Devolution

A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre

By: Max Brooks

Narrated by: Judy Greer, Max Brooks, Jeff Daniels, Nathan Fillion, Mira Furlan, Terry Gross, Kimberly Guerrero, Kate Mulgrew, Kai Ryssdal, Steven Weber

Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's Summary

The number one New York Times best-selling 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). 

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 this audiobook, 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 heard 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)
 

The Cast:
Judy Greer as Kate Holland
Nathan Fillion as Frank McCray
Kimberly Guerrero as Josephine Schell 

With
Jeff Daniels as Steve Morgan
Mira Furlan as Mostar
Kate Mulgrew as Hannah Reinhardt-Roth
Steven Weber as Tony Durant
and
Terry Gross and Kai Ryssdal as themselves
and
Max Brooks as the researcher

©2020 Max Brooks (P)2020 Random House Audio

Critic Reviews

"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 best-selling 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, number-one New York Times best-selling author of Calypso)

"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 US Department of Homeland Security)

Disappointing. Not good.

I was excited for this one as I like Brooks but ---- The format that worked with World War Z did not work in this book. The journal thing felt forced. The story was pretty lack luster. And the leading character was annoying and unlikeable. I expected and hoped for a solid read. I was bored and uninterested and the whole thing felt like a grind. There were a couple good moments, but it couldn't save this.

The smaller rolls were read great. The leading narrator - Judy Greer - was truly awful. She was whiney and felt like someone in a YA or bad romance novel as opposed to the other readers who were quite serious and good.

Bummer this one turned out so bad.

Well Done Performances on a Solid Horror Story

This is a (primarily) first person perspective horror story with a female narrator, so naturally, a majority of reviews I see are chauvinistic takes of the the performance. Don't let them deter you from what is a genuinely interesting trip into the forests of the pacific northwest! Whether you are a Bigfoot nut, or a skeptic like myself, it is a fun and scary adventure about humanity versus nature, and what a population of people must do to survive. If you like King or Peter Clines, or books about jungle/ forest adventures, you should dig this. The only thing that took me out of it is that the account is apparently a journal- so we are meant to believe that during all these traumatic events, breaks are taken to write down all the drama in intricate detail. That is a pretty minor quibble though- after listening to audiodramas like Tanis and The Black Tapes, my leash for suspension of disbelief is long.

Many of the reviews complaining about "whiny voices" are reductive at best and sexist at worst. If you're up for a fun ride into Sasquatch country, you could do a lot worse than Devolution!!

🤦

So much whining. 3 hours in so far and my skin is crawling listen to all the whining.

ok so I finished.........I shouldn't have.

Judy Greer Ruins this book

I'm 2 hours into this book and ready to return it. Please make the sappy sweet air-head voice stop!
And there doesn't appear to a story.
I love World War Z and was so excited this was coming out. So disappointed.

That Bad.

People whining about wine and status.

I had to check the description and see that I had the right book.

Awful

Nothing happens in the first half of the book aside from an incredibly annoying woman ranting in her journal like a teenage girl about absolutely nothing.

This book was so disappointing. As great as WWZ was, this book was the complete opposite. Save your credit.

Off to buy an ice pick on Amazon

My review is for Judy Greer who is narrating the part of Kate Holland. Her voice is so annoying I don’t know if I can make it through this book. She really makes me want to jam an ice pick into my ear drums. Up talking, millennial valley girl spazz.

I love Max Brooks books so I am very disappointed I won’t be able to listen to this if Kate Holland plays too much of a part.

Extremely disappointing

Probably the worst of Brooks. Nothing to hold my interest. Annoying voices. Dull plot. Only people who might like this are tree huggers. I had pre-ordered it and was more than glad to have it exchanged. But it will have some value- as a good example to future writers on how NOT to write a compelling novel.

Bad Bigfoot bad

This was not enjoyable or even entertaining. The stuff you wait all book for happens too quickly and the narrative style makes it anticlimactic. Don’t waste a credit.

dumb city people

sorry if I'm rooting for all these people that died that live in this place but I don't think they deserve to live if they can't fend off Bigfoot plus they don't belong in the woods their belongings in California Los Angeles to be particular