Labelled as "a deeply unnerving literary thriller from acclaimed New Zealand writer Neil Corss - one of the scriptwriters on Spooks - that tantalises and then shocks the reader, as it delves into a troubled mind and untangles the complex relationships that surround an unusual family".
First paragraph:
"It was only a dead ape. Patrick had seen dozens, one way or another. He'd seen them die naturally, of old age and disease - and heard the war-shrieks as they murdered each other. He'd watched them cannibalize their young".
Strange things are happening in Monkeyland, the ailing Devonshire sanctuary that Patrick and his zoologist wife Jane, bought in a bid to save their marriage.
Rue, their oldest, wisest and most gentle female primae is found murdered. And a big, panther-like cat preys around the park. Evading capture, the cat lurks in the shadows and at the back of Patrick's mind. Private, threatening, elusive.
Patrick's son Charlie has left Monkeyland in disgrace, his wife is on a field trip in war-torn Zaire and his daughter Jo is avidly tracking progress of the comet Hale Bopp with her tutor. Patrick is left alone with his black cat and his fears. Until one night something happens that is so shocking, so deplorable and so destructive that it rips apart everything Patrick has ever held to be true.