Courtesy of Beaverdale Books

Reviewed by Barb Palar

By Sara Gruen

Spiegel & Grau

04/05/2011

$26

306 pp

Des Moines plays a starring role, or at least gets a mention, in numerous works big and small but perhaps none so intriguing as its role in Sara Gruen's latest novel, "Ape House." While the amazing abilities of the book's main bonobo characters, Sam, Bonzi, Lola and Makena, may seem implausible to those not familiar with the Great Ape Trust research facility, their uncanny ability to understand and communicate with humans is not far off the mark. Before being allowed to visit Great Ape Trust to research the novel, Gruen spent months studying linguistics and a system of lexigrams. Her research and subsequent study of the bonobos in Des Moines led to more than just a novel; Gruen says she formed lifelong friendships with the apes.

Once understanding that the author's depiction of the bonobos is pretty dead on, the reader can focus on the humans in the story — Isabel, a scientist working with the bonobos at the fictional Great Ape Language Lab in Kansas and John Thigpen, a journalist whose life is seems to be heading in the wrong direction. John and Isabel eventually team up to figure out who kidnapped the apes in a dramatic explosion at the lab, creating a reality TV series about them.

The brisk read is a series of tumultuous adventures, and the glue that holds it all together is the bonobos and their incredible ability to develop relationships with humans. Ultimately, the apes may be happier creatures despite the efforts of the hapless humans to muck up their world. CV