Devolution tackles the legend of Bigfoot......told through a set of found journals, as well as an original investigation.Apparently, this is all I have ever wanted in a book and more. Max Brooks, you may now retire.

It’s great to live free of the other sheep until you hear the wolves howl....They all want to live in harmony with nature before some of them realize, too late, that nature is anything but harmonious....Bigfoot’s as American as apple pie and guns in schools.After writing a book as successful (and now sadly relevant) as World War Z, there was little chance that Mr. Brooks’ follow-up novel would not be held up in comparison. But that is especially true given that this book is written in a rather

I found a way, I found a way to survive with them. Am I a great person? I don’t know. I don’t know. We’re all great people. Everyone has something in them that is wonderful. I’m just different and I love these bears enough to do it right. I’m edgy enough and I’m tough enough. But mostly I love these bears enough to survive and do it right. – from the video diary of Timothy Treadwell, self-proclaimed “Grizzly Man,” recorded right before he was eaten by a bear On April 1, 1969 the Board of Commis

Hey! January 2021 Reading Vlog is up!! The Written Review “I think the human mind isn’t comfortable with mysteries. We’re always looking for answers to the unexplained. And if an answer can’t come from facts, we’ll try to cobble one together from old stories.” Greenloop was supposed to be the perfect eco-friendly town - located an hour and a half south of Seattle and accessible only by a single road. Supplies are dropped by drone, electricity comes from solar and they make their o

Oh dear. I loved World War Z, and waited so long for a follow up, but this has none of its predecessor's cleverness or spark. Not because "Bigfoot attack" is inherently a dumber concept that "worldwide zombie plague" -- both are pretty goofy, and in WWZ, the seriousness with which Brooks tackles the silly setup is a large part of the charm. But here the mechanics fail him. Devolution is told (for the most part) as a found diary, which is simply not a good format for an action/suspense story. Not...

oooh, goodreads choice awards finalist for best horror 2020! what will happen?LAST CHANCE TO SPOOKTOBER!!!!when washington’s mt. rainier erupts after having lain dormant since 1894, chaos ensues as waves of lava and walls of fire engulf the volcano’s surrounding cities. meanwhile, far from the frenzy of damage control and rescue operations, a different kind of drama is unfolding unobserved, as the eruption causes the local wildlife to flee to safety. these furry/feathery refugees include birds a...

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars! Was I entertained? Yes! Were the characters annoying? Hell yes!Everyone except Mostar. She was the rational and sane one of the bunch.But I think that was the point.You see how a bunch of soft, city folks have to come to grips with living in the woods.Even though that's what they signed up for, they were technically not "living in the woods". They had the scenery to look at but they didn't have the fortitude or mentality to living in nature and knowing nature is

ARC received in exchange for an honest review 🦍In the wake of a volcanic eruption, an isolated village becomes the hunting ground of the legendary Big Foot. Told through journal entries and interviews, we explore the last few weeks leading up to the Greenloop massacre and its horrifying conclusion.Coming from Max Brooks, writer of World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, I knew this would be an interesting read. And it certainly is. This feels very much like a modern day horror story. A s...

This is the worst choice of book to read when you’re quarantined, nervous, anxious, taking your most emotional support from great booze and stocked toilet papers (I’m cuddling them, that’s why people buy them so much, right? They are like white shapeless teddy bears and I recently tried them in a recipe: just mix them with almond milk, marshmallow and chocolate chips: my husband told me that was the best food I’ve ever fixed in my entire life) Anyways, this is frightening, action packed, ominous...

2.5 to 3 starsAs I loved World War Z, I was excited to read another one by Max Brooks. Since I had high expectations, I suppose I needed a big payoff to consider this a success. Unfortunately, I didn't get one.While the format was a bit like World War Z - interviews post tragic event - this one more focused on one specific event. Basically, Mt. Rainier erupts and Bigfoot attacks (I don't feel like I need to mark that sentence as a spoiler as that is in several book summaries I read - so it shoul...

Despite the horror framework, the real strength of this book is not in the monsters, but in the character development. Bet you weren't expecting that. When you first meet Kate Holland she's a neurotic mess and her voice is annoying enough that if I hadn't known people were going to die excitingly awful deaths sometime soon, I might have put the book down. But it takes very little time for her to get you on side. Her and her husband are the last to arrive at their new home in a super high tech ve...

One word: SASQUATCH. I'm in!!When a small group of environmentally conscious folk move into a "smart-community" (named Greenloop), in the Pacific northwest, everything seems to be just perfect. They are off the grid, groceries are flown in via drone, and they are self sufficient...until nearby Mount Rainier erupts. All of a sudden it becomes painfully clear that they are not capable of surviving very long without internet access, (can't order up those grocery drones now), and with the roads wipe...

This review is specifically for the audiobook. I can't think of another narrator that has been so miscast as Judy Greer in Devolution. While the audiobook boasts a full cast performance, Greer reads at least 75% of it in the lead role. You know Judy Greer? Everyone's favorite BFF sidekick in pretty much every romcom in the early 2000s? I cannot fathom why her quirky, wink-and-a-nudge persona seemed like a good choice to lend thrills and chills to what's marketed as a horror novel. It's downright...

”Those poor bastards didn’t want a rural life. They expected an urban life in a rural setting. They tried to adapt their environment instead of adapting to it. And I really can sympathize. Who doesn’t want to break from the herd? I get why you’d want to keep the comforts of city life while leaving the city behind. Crowds, crime, filth, noise. Even in the burbs. So many rules, neighbors all up in your business. It’s kind of a catch-22, especially in the United States, a society that values freedo...

Many thanks to NetGalley & Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing me this eARC, in exchange for an honest review.After a volcanic eruption at Mt. Rainier unleashes a horde of Bigfoots (what’s the pluralization?— Sasquatches? Sasquatchi?) onto a biotech-green community, a fight for survival ensues with (wo)man vs. squatch.I dig this sort of story: a sci-fi/horror journalistic piece investigating something supernatural. We have Max Brooks, the journalist (and author), again givin...

I have to start my review by mentioning just how much I loved World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, it took the overdone zombie theme and made it into a unique reading experience. Some of the military sections felt extremely authentic because the author took inspiration from a collection of thousands of interview excerpts from participants in WWII. I highly recommend that book even if you think you won’t like a zombie book.This one however was not in the same category.I think the setup...

Wasn’t what I was hoping. Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

World War Z was the first book ever to literally make my heart pound inside my chest. So, yes, I am very excited for this| Goodreads | Blog | Pinterest | LinkedIn | YouTube | Instagram

What made World War Z so good was that it treated a silly topic seriously—with serious science and serious worldwide responses and serious consequences. It was every late night “what would you do if the zombies came?” discussion transformed into a full-blown story arc. This novel, Devolution, struggles with tone and fitting the various plot strains together. Is it silly? Is it serious? Do we even like the characters enough to care? Are we supposed to be scared of these creatures or cough up a po...

I suppose there are a good handful of ways of looking at this book, all told, but the one idea that really sticks to me is the idea of a B-level survival horror flick. It has all the most delicious elements of the genre -- such as hapless idiots getting in way over their heads followed by various successess and setbacks before things get really nasty.Standard stuff, no? For that type of book. And we get the requisite battle, to boot. Or should I say, to foot. Big foot.But then, there's the total...