I found this book when I was much younger (Middle School) and I actually don't think I finished this book because it read too much like a sci-horror B-movie, and I wasn't really into that at the time. I don't remember the characters being too likeable or memorable. Bats are one of my favorite animals, and while they don't deserve the misleading mumbo jumbo about being blood sucking monsters- they are a repetitively traditional element to horror. This was the last Paul Zindel novel I tried after 'Raptor', and I just don't think he is the author for me. His writing isn't up to my scratch and seems to really push the limits of the graces of suspension of disbelief.

Read my review of his other novel 'Raptor' here: https://www.librarything.com/work/1548420/reviews/228525760 ( )

Night of the Bat is about a boy named Jake, whose dad is a scientist who studies bats. His dad is in Brazil along the Amazon. Jake flies out to join has dads research team even though his dad doesn’t want him to. Jake arrives in Brazil and two of his dads finest rowers row across the amazon and pick him up. They go back to the camping sites with the other Indian members. Two members have died at the camping site by an unknown force. The next day Jake’s job is to retie ropes on a bridge to make sure it doesn’t fall with another of the members while his dad goes of to do something else. Jake has a device that can detect noises from animals. He shows it to the other member and it starts beeping a lot and they are nervous and start looking around. All of a sudden a giant bat emerges and attacks the Indian member. The bat is flying away with the man in its mouth and Jake is running after it and yelling for the other members. They save the man but he is badly hurt. They get rid of the bat by throwing things at it. The next day they set a trap and catch the bat. They shoot it with tranquilizer darts but they don’t work. The bat gets through the net and eats one of the other members. The dad shoots it in the eye and it fly’s away. Jake and his dad run out of the trap and it is chasing after them. They have a pulley system that gets them up to the top. Dad pushes Jake onto bucket and pulls lever. Bat attacks his dad and he is badly hurt. They find him and Jake wants him to be taken down to the hospital by all of his best rowers. But the Indians say they will get killed by the bat but Jake says he will get them time. He is all alone and he makes a lot of noise. The bat finally comes and Jake is running away. Jake hit the bat with a giant dart. He starts running and the gizmo keeps beeping. He comes to the end of a cliff. He shoots a net at the bat and they both get tangled in it and they fall off the cliff into the river. Its blood is in the water and fish are all around it. All of a sudden the piranhas start eating the bat and soon all of it was gone.
I loved this book. I think it had a lot of drama and action. It wasn’t a very challenging book so it was good for me. I would rate this book 3.5 stars out of 5.