Natural History (Neil Cross, S&S, $32.95 pb, ISBN 9780743263757, October) ****

Natural History is an unusual literary thriller set in a failing animal refuge, home to dysfunctional apes which have been rescued from abusive owners. ‘Monkeyland’ is the latest adventure for a family who have lived in Africa and England pursuing conservation projects. It opens with the killing of a chimpanzee, and then follows the lives of the family members as they unravel in the aftermath. At first the apes seem an easy metaphor for the family: submissive Patrick, reader of adventure stories and pirate novels; wife Jane, documentary maker, sexy and in control; daughter Jo, angular and thoroughly intelligent at 14; and son Charlie, brooding through late adolescence. But nothing is directly stated, and the genius of the book is that when the climax comes, it is totally unexpected. A thriller almost without thrills, it wasn’t until quite late that I realised just how good it is. The tension culminates in a finale which is beautifully executed and totally devastating.English-born, Cross has been a writer on BBC’s Spooks since 2006, and now lives in New Zealand. His memoir Heartland was well received and Always the Sun was longlisted for the 2004 Man Booker Prize. This is the kind of book that makes me want to read more.

Lachlan Jobbins is an editorial consultant, freelance writer and ex-bookseller

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2007, Thorpe-Bowker