Devolution by Max Brooks

What I Loved:

I loved the choices the author made to tell this story! It’s written like an actual journalistic investigation into an incident. The audio version was amazing because a cast of narrators was used to differentiate between the characters, and it was wonderful!

How I Felt:

Devolution is “A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre”. A small group of people that have chosen to live secluded from society become trapped when Mount Rainier erupts leaving their escape paths covered in lava. I thought this was going to more about their need to run from the eruption, but that isn’t it at all. They are pretty much safe in their homes with the lava flows going down the other side of the mountain. The real danger lurks in the forest around them!

The “Firsthand account” comes from one of the residents of the secluded society, Kate Holland. Her journals are found and used to aid the investigation into what happened. I really enjoyed that the journals tell the story. It offered breaking points in the story, where an interview would be done with someone, and then we’d jump back into the journal. Kate is a character that you easily connect with. She’s trying this society out, but she misses the comforts of home sometimes.

The story is classified as horror, but I didn’t feel absolutely terrified. It felt like a thriller to me. These sasquatch-type beings are stalking Kate’s camp and someone has to do something to help the community survive. Kate has a friend that she, at times, finds quite crazy, but turns out to be Kate’s best asset. Together they find ways to combat the creatures and the other problems that arise from being stranded.

I listened to the audio version of this book thanks to Libro.FM, and I highly recommend it! I thought that the cast brought the story to life. Each narrator really got into their character, and I was able to just immerse myself into this story!

Overall, I loved this book! I thought that the story unfolded in a way that kept me interested throughout. I enjoyed the characters and the fear of what would happen next.

To Read or Not To Read:

I would recommend Devolution to readers that enjoy a thriller with some science fiction twists!

Where to Find This Book:

Devolution by Max Brooks is available at these sites.

Bookshop | Kindle | Amazon | Audible | Goodreads
Libro.FM – Get your first month free here!

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The #1 bestselling author of World War Z takes on the Bigfoot legend with a tale that blurs the lines between human and beast–and asks what we are capable of in the face of the unimaginable.

As the ash and chaos from Mount Rainier’s eruption swirled and finally settled, the story of the Greenloop massacre has passed unnoticed, unexamined . . . until now.

But the journals of resident Kate Holland, recovered from the town’s bloody wreckage, capture a tale too harrowing–and too earth-shattering in its implications–to be forgotten.

In these pages, Max Brooks brings Kate’s extraordinary account to light for the first time, faithfully reproducing her words alongside his own extensive investigations into the massacre and the legendary beasts behind it.

Kate’s is a tale of unexpected strength and resilience, of humanity’s defiance in the face of a terrible predator’s gaze, and inevitably, of savagery and death.

Yet it is also far more than that.

Because if what Kate Holland saw in those days is real, then we must accept the impossible. We must accept that the creature known as Bigfoot walks among us–and that it is a beast of terrible strength and ferocity.

Part survival narrative, part bloody horror tale, part scientific journey into the boundaries between truth and fiction, this is a Bigfoot story as only Max Brooks could chronicle it–and like none you’ve ever read before.

Just the Facts:

Devolution by Max Brooks
Genre: Horror / Thriller
Page Count: 320 pages
Publisher: Del Rey Books
Pub Date: June 16, 2020