“Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre” By Max Brooks

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
Release date: 06-16-20

Max Brooks is at it again, first he told us how to survive a zombie apocalypse, now he’s telling the harrowing story of a Bigfoot attack on an isolated “modern” colony. The story is told in a fashion much like the found footage horror films, such as “The Blair Witch Project,” “Unlisted Owner,” and “Paranormal Activity.” Instead of found film/video the journals of Greenlop resident Kate Holland are turned into a pretty cool horror/survival story. From the beginning the reader (or listener in the case of the audiobook) knows no one survives because the journals are said to have been found in the burned out ashes of what remains of Greenlop, but as the story progresses, that is forgotten and the reader finds hope.

Greenlop is an experimental colony where a bunch of rich/progressive folks want to start a community that is 100% off the grid. Their food and supplies are dropped in by drone on a regular basis, their homes are solar powered and very modern. The even have wi-fi. This is all pretty nice until nearby Mt. Ranier decides to become an active volcano and blows. All wildlife flees and the colony is suddenly cut off from civilization. The volcanic explosion destroys all communication access, the drones stop coming and the colony must learn survival skills. Many are rich pretentious folk that couldn’t successfully camp out in a four star hotel, without a staff.

Kate, is determined, she soon starts the greenhouse and begins growing some of their food. Her bordering-on-depression husband soon finds a purpose, by helping to clear the solar panels of ash from the volcano. Things seem to be going fairly well until the colony discovers wild animals are attracted to their compost. Could be bears or large cats, either way it is a danger to the people. Soon one of the colonists realizes there have been no wild animals in the area for several days.

The culprit is soon discovered to be a “tribe” of Sasquatch. With all the wildlife gone from the area, due to the volcano, and ash covering everything, the Sasquatch begin a war against the humans for Survival.

Instincts kick in and the colony prepares for war.

The audiobook cast bring this book to life, making it seem even more like a found footage horror story.

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.