DEVOLUTION: A FIRSTHAND ACCOUNT OF THE RANIER SASQUATCH MASSACRE / AUTHOR: MAX BROOKS / PUBLISHER: DEL REY / RELEASE DATE: MAY 12TH
When Kate and her husband join an isolated eco-community established near Seattle they hope to leave the troubles that have plagued their recent lives behind. What they find is a group made up of colourful eccentrics, choosing to live far from normal civilisation in the pursuit of a kind of societal nirvana. If only each one didn’t have their secrets. If only each family’s closet wasn’t groaning under the weight of barely hidden skeletons.
And if only there weren’t so many damn Sasquatches around!
Max Brooks’ new novel is similar characteristically to his 2003 monster hit World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. Apart from the slightly cumbersome titles – intentionally adding the credence usually associated with non-fiction works – both are constructed through diary entries, official reports and interviews conducted by the author. With Devolution Brooks has taken the remains of a journal written by Kate Holland that was found amidst the remains of the aforementioned village and formulated it into a narrative that is both horrific and intellectually engaging. As the community becomes cut-off during the eruption of the nearby volcano Mount Ranier they are forced into contact with a family of Sasquatch and the result is so terrifyingly real as to make you question your next glamping trip.
As with World War Z, Brooks has taken something fantastical and cemented it firmly in reality, expertly blending a good old-fashioned creature romp with inter-social tensions. This is a work of suspense and hope, where the lines between eye-witness accounts and provable truth blur. But above all it is a horror story, one based solidly around an inherent will to survive when threatened by the most formidable threats nature can release.
