a visceral level. This was a phenomenal story and I will definitely be watching for her books from now on…
Just wow. I don’t hear enough praise for this author: Her books are fantastic, and this one was un-putdownable.
This one is tense and a page-turner. I read it in one sitting. A mom and her little boy are at the zoo at closing time. As they’re heading out to leave, they see someone get shot and realize shooters have entered the zoo. They have to hide and evade the shooters, and that’s the meat of the book. It’s really well done and is a testament to the badass protective instincts of a mother.
Absolutely love this book! The first time I read it, it only took me two days because I had to sleep! I would have finished it in a day if I didnt have to stop!! I couldn’t put it down. It gets even better each time you read it!!
This was the book I couldn’t wait to get my hands on and read from out of the Amazon box. I loved the premise, the promise of suspense rooted in the realities we could possibly experience. I remember going to high school during the attacks of Columbine and the jarring potential of that happening always stuck with me. The next thing…Virginia Tech when I was in college, a scary reality.
This was the first time I had seen some one pen a fictional tale that could very well happen and the idea of it occurring at a zoo with wild animals in cages seemed like the perfect setting and the morbid curiosity got peaked.
Until I read the book. I’m going to give you a forewarning: even if you’re a book addict like me since childhood and have even read dense scholarly articles for grad school, 276 pages will feel like a Mission to get through and the word ‘drag’ and ‘slow’ do not do it justice. I’ve read Susanna Clarke’s ‘Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrel’ which is over a 1,000 pages and was still invested by page 400 wanting to know more. I might have been pissed as fuck at the author Clarke but I still had an interest.
The scenes are primarily with the mother, Joan and her young son, Lincoln who parallels their relationship to that of a lover. Yes, she actually wrote that. If you’re not repulsed by that, get ready, because she makes some reprehensible decision for an abandoned baby during the shooting. Even when you’re relieved by the time their introduced to supporting characters, Kaylinn who helps them take cover underneath the restaurant Joan acts like she is annoyed by other people, the teenager and the teacher who help her.
Unfortunately, what doesn’t help the story is the way it is split up – it hardly spends any time getting to know the gunmen, Destin, Mark, and Robby, and their story is somehow squashed in 3/4ths toward the end. When you discover their reasoning behind the shooting and how they were going to keep the police at bay, it all sounds ludicrous.
Notably, I also really did not care for the character of Joan. I suppose the author wanted to show a person’s true character during life and death situations but I honestly had trouble reconciling some of the decisions she made for others (for ex: the baby) because she is a mother. Also, towards the beginning of the book she did in fact overheard sirens but instead of trying to make her way with her son towards the entrance she kept on circling around and at one point ended up in the woods. I had to question why at any point did she not use the cover of darkness to go towards the police at the zoo entrance?
Also, I’m surprised the author did not include a map of the zoo because it felt like we were looping with the characters.
I have to point out that this book is called, “Fierce Kingdom” and only point we encounter an colobus monkey. I know the gunmen smashed some exhibits but I can’t help but think it would have aided the survivors to unleash the alpha predators on the gunmen – especially since they never got fed.
A clever ‘what would you do?’ thriller that puts the protagonist in the worst situation possible and then ramps up the tension throughout. Suspenseful and emotional, you’ll root for and grit your teeth throughout this intriguing novel.
great page turner. kept me on the edge of my seat.
This book was impossible to put down. Very exciting and somehow you believed it could happen.
The author could have done so much more with the storyline of this book. For heaven’s sake-it involves a woman and her small son caught in a zoo where there is a shooting going on. You would think there would be some excitement to do with animals that had been released or something more intense than just hiding out with the little boy and going on and on about how his hair smells and how much she loves him etc. But that is about the gist of the whole book. Boring.
Couldn’t get into the characters so I quit reading.
I loved this book not only as a mother, but as a woman—and a feminist—living in a world teeming with pressing domestic details along with unpredictable, casual violence.
This is an elegant, taut, and tense survival story that explores the boundaries of parental love. By pitting love against fear, Gin Phillips questions the opposing forces of family bonds and shows how fierce one mother’s love can be.
I devoured it in one breathless sitting. Outstanding.
Well written novel about a mother and her four year old son who are at the zoo with multiple active shooters.
Great book. Nonstop and full of suspense
Wonderful writing and tension kept me turning pages! A literary thriller focused on a mother and she tries to keep her son and herself alive when a zoo is infiltrated by shooters. Interesting premise and setting. An interesting view of a mother’s thoughts and although I didn’t always agree with her choices, I understood her motives.
I gave Fierce Kingdom three stars because I felt it needed addtional editing. It would have been an excellent short story yet the writing still managed to get me to read the entire book. Joan and Lincoln spend their mother and son bonding time doing different things on the way home from school each day. On this day they go to their favorite spot in the wooded area towards the rear of the zoo. Joan hears popping sounds but ignores them because it is near closing time and she wants to lead Lincoln out of the zoo. Joan and Lincoln almost reach the entrance/exit when they see bodies on the sidewalk and she hears the popping noises again. This begins the hide and seek game between the shooter, Joan, and Lincoln. Every time I was so tired of Joan and Lincoln the shooters would appear and the pace would pick up just a tad only to return to the sluggish story. This book for me was a disappointing read.