Devolution (Brooks)

Devolution:  A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre (A Novel)
Max Brooks, 2020
Randdom House
304 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781984826787


Summary
The #1 bestselling author of World War Z returns with a horror tale that blurs the lines between human and beast, and asks, What are we capable of when we’re cut off from society?

Set in the wilds of Washington State, Greenloop was once a model eco-community—until nature’s wrath made it a tragic object lesson in civilization’s fragility.
 
Offering a glorious back-to-nature experience with all the comforts of high-speed Internet, solar smart houses, and the assurance of being mere hours from Seattle by highway, Greenloop was indeed a paradise—until Mount Rainier erupted, leaving its residents truly cut off from the world, and utterly unprepared for the consequences.

With no weapons and their food supplies dwindling, Greenloop’s residents slowly realized that they were in a fight for survival. And as the ash swirled and finally settled, they found themselves facing a specter none of them could have predicted—or even thought possible.
 
In these pages, Max Brooks brings to light the journals of resident Kate Holland, recovered from the town’s bloody wreckage, faithfully reproducing her words alongside his own investigations into the massacre that followed and the legendary beasts behind it.

If what Kate 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.  (From the publisher.)

Author Bio
• Birth—May 22, 1972
• Where—Los Angeles, California
• Education—B.A., Pitzer College;
• Currently—lives in Venice, California


Maximillian Michael Brooks is an American actor and author, best known for his novel World War Z (2006) and its related "survival guides." More recently he published the thriller/suspense novel, Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre (2020). Brooks is also a lecturer at the Modern War Institute at West Point, New York.

Early life
Brooks, the son of actress Anne Bancroft and director, producer, writer, and actor Mel Brooks, is dyslexic. In a 2017 interview with NPR's Terry Gross, Brooks recalled what it was like growing up in the 1970s before dyslexia was understood:

[T]hey didn't even call it a disability back then; it was just "laziness," "goofing off…." And my mother, one of the greatest, most successful actresses of her day, gave up her career… to be my educational advocate and to teach herself about dyslexia.… She… had [my school books] all read onto audio cassette, so I could listen to my reading list. And if I hadn't been able to do that, I wouldn't have graduated from high school.… [N]ot only did my mother give me my life, she saved my life.

Brooks earned a BA in history from Pitzer College in Claremont, California, and he also pursued graduate work in film at American University in Washington, D.C.

Career
From 2001 to 2003, Brooks was a member of the writing team at Saturday Night Live.

In 2003, Brooks published his first book, The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead, which describes the origin and lives of zombies. In 2006, he released World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. The novel was later adapted to film, starring Brad Pitt. Brooks's third book, in 2009, was a graphic novel, The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks, which depicted several events detailed in the first book's latter section.

Devolution came out in 2020, a thriller written through diary entries, news transcripts, and Brooks's own research. The novel is a fictional account of the legendary Bigfoot in the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

In addition to his writing, Brooks has also acted in and done voice-overs for more than a dozen films and TV series. (From Wikipedia. Retrieved 6/10/2020.)

Book Reviews
With Devolution, Brooks brings his considerable investigative powers to a cryptozoological controversy that has been raging in the Pacific Northwest for decades…. The results are uneven ... for far too many pages, Devolution plods along a dull middle ground, not so much building suspense as venting it…. Part of the problem is the diary format. We’re stuck in Kate’s limited perspective trudging through her flat prose…. There’s probably a great horror novel about Sasquatch out there somewhere, but I won’t believe it till I see it.
Ron Charles - Washington Post


[A] substantial and suspenseful case for the existence of Bigfoot in this thriller, told via diary entries, news transcripts, and Brooks’s own research.… Brooks packs his plot with action, information, and atmosphere, and captures the foibles and heroism of his characters.
Publishers Weekly


(Starred review) Brooks, back with his first novel since his seminal World War Z, employs a similar style here, but the scope—and resulting terror—is significantly more concentrated and immediate. The narrative is framed as an investigation…. [C]reative and well-executed.
Library Journal


(Starred review) [A] terrifyingly realistic survival encounter…. The escalating alarm of naive people…give[s] insight into weaknesses humanity blithely ignores every day. 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) Are we not men?… [A]sk Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn…. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes…. [Still], it puts you right there on the scene. A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem.
Kirkus Reviews

Discussion Questions
We'll add publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, use our LitLovers Book Club Resources. They can help with discussions for any book:

1. Max Brooks writes: "I will let you judge for yourself if the following pages seem reasonably plausible." Do they? Does the premise of the novel—that Bigfoot exists—feel plausible to you? Why or why not?

2. Who, or what, are the Sasquatches, as portrayed in Devolution? Do you believe they exist? Does Max Brooks?

3. What was your experience reading Devolution? Did you find it suspenseful, frightening, gory, instructive? Something else? Or were you left, well… unmoved?

4. Talk about the tech-pioneers who formed the utopian community of Greenloop? What is their hope moving into a primeval rain forest—while still remaining linked to civilization by internet? Do you sympathize with their idealism, find them naive, or maybe hypocritical?

5. Whom in the novel are you most irritated by or impatient with? Which character do you most admire?

6. After Rainier's eruption, how and why does Mostar begin preparing for catastrophe—even though Greenloop is miles from the volcano and undamaged? Why is she the only community member who worries, while the rest remain blissfully unaware and unprepared?

7. What do you think of Brooks's use of Kate Holland's diary. Along with the fact that is the "first-hand account" mentioned in the book's subtitle, what else does it add? Does the diary enhance the story? Do you feel it builds suspense or does it drag down the pace? Also, what do you think of Kate, herself?

8. Brooks is known for his zombie survival guides. How does this book double as a survival manual? What is the advice it offers people living through cataclysmic events?

9. The novel also takes pot shots at society—at bad behavior, not just on the part of the Sasquatches but also on the part of humans. What social criticism does Brooks offer about the larger society?

10. Should this book be classified as fiction or nonfiction? Joke there… though not to some: Bigfoot has a devoted following, people who are absolutely convinced Bigfoot exists. Why such intensely passionate followers? Why do people continue to insist on Bigfoot/Yeti's existence? Any ideas? Are you a devotee? Do you know people who are?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online and off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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