Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre is the story of of a group of yuppies fighting for survival against a tribe of starving Sasquatch after Mount Rainier erupts. Most of the novel is told from the point of view of Kate, a new resident to the western Washington planned village of Greenloop. Kate and her husband, Dan, have been having marital troubles, in part because Dan can’t find a job. Kate is hoping the tech and creative community in Greenloop will inspire Dan and fix their marriage. Instead, nearby volcano Mount Rainier erupts, causing a lahar to destroy the only road out, and they are attacked by hungry Sasquatch.
My first two impressions were that this book is nowhere near as funny as I would have thought from the title, and it’s nothing like Brooks’ previous book World War Z. Honestly, it took me a while to warm up to the book for these reasons. But once I did, wow. It’s a slow burn that just gets better the more you read. I wouldn’t describe it as scary, but there are some genuinely creepy scenes. It’s amazing how much the characters change over the course of the story, but Brooks lays it out perfectly so it seems believable.
Bravo, Mr. Brooks, you’ve done it again.
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