A Descent Into a Sasquatch Infused Nightmare
I am an utterly unapologetic fan of Max Brook’s 2006 zombie apocalypse book, World War Z. When people ask me what my favorite non-Stephen King horror books are, World War Z is always somewhere high on the list. So it was with excitement, and some trepidation, that I turned to Brooks’ most recent work, Devolution. Could he do it again? Would I once again be transported to a world of unparalleled hell and desolation filled with insightful cultural commentary? The short answer is, hell yes!
The story involves the massacre of the fictional town of Greenloop, Washington by a group of Sasquatch. Yeah, you read that right. I'm not really giving anything away here. It gives you that much on the cover of the book. And if your like me, you’re thinking, “Sasquatches? Really?! You went from zombies with big foot?!” Okay. He did, but stick with it because it’s worth it.
The majority of the story is related from the perspective of a young woman named Kate Holland. Together with her husband Dan, she moves to the town of Greenloop, Washington. She hopes to get a fresh start on life and in her marriage. At the behest of her psychotherapist, she keeps a journal of her move, settling-in period, and ultimately the events which lead to the massacre. It is her journal which forms the skeleton of most the book.
Kate's journal tells us the high tech, ultra-green village of Greenloop was founded by the vision and passion of a tech billionaire. It is meant to be a “proto-type community of tomorrow”. Brooks’s craftsmanship is especially evident in the way he conjures up these fully multi-dimensional, lovely weirdos who inhabit this town. You really get to know these people. This is a move which, of course, sets you up to be all the more heartbroken when, one by one, they are brutally killed by Sasquatch.
Devolution follows patterns which will be immediately recognizable by fans of World War Z. The book is “compiled” by the unnamed brother of Kate Holland, who’s trying to get to the bottom of the events which led to the massacre. It is composed of a collection of interviews he conducted, witness statements, and his sister’s first-hand account. This adds a level of intimacy and sincerity which allows you to completely overlook what should otherwise be a silly premise. I remember balking when I first heard what the book was about, thinking “well, that can’t be any good. Can it?” However, due largely to the earnestness of the book’s faux journalism, Brooks’ conceit had me hooked within five or six pages.
Fanart for Devolution - credit David Romero
At its core, this is a simple tale: a couple moves to a new community, they get to know their idiosyncratic neighbors, bad things start happening, and before you know it there’s blood on the forest landscape. There is no swapping back and forth between multiple plotlines which weave into a more complex tapestry. There is just a group of people trying not to die. For me, part of the magic of this book was how much social, cultural, political, and psychological commentary Brooks managed to fit into each stage of his tale. And make no mistake, Brooks is clearly using this book to work out a variety of social disagreements which are tearing at the fabric of American society right now. He touches on how humans cope with stress, individually and in relation to others. How we can get caught up in patterns of denial and how those patterns can be reinforced by community pressure. He explores post-traumatic stress disorder, and how people can be crippled by it or use it when put in extreme situations. He explores the way we mythologize tech moguls like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk.
There’s a whole heck of a lot going on in this book. Brooks takes issue with human beings who seek to become “one with Nature” or “become more a part of Nature”, while at the same time pretending that we human beings are somehow above our basest natural urges. Nature, Brooks reminds us, may be beautiful, but it is also red in tooth and claw. And if we really are a part of nature, so are we. We need to kill to eat. Nature is where we are reminded that we are apex predators, but also where we can become prey. Hard won survival is the only law for all species, and we kid ourselves if we think we are any different.
A fair amount of the story shows us how a group of “tree huggers” come to terms with the fact that their romanticized notions of the natural order do not hold up. It is a shock to the system for them that Nature is savage, unforgiving, and couldn't care less about whether or not we love it. It never asked for us to be here, it doesn’t care that we are here now, and it will not care when we are gone. And all the animals we seek to help by turning vegetarian would not for a minute return the favor. If they get hungry, they know that we are just walking bags of meat like every other animal. We have to live with and as a part of nature, but we shouldn’t make it our new, benevolent, kindly deity.
As the action comes to a crescendo, Brooks takes a long hard look at that it means to call ourselves “civilized” or “modern”, but also what it might mean to be “uncivilized” or “wild”. There is no question that as the action increases, the kindly enlightened inhabitants of Greenloop slowly become more and more savage, brutal, and wild in their quest to survive. In the meanwhile, as we learn more and more about their Sasquatch opponents, it is clear that they live a far more orderly and rational life than expected - while never quite transcending being “wild animals”.
So, like I said, there's a lot going on in this book. And it is all great.
As far as I am concerned, Max Brooks has once again knocked it out of the park. In fact, in many ways this is a more streamlined, tighter story than World War Z. It also offers a more nuanced, deeper social commentary. And on top of all that, there is also blood, death, and multiple savage Sasquatch battles. There is a lot to like. When you finish whatever book you're on right now, go to bookshop.org or tread down to your local bookstore and get Devolution. It’s great fun.
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