Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre (Paperback)
Staff Reviews
Ryan's September 2021 pick, 1 of 3
If you like creature features and found-footage style horror, you absolutely must read DEVOLUTION by Max Brooks! Written in a similar style to his other brilliant novel, WORLD WAR Z, this is a first-hand account of a volcano eruption that destroys everything in its path including highways, homes, and forests, and causes local wildlife to flee or die. Mostly safe from the destruction is a tiny experimental community surrounded by valleys. The community, known as Greenloop, is relatively cut off from the rest of the world, and after the natural disaster strikes, they lose all ability to contact anyone for help, or even leave. Gone are their regular food deliveries, gone is the WiFi and phone signals, gone are the roadways they could use to find help. They’re isolated and alone and they need to figure out how to survive the winter because no one is coming to save them. Also mostly safe from the destruction but now starving because all other food sources have fled or perished, is a group of Sasquatches. Yes, you read that correctly. Bigfoot. This group of giant ape-like creatures, fueled by bloodlust and hunger, emerges from their home deep in the forests to hunt down the last remaining food source: the humans living in Greenloop. This book is utterly terrifying and gruesome. It’s told through the journal entries of one of the community members as well as articles and interviews conducted months after the events of what’s now called The Ranier Sasquatch Massacre. When I first read the premise of this book, I scoffed. Sasquatch? Really? Well, no more scoffing from me now that I’ve read it. I never thought I could be scared of Bigfoot, and yet here we are.
— From RyanMay 2020 Indie Next List
“This was a blast to read. Kate and Dan Holland have an opportunity to move into an eco-friendly community called Greenloops in the shadow of Mt. Rainier. Kate’s therapist asks her to keep a journal, and this is how their story is preserved. Because after Mt. Rainier erupts, horrible things happen at Greenloops. Really horrible things…”
— Ann Nye, Excelsior Bay Books, Excelsior, MN
Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The #1 New York Times bestselling author of World War Z is back with “the Bigfoot thriller you didn’t know you needed in your life, and one of the greatest horror novels I’ve ever read” (Blake Crouch, author of Dark Matter and Recursion).
FINALIST FOR THE LOCUS AWARD
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. 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.
Praise for Devolution
“Delightful . . . [A] tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“The story is told in such a compelling manner that horror fans will want to believe and, perhaps, take the warning to heart.”—Booklist (starred review)
About the Author
Max Brooks is a senior nonresident fellow at the Modern War Institute at West Point and the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. His bestselling books include Minecraft: The Island, The Zombie Survival Guide, and World War Z, which was adapted into a 2013 movie starring Brad Pitt. His graphic novels include the #1 New York Times bestseller The Harlem Hellfighters.
Praise For…
“There’s a bowstring undercurrent running through the whole of Max Brooks’s newest that’s liable to snap a reader in half. Characters so real you could name them from your own life, even as you call for them to run for cover. Max Brooks has written the next great epistolary novel. Devolution is phenomenal.”—Josh Malerman, New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box and Malorie
“A masterful blend of laugh-out-loud social satire and stuff-your-fist-in-your-mouth horror. One elevates the other, making the book, and its message, all the more relevant.”—David Sedaris, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Calypso
“Another triumph from Max Brooks! First zombies. Now Bigfoot. I can’t wait until he turns every monster from childhood into an intelligent, entertaining page-turner.”—Stephen Chbosky, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Imaginary Friend and The Perks of Being a Wallflower
“Devolution is spellbinding. It is a horror story about how anyone, especially those who think they are above it, can slowly devolve into primal, instinctual behavior. I was gripped from the first page to the last!"—Les Stroud, creator of Survivorman, filmmaker, and author
“I wish we could elevate the national dialogue on public safety to a level of tone and focus that Max Brooks has demonstrated for all of us.”—Tom Ridge, former governor of Pennsylvania and first secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
“Both a bloody good read and a bloody, good read. You’ll never look at a bamboo stake the same way again.”—Andrew Hunter Murray, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Last Day
“Unputdownable . . . will have you gripped to the last thrilling page.”—John Marrs, bestselling author of The One
“It’s terrifying. Brooks is not only dealing with the end of humanity; he’s also showing us our further course toward a new, ineluctable, absolute brutality.”—BookPage (starred review)
“With stellar worldbuilding, a claustrophobic atmosphere, an inclusive and fascinating cast of characters, and plenty of bloody action, this inventive story will keep readers’ heart rates high.”—Library Journal (starred review)
“Brooks creates vivid landscapes and has a gift for shifting focus in an instant, turning lovely nature scenes suddenly menacing. Brooks packs his plot with action, information, and atmosphere, and captures both the foibles and the heroism of his characters.”—Publishers Weekly