While on her morning jog, Valerie is accidentally kidnapped by a passing spaceship. The aliens on the ship explain that this is an accident having to do with their route passing close to Earth. Apparently, there are now almost a thousand Earth humans on board who must live on this ship for three years. The aliens also have an activity program for the humans to prevent them from going crazy during the long voyage (kind of like a cruise ship). The only problem is that there are about five times more men than women in the group and that the men rapidly deteriorate if they don’t have regular sex. The solution? Each woman will choose a group of four to seven men to service sexually over the three-year period.

From the title of this book, I thought the story was going to be about humans kidnapped for the amusement of their alien captors, but this turned out not to be the case. Though I never quite figured out why the alien ship “scooped up” humans as they passed Earth, I thought the concept behind this story was really fascinating and enjoyed reading it. The plot of Menagerie was a bit convoluted and moved quite fast, but it was interesting and well-written, with the primary emphasis on the characters, not the action. The sex scenes are graphic and erotic and involve a ménage, though the relationship is technically polyandrous (one woman, several men). However, the most interesting aspect of this story isn’t the sex per se, but what is going on in the characters’ heads. If you like thoughtful science fiction stories with an interesting twist, this is the perfect novel for you.

Reviewed by: Jean