You may not be familiar with Gil Reavill as a fiction author; however, he’s written non-fiction, has ghost written memoirs, and has both screenwriting and playwriting credits to his name. I didn’t know all of that when I chose 13 Hollywood Apes to read; however, the concept called to this long-time ex-Los Angeles resident because it combined three very interesting elements: wildfire season, retired film animal actors, and animal rights. Yes, there really is a wildfire season in Southern California and the Lost Hills fire in this story has become almost a legend. Mr. Reavill combines those elements with a fast-paced police procedural thriller that rings true and makes for a great read. And it’s an e-book bargain on top of that. Sound interesting? Read the rest of my review at http://popcornreads.com/?p=7998 ( )

A monkey is not an ape.

In "13 Hollywood Apes" Gil Reavill brings his abilities as a non-fiction writer to bear with a clever interlacing of the sad history of human/chimpanzee interaction with the fast pace of a detective novel.

Layla Remington is an investigator for the DA's office in Malibu who gets caught up in the investigation of 13 retired movie chimps murdered for no apparent reason. As the investigation progresses, she, and we, learn about primates, animal rights, the legal position of animals in history, and lots of other interesting factoids that Reavill has scattered through the book.

This is the start of a new series so we get a little more scene setting than is strictly needed to develop the plot. In particular we see a bit too much of Layla's father Gene and his delight in old movies. It's OK though, he is a nice guy.

The plot is suitably complex. Several of the characters do not track as well as they should, but not so poorly that they set off alarms. The only major misstep is conflating the Griffith Zoo with the Los Angeles Zoo. The book suggests that the Griffith Park Zoo is open and perhaps is an alternate name for the LA Zoo. It isn't. Griffith Park has been closed for decades and is several miles from the LA Zoo.

The next Layla Remington book is scheduled for August 2015. Let's see if Mr. Reavill can keep up the momentum.

I received an advance review copy of "13 Hollywood Apes" by Gil Reavill (Random House – Alibi) through NetGalley.com. ( )

This book is a police procedural that revolves around the murder of 13 apes at an animal refuge. The detective assigned to the case cannot classify the deaths as murder (as they were not human), but she proceeds to investigate them as if they were. It is an entertaining read with many plot twists. I really enjoyed the book and am looking forward to this series continuing. ( )