The Nuclear Zoo is a thriller set in West Germany and authored by JD Hancock. It’s an irreverent look at the lives of soldiers during the Cold War.
The Nuclear Zoo is about a top-secret unit of soldiers in charge of tactical nuclear weapons. They train daily to thwart attacks from highly trained and highly motivated terrorist organizations. They live every day thinking a massive Soviet invasion will cause them to unleash a nuclear holocaust on the world. The young, isolated Americans in the British sector have little to do to pass the time except for sex, drugs, and alcohol.
The story takes place in the mid-1970s, set in a remote Army unit in a sleepy hamlet in central Germany. They’re coping with many of the same issues found in America today. Like a microcosm of society, racial tensions permeate the ranks, and drugs and alcohol play a significant role in their daily lives. The seeds of America’s political divisions are germinating. Reason seems to be in short supply.
The story offers a unique view of the soldiers in the Cold War. Deploying to rural areas of central Europe alongside a British regiment, these soldiers have little contact with the majority of other U.S. soldiers in southern Germany. They’re on their own, and they seek distractions anywhere they can find them. The Army tries to give them as much leeway as possible. Some push the limits too far.
So what happens when you mix a small band of young American soldiers, a British artillery regiment, several beautiful ladies, a group of terrorists, the German police, and a tactical nuclear device? No spoiler alerts here.
JD Hancock is an American author but has lived predominantly in Asia and has traveled extensively throughout Europe. The Nuclear Zoo is Hancock’s first novel, inspired by his time in West Germany, where he served in a top-secret facility similar to the one in the story. After serving in the Army, Hancock received training at a federal law enforcement academy and worked briefly at the C.I.A. headquarters building in Northern Virginia. After that, he switched careers to work with computers at an independent government agency.
Hancock has a black belt in Tang Soo Do and Jujitsu and taught martial arts for over fifteen years in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. After three decades of government service, he switched careers again to pursue a professional writing career. The book is now available world-wide.
