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)

Unexpectedly frightening

Awesome cast retelling of the book. I felt their emotions and was scared with them. It reminded me that in an national emergency you have to rely on your neighbors for help. The authories will be stretched too thing to help everyone.

Now that I've finished the book a I feel like I should check on my emergency supplies and make sure I have physical books to help me survive in case I can't access the internet to figure side out!

Highly recommend this audiobook!

Very interesting perspective

There are some authors who can take an almost unbelievable scenario, and create an intelligent perspective that is well written. Stephen King is a master of this, and Max Brooks is proving to be one as well with this book, and WWZ.
The narration by all of the contributors is top notch talent, which the book deserves.

Max Brooks delivers once again!

Max Brooks has become a favorite of mine and I look forward to more from him.

I fall asleep to audiobooks normally...

But actually just couldn't stop listening. Not a good bedtime book as it's hard to put down.

Great Idea, Semi-Flawed Execution

**Spoiler Free Review**

--Overall: 4 stars (more like a 3.7 if I could give more specific ratings).--

Interesting plot that will have you craving more backstory, foiled by some logic jumps, a poor main character, and a bordering-on-annoying main character narration. You will never think of sasquatch the same way again, and will think of this story the next time you are alone in the woods. Might be better read than listened to, even though some of the minor characters have superb voice acting.

--Story: Weak 4 star--

Let me start this off by saying that I am a huge fan of Brooks' World War Z. I think it was a great example of taking a fictional topic and making it seem real. I am also a huge fan of in-universe realism where, even if the book is fantasy or scifi, the events/logic in that story are true to that world- another thing World War Z nailed.

This book seems like it is set up to do the same but just kind of loses it midway through the book.

Characters (especially the main one) make decisions and have reactions that don't line up with their pre-established traits, and are able to perform actions or know how to do things that don't fall in line with their pre-established capabilities. Their emotional reactions (again, especially the main character) do not reflect the situation they currently find themselves in or events which just occurred.

Most of the story is portrayed through journal entries and most of the entries are written in a manner that no one would be writing in had they just lived through the events being detailed. Not to mention they probably wouldn't be writing in a journal at all given the events going on around them, or at least so soon after specific events. Nor is it really how anyone actually writes. It just feels staged and not like "real" found journal. There is no real feeling of horror, no real stunned shock, no lingering sadness or terror, nothing. It is said but not really felt, if that makes sense. It is like Brooks forgot the person writing the journal is supposed to be part of the story and actually experiencing reactions to it which would drastically reflect in their writing style, rather than just a detailed narrator of events.

The redeeming factor of this book is that Brooks, once again, nails the creation of the monsters (in this book, Sasquatches) and sets them up with realistic motivations and background that blur the lines between reality and fiction. He makes them seem real and like they really could be waiting out there in the woods somewhere, more so than any grainy shaky film footage I have ever seen. The back story theories and interviews and hints at the motivation of the sasquatches are truly where this book shines, but they are way too few and far between. I'm a grown adult, but I know my thoughts will flicker back to his creations the next time I am out camping in the woods in the dark.

Also, most of the action is crammed in the last 1.5-2 hours of the novel.

--Narration: 3 stars (foiled by main narrator)--

Just like the story, the parts that shine are the interviews which are much too short and few. They sound like real interviews and the voice acting is superb. Nathan Fillion is great and they even got Kai Ryssdal to narrate himself doing a Kai Ryssdal style interview.

Unfortunately, the main narrator is kind of a let down and is largely annoying, which is a large portion of the book. While some portions are inflected well, her voice is just too bubbly and light for some of the parts she is reading. This is a personal opinion (as any narration review is) but I just got tired of listening to her voice. I don't intend to be mean, but I found her voice grating at times.

A fantastic listen!

Wow, just wow! What a phenomenal book! Kept me at the edge of my seat throughout it’s entirety. Such an amazing cast with a spectacular performance. Judy Greer was tremendous! It’s very rare a book is so great that I feel a tinge of sadness the story is coming to an end, and that definitely happened with Devolution. Thank you Max Brooks!

fantastic!

narrator is very good. story is incredible and details are realistic. movie in the future!!

Devolution

I am not a fan of sasquatch but this story had me on the edge of my seat.

Great story

It's starts off a little slow in my opinion, but picks up toward the end. The last 30 mins were absolutely intense.

Dark Horse

kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. loved it