After the destruction and devastation caused by war, Earth became a wasteland, lost and devoid of civilization.  Humans prey on others for survival; all hope is gone, they are Children of the Dust.  The Cyrellians arrive, bringing salvation and technology to Earth.  Years pass and everyone prospers from the order the aliens have brought to humanity.  Still, there are those who question the Cyrellians’ intentions and true motives. 

Bella decides to take advantage of an opportunity that the Cyrellians offer. When she goes in for testing, she is kidnapped and taken to a planet and placed in a zoo!  The gorgeous zookeeper, Dar, assigned to train and care for her harbors suspicions about the new being brought in to mate with a male of her species.  The similarities between Bella and his own people make him question the entire situation while he fights his attraction for her.  An attraction that proves dangerous.  Once he learns the truth he does everything in his power to help her. 

After reading The Zoo I was reminded of an old episode of The Twilight Zone where man becomes a feature in an alien zoo.  The irony is that there are recorded cases of humans doing the same to other humans.   Certainly, this story did not fail to deliver its dark message.  The sad irony is that it takes Dar who is an alien, to question the entire situation, and though it was clear why his superiors would refuse to see Bella as an intelligent being, I could not fathom why the other zookeepers didn’t.  I appreciated this story for its inventiveness and intelligence, yet there was a missing element for me I could not place or explain.  Bella, her friends, and Dar are very likeable, the Cyrellian threat comes across, and it’s obvious they are the true villains.  The plot is clear and follows through from beginning to the end with clear precision.  It’s a good story; perhaps it just didn’t fit me as a reader.  Whatever personal preferences on my end that were not met, it does not detract from the author’s efforts in the least.  Overall, I can honestly appreciate what she put into this story and so will anyone who reads it.