In the 2011 movie Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a scientist develops a drug that boosts brain function in chimpanzees. As a result, the test subject gains self-awareness and human-like intelligence. Eventually, he leads a revolt of apes against mankind. 

It’s easy to see why this sort of trope is popular in movies and literature—it’s both iconic and instantly recognizable. It also addresses all sorts of philosophical questions about evolution, artificial intelligence and genetic engineering.  

In Rokko, Christofer Nigro’s “smart chimp” novel, a genomics laboratory in Buffalo, NY, discovers a way to create a human-chimpanzee hybrid zygote. “We have finally broken the genetic barriers preventing interspecies fertilization with Homo sapiens,” says molecular biologist Dr. Brett Hubbard. 

Without question, it’s a tremendous scientific breakthrough, but nobody knows exactly what to think when they see the hybrid infant for the first time. Rokko—the fuzzy gray newborn—is a grotesque and awkward combination of humanoid and simian features. “It was ugly as hell,” stammers intern Hollie Lynn Kennedy. 

Six years later, Rokko is a brute. He’s five feet, five inches tall and looks more grotesque than he did during his infant and toddler years. He spends his time during the day reading books and watching the Playboy Channel on TV. 

Rokko is intelligent, verbal, unpredictable and clearly horny. But more than anything, he’s filled with an all-consuming hatred for humanity. One night, in a pique, he pours a jug of Drano down his caretaker’s throat. Watching the man choke and die from the highly caustic, alkaline drain cleaner fills him with ecstasy.  

Says Nigro: “Rokko felt euphoric over taking a life for the first time, as years of built-up rage and resentment toward the human species, with which he shared a genetic heritage, had finally been released in a massive cathartic explosion.”

Later, Rokko escapes from the laboratory with an insatiable urge to punish the entire human race. In addition, he’s curious about one specific thing: Sex. “He had long wondered if his half-human heritage would enable him to impregnate either a human woman or a female chimpanzee … or both,” says Nigro. “Moreover, he had longed to put that to the test for reasons partly clinical—but only partly.”

The novel ends with a string of frenzied, ultra-violent episodes. If you’re familiar with Nigro’s earlier work, you already know that he has a knack for writing compelling fight scenes. Here, his ape-versus-man clashes are especially descriptive and engaging.

The multiple rape scenes, however, are especially graphic and brutal. The most disturbing moment occurs when Rokko breaks into the suburban home of Dr. Hubbard, the scientist responsible for his creation. “Your mate is my mate now,” declares the pongid assailant. “What I do is no different than what you did to my mother. Now I do this to you. It is poetic justice. Now shut up! I am busy.” 

[ Rokko / By Christofer Nigro / First Wild Hunt Press Printing: March 2026 / ISBN: 9798993398037 ]