Rachel can''t imagine why Bucky Greene, a scientist friend of her father''s who''s developing genetically engineered bananas, would show up at their New York City apartment in the middle of the night to leave a baby chimpanzee with them for a week -- or why they absolutely, positively can''t tell anyone about it.

What could possibly be "top secret" about an adorable chimp like Friday?

Rachel hasn''t a clue, but when Friday turns out to be really, inexplicably intelligent (Rubik''s Cube''s a snap) -- and Bucky Greene turns up really, inexplicably dead (he slipped on his own banana peel) -- she suspects serious monkey business afoot. And when chimp-nappers step into the picture, getting to the bottom of Friday''s "top secret" before it''s too late becomes a delightfully madcap mystery -- with Rachel in a riotous, nonstop race for survival of the fittest.

Written by four-time Emmy-nominated writer and acclaimed humorist Hester Mundis, who raised a chimp of her own in her Manhattan apartment, this is a wonderfully funny -- and heartfelt -- novel about endangered species, corporate espionage, and going bananas in more ways than one.