This novel centers on a group of Bonobo chimps living in a laboratory and being trained in American Sign Language by our heroine, Isabel. Of course, Isabel has fought against activist groups who feel her work with the chimps is wrong, inhumane, and should be stopped, but she feels her work is important, and that the chimps enjoy their surroundings as well as learning experiences. One day she and the chimps accept a reporter, John Thigpen, into their world, allowing him to compose a story praising the chimps’ intelligence. The very next day, a group of activists bomb the laboratory, nearly killing Isabel, and the chimps are lost. The apes soon find themselves re-purchased and stars of a new pornographic reality TV show based on their inherent sexuality, called Ape House. As Isabel and John struggle to regain the chimps and stop their exploitation, the show becomes more and more wildly popular. Ape House is a stunning, all-too-short novel that will harshly open your eyes about human treatment of animals (and each other).