The Lion's Share

When first met, veterinarian Mac MacIntire is pinned beneath a 300-pound lioness who has her mouth clamped on his neck. Mac has just signed on with the Rockland Zoo in Massachusetts, primarily to administer a survival plan for the endangered red wolf, 8% of whose entire population is housed at Rockland. But when zookeeper Donald Stewart is killed, apparently by the wolves, the zoo's new director and his sinister financial officer seem surprisingly eager to put down the creatures. Stewart's death follows that of a receptionist who, bitten by a rare black mamba, is injected with anti-venom serum from the zoo's supply that proves to have been deliberately rendered ineffective. Mac begins to suspect that a human killer may be lurking, but before he can identify murderer and motives, he must avoid being trampled by a playful elephant, poisoned by funnel-web spiders and devoured by a tiger. In this first of a projected series, the likable vet reveals a tragedy from his past and begins a promising relationship with secretary Claire Burke. (May)