Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Kate Holland has just moved to Greenloop, a small community dedicated to reducing their impact on the environment, with her husband. This is a chance for a refresh. A quieter life, away from the hustle and bustle. An opportunity to rebuild their relationship and help Kate deal with her anxiety. Meet some likeminded people, all of whom are quite eccentric in their own ways. But Kate and Dan’s timing could not have been worse. Mere weeks after their arrival, Mt Rainier erupts, cutting Greenloop off from the rest of the world and dividing the once tight knit community. And to make matters worse, something is stalking the perimeter of Greenloop, waiting for the perfect opportunity to move in for the kill. Something violent. Something hungry. Something that couldn’t possibly be real.
I really enjoyed Devolution by Max Brooks. I hadn’t read World War Z (I know, I know, you can boo me later), so I had never experienced his style before, but I am glad I took a chance on this tale and this author. I was a fan of many aspects of this book. In my most recent review (Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie) I spoke about how much I love mixed media novels, and here we have another. I also read this via Audible, who had a full cast for this that did a fantastic job and added a lot of depth to the story. The setting of Greenloop was an interesting one, and the disaster that falls upon them fascinating.
OK, so as I said above, this is a mixed media novel. The main bulk of the story is Kate Holland’s diary. She keeps this initially on the recommendation of her therapist, but soon it becomes the chronicle of Greenloop. The only first hand account of what occurs there, that future interested parties (aka Max Brooks) uses to build a timeline of the Mt Rainier eruption and Greenloop massacre. The rest of the book is the author’s interviews with park rangers, Kate’s brother, and other relevant articles. Which brings me to a rather powerful choice by the author. He represents this story as true. This all actually occurred. Of course, that isn’t the case, but it makes for an involving and intense tale if you allow yourself to believe it.
I enjoyed this story via Audible, which I think also had a powerful impact on the tale, as they produced the audiobook with a full cast, who all did a fantastic job at representing their characters, the occurrences, and the emotional trauma of the story. Judy Greer, who voiced Kate and her diary, was the primary voice we heard, and she was bloody brilliant. Fast and almost hyperactive when necessary. Sad and quiet where appropriate. Blunt and brutal when called for. Max Brooks voices a lot of the rest of the tale himself, in the author’s notes and articles. I feel that this really allowed me to fall into the story more, suspend belief, and let the story be real.
Greenloop was an interesting place. It is a small community of smart, green homes. Solar powered of course, using biowaste for heating, and being as efficient as possible to create as small an impact on the environment as modern living would allow. I like the concept, though some of the technology still seems a little far away to me. I think that this ecocentric setting was a wonderful juxtaposition to the natural disaster of the Mt Rainier eruption. Mt Rainier being a real volcano outside of Seattle, though it hasn’t erupted in a significant manner in about 500 years. Despite the efforts that Greenloop residents took to make as little impact as possible, they were still cut off by an ecological disaster.
The author went into great detail outlining what happened in the immediate hours and days after the eruption, that we discovered through his conversations with a park ranger who worked on relief efforts. She described the abandoned homes, missing hikers, lava flows, and the difficulties of aiding everyone. Which also explains how long it took rescuers to arrive in Greenloop.
On top of the real world possibility of a volcanic eruption causing chaos, we also were confronted with a less grounded (depending on your beliefs) hurdle to the Greenloop residents’ survival. That’s right. Bigfoot. Or, more specifically, a family of Bigfoots (Bigfeet?) These creatures had also been disrupted by the eruption, and Greenloop was a perfect hunting ground for them. And honestly, they were awesome. Obviously they were dangerous creatures, but so were the humans in their own ways. They provide a perfect mirror to each other, and force you to consider the role that we as humans think we fill in the food chain and the world at large.
The inhabitants of Greenloop were an interesting bunch. And it was through this disaster that their true selves were revealed. Some were selfish, some took leadership roles, some put everything aside to protect loved ones. Some hid away, and some mounted an offensive. Getting to know her new neighbours alongside Kate while also fighting for survival was satisfying and, at times, heartbreaking.
All in all, Devolution was an emotional, hectic tale of survival, loss, the strength of relationships and resilience. And Bigfoots (Bigfeet?). If you enjoy horror adjacent stories that coincide with real world possibilities, and stories of isolation and survival, then I would heartily recommend this. And, if you have access to Audible, maybe try it there for a fuller experience!
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Rebecka O'Malley 