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The Human Zoo Kindle Edition

by Kolin Wood (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 148 ratings
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WARNING: DARK CONTENT
The culling struck, killing millions. Anarchy ensued. Gangs fought for control of what was left, picking on those not strong enough to defend themselves. Soon the empty streets were painted with their blood. But, as society struggled to stabilise, there were some who could see the foundations of opportunity buried amongst the ashes.
The 'General' has a vision. He wants to build an army, one strong enough that it can stake a claim on the apocalypse. From inside the dark and dank walls of the young offenders institution his ideas for a strong, new society are being realised; but at what cost?
Like the others, Juliana was snatched during a violent raid on her home. It left her husband dead and her young son hiding in a cupboard. That was nearly ten years ago. If she ever hopes to escape and find her boy, she must first survive the horror and degradation of her forced incarceration. But the years of abuse have taken their toll and things are getting worse. Does she have what it takes to finally escape the clutches of the General and his perverse army of juveniles? Or will the prison see her sent down into the cells below, the ones from where nobody ever returns?
The Human Zoo is a blood-soaked, action horror story set against the urban back drop of a post- apocalyptic London, a dangerous, lawless city where only the strong and merciless will survive. It is the first book in the series.
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Previous page
  1. Book 1 of 5
    The Human Zoo
  2. Print length
    242 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    March 6, 2017
  6. File size
    1418 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B06XFXT855
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 6, 2017
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1418 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 242 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 148 ratings

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Kolin Wood

Kolin Wood

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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
148 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

SEAC
5.0 out of 5 stars Great story!
Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2020
Verified Purchase
This is such a great book! It's very original.
There's multiple storylines, some more interesting than others, but each are entertaining.
You have The General, with his army of prison inmates and their captives.
The Pit, a fight to the death, run by the man of one of the women held captive by The General.
Tanner, a brawler, forced to fight in the pit.
It makes you wonder what the collapse of civilization would be like. In this book, the evil people seem to thrive while the innocent and weak get preyed upon.
I loved the Doc character, performing crazy surgeries on people ( for reasons I still don't understand why).
Yes, this book ended right when it was getting good. Perhaps, when I free up some of my TBR, I will make my way to the sequel. I'm very tempted to read it
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S Chandler
5.0 out of 5 stars "Maybe there is a beast...maybe it's only us."
Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2017
Lord of the Flies gets a post-apocalyptic reboot in Kolin Wood's The Human Zoo, only it's more of an assault with sundry stabby and extremely deadly weapons and even Golding obviously had a rather more sentimental opinion of his kids.
His sentimentality was misplaced, it seems.
Revelling in the bloody, barbarous rebirth of a society laid low by disease, borstal boys with open access to weaponry and complete lack of any form of sentiment grow increasingly organised and expansionist under the leadership of the self styled General (a lad so clever his brain seems to be growing on the outside of his head as well.) The problem, however - as any parent knows and The General may find out - is stopping your little darlings with pointy things from stabbing everyone and everything, everywhere, including themselves..... take those parents away then and a very different world evolves, one that's really quite messy - and I'm not talking smelly socks and trainers left on the bedroom floor (unless they hold dismembered feet....)
In contrast to this group dynamic Wood introduces the individual struggle to survive via two separate protagonists; Julianna, unfortunate female captive and plaything for teenage boys, the testosterone filled torturers in the facility, and Tanner, the finest case of nominative determinism I've seen in print since JW Splatt and D Weedon's article on incontinence in The British Journal of Urology. Both characters are sympathetically written and Wood cleverly avoids sinking into the clichéd and sensational depths of embarrassingly written sexual deviancy - and bad sex award-worthy writing - in Julianna's story, instead positing a brave, tenacious and resourceful woman doing what she must to survive, waiting her moment. Though I look forward to the second part of the trilogy, and some 'flesh' on Tanner, he too is an all-too-believable man of his time, a character trimmed of excess, shorn of all unnecessary baggage, adapted to survive in the jungle.
To survive only, full stop.
Set in a couple of extremely well realised locations like the facility and a rebuilt economic and trading centre (though Tina Turner's let herself go a bit, you'll be sorry to hear) and populated by a well drawn cast of central and secondary characters, the plot is harried, kicked, poked, prodded, chopped and slashed along at a ferocious pace by some truly visceral prose, proving once and for all that nature really does have a way to go yet to beast the top of the food chain: "Red in tooth and claw"? Have you met my teenage boys....?
If you like your tales dark and your dreams nightmares, then I would highly recommend this novel.
3 people found this helpful
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S. Williams
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Apocylyptic horror's in a Dystopina world.
Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2018
Wow I have not read a good horror tale like this in a good while. The atrocities to the humans who have survived are truly gut wrenching and that of horrors beyond your imagination. Kolin Wood should win an award for this series. If you like your horror bloody and twisted beyond what you could imagine one human being doing to others you will find it here. This is not for the squeamish. Right there with the best in Horror fiction. The writing is smooth and grabs you from the start. If your not afraid to know what other humans are capable of dive right in.
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Mary C. Kennedy
5.0 out of 5 stars Gruesome page turner!
Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2019
Loved it and can't wait to start book 2!
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Top reviews from other countries

