Alligator Zoo-Park Magic: A Novel

Fiction. Is Jeffers an Alligator Zoo-Park magician or the Messiah? Two friends live unapologetically on the edge of poverty in the rugged, un-decorous part of the South. Jimmy, a single father with an addict ex, and Jeffers, a magician whose tricks are closer to miracles--both are immersed in a place where trailers and Hot Pockets dominate the landscape, and alligators roam free. When Jimmy witnesses "losing" his best friend to his biggest trick gone awry, he reflects on their lifelong friendship and what it really means to escape.

"C.H. Hooks' mesmerizing novel, ALLIGATOR ZOO-PARK MAGIC, hovers in the boundaries between city boys and country boys, businessmen and truck drivers, a van named NAILR and a radiator-busting deer drinking beer. The world is both nature untamed and twisted in a theme park of mermaids and crispy-fried reptile bites. Yet, Hooks does so much more than create a new spin on the mystical, mythical South. This fascinating debut delves into the true nature of the heart: everyone's need to belong to someone, to some place, and, most importantly, to oneself."--Erica Dawson

"Mr. Hooks has produced a magic show of the highest order."--Jensen Beach

"I've died and been born anew! C.H. Hooks is a damned wizard, and ALLIGATOR ZOO-PARK MAGIC is a holy hell of a book."--Harrison Scott Key

"AZPM is in the best tradition of Southern literature--it's fast and funny, dark and desperate."--Shane Hinton

"Draw a direct line from Larry Brown and Harry Crews to Chris Hooks."--Jeff Parker