Ape House by Sara Gruen

I love books that I can't put down, Ape House by Sara Gruen was exactly one of those novels. Truthfully I didn't even realize that this was the same author of Water for Elephants until I was halfway through the book.

Sara's career as an author seems to creep up on me in an extremely good way. I loved Water for Elephants, so I was not surprised by her talent in this tantalizing story.

John Thigpen, a journalist, who's career and marriage is on the rocks when he is brought to the Ape House after an explosion in which the caretaker of the Ape's, Isabel, is injured. Isabel's family is with the Apes, she understands them, she loves them and cares for them as if they were her own. So when the Apes are captured and blasted over media for entertainment she has to get her family back.

The story is full of twist and turns for both John and Isabel who are both on a journey of holding their families together in this disaster of animal rights protests. This book is vastly different in Water for Elephants and I feel that comparing Gruen's work is unnecessary in that aspect. Her love for animals is honest and true which is well seen in both books. However, the relationships she has built are challenging in both stories and therefore Ape House cannot be truly compared to Water for Elephants.

Ape House provides the reader a look into a man's mind as he worries and wallows in his misfortunes that are of his career and marriage. The thoughts and feelings of a man in these situations are usually hidden, even in real life, so to have them brought forth gives the reader an understanding that man are not robotic non-emotional humans.

I recommend Ape House time and time again to those who ask for suggestions. It's not your viral best seller (as I call them), but this is a well established author with her own political and personal beliefs weaved into each book, something that I find makes for a great author in general.