Davetheliontamer
5.0 out of 5 stars Kolin Wood is a master at his craft.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 25, 2020
Verified Purchase
In my opinion the 3 best horror writers ever are, Brian Lumley, Dean Koontz and Stephen King, in that order.
However after having now discovered Kolin Wood I am forced to reappraise my list which has remained the same for around 30 years, now it's Brian Lumley, Kolin Wood and Dean Koontz, sorry my King but Kolin Wood has got you beat.
Many will disagree, it's called personal opinion.
Kolin paints pictures and characters with words in a way that I've only ever seen matched by Mr Lumley. Described as extreme horror, I disagree, there is nothing worse here than in the incredible Necroscope series by Brian Lumley.
His characters are brilliantly imagined and all very genuine. I've met many people like his characters so they are not pure fantasy.
Kolin does not waste a 3rd of each book with introducing us to pointless characters that take entire chapters up just so they can die and never be heard of again, sorry again Mr King.
This is horror at its best, I've just bought all 4 of his Human Zoo series even though I read them initially for free, I believe in supporting those that give their all to their craft and Kolin does not disapoint.
This series has had me hooked in a way I haven't been since discovering Brian Lumley in the 80s, brilliant, believable and with some truly gruesome horror. 10 out of 10.
Kolin, I want more, more, more.
Obviously not to everyone's taste but then it would be a dull World if we were all the same.
If you like proper horror, bad language (but not overdone) with real characters and amazingly well described situations and scenarios you have to try him.
Kolin Wood deserves to be recognised as a true master of the horror genre, which rarely happens with free Kindle books.
Settle down with your favourite brew on the sofa and prepare for a hell of a ride!
One person found this helpful
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Venessa grassinger
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in Canada on November 15, 2017
Verified Purchase
Great read! A definite page turner. Hoping that there's a part 2!!!
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jennifer tapsell
3.0 out of 5 stars Good idea for a story but overdone.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 5, 2018
Verified Purchase
A lot of violence and although not written in explicit details I found it became too much.
One person found this helpful
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ERH
4.0 out of 5 stars Well written but not much story?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 12, 2019
Verified Purchase
I'm sure the story becomes more apparent in the following books, but this seemed a bit of an unusual one. It's well written and the descriptive scenes are great for imagery, but there's no solid story. Lots of characters doing lots of things. Would have been better if the whole story was told from two sides only... Juliana and the General. Lots of violence. Usually doesn't bother me but some scenes were hard to read. Would have been five stars if there was more of a story to follow.
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S Chandler
5.0 out of 5 stars "Maybe there is a beast...maybe it's only us."
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 22, 2017
Verified Purchase
Lord of the Flies gets a post-apocalyptic reboot in Kolin Wood's The Human Zoo, or it rather suffers an assault with sundry stabby and extremely deadly weapons, in the hands of children shorn of any of the sentimentality inherent in Goldings original.
There is absolutely no place for such romanticism in the brutal future drawn so vividly in Wood's tale.
Revelling in the bloody, barbarous rebirth of a society laid low by disease, borstal boys with open access to weaponry but completely devoid of any sense of compassion (well, they are teenagers ) grow increasingly organised and expansionist under the leadership of the self styled General (a lad so clever his brain seems to be growing on the outside of his head as well.) The problem, however - as any parent knows and The General may well find out - is stopping your little darlings with pointy things from stabbing everyone and everything, everywhere, all the time...including themselves. With traditional and accepted forms of authority absent a very different world evolves, one that's really quite messy - and I'm not talking smelly socks and trainers left on the bedroom floor (unless they hold dismembered feet....)
In contrast to this group dynamic Wood introduces the individual struggle to survive in this new world via two separate protagonists; Julianna, unfortunate female captive and plaything for teenage boys, the testosterone-filled torturers in the facility, and Tanner, the finest case of nominative determinism I've seen in print since JW Splatt and D Weedon's article on incontinence in The British Journal of Urology.
Both characters are sympathetically written and Wood avoids sinking into the clichéd and pulpy depths of sexual deviancy (and subsequent Bad Sex in Fiction Award-worthy writing) in Julianna's story, instead positing a brave, tenacious and resourceful woman doing what she must to survive, biding her time and waiting her moment. Though I look forward to the second part of the trilogy, and some 'flesh' on Tanner, he too is an all too plausible man of his time, a character trimmed of excess, flayed of all unnecessary baggage and toughened in the process: a supreme survivor; not quite the cypher, just rebuilt exist, full stop.
Set in a couple of extremely well realised locations such the prison facility and a burgeoning economic and trading centre (though Tina Turner's let herself go a bit, you'll be sorry to hear) and populated by a well drawn cast of central and secondary characters, the plot is harried, kicked, poked, prodded, chopped and slashed along at a ferocious pace by some truly visceral prose, proving once and for all that nature really does have a way to go yet to beast the top of the food chain: "Red in tooth and claw..."? Have you met my teenage boys....?
If you like your tales dark and your dreams nightmares, then I would highly recommend this novel.
2 people found this helpful
 Report
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