Book Review: Devolution by Max Brooks

Genetics can only determine so much. Being the son of Marcus Aurelius didn’t make Commodus a great emperor. David Sammartino was a crummy wrestler despite being the son of Bruno Sammartino. Popeye Jones played in the NBA, but his son, hockey player Seth Jones, went his own way. And being the son of Mel Brooks doesn’t make Max Brooks a comedy writer.

This was a shock to the system when I picked up World War Z a few years back. With such an outrageous premise, I expected it to be a comedy. Instead, it was terrifying – not the part about the zombies, but the part about the humans. About how humans would react to a global disaster. Let’s just say that if you haven’t read World War Z yet…now’s the perfect time.

Based on that book, I was eagerly anticipating Brooks’ next book, Devolution. While I wouldn’t put it as high as World War Z (I’d give it eight out of ten hot dogs, vs. nine out of ten for World War Z), it does do something very unexpected: it makes Bigfoot scary.

Told through interviews, snippets, and a lost journal, Devolution takes place in a rural part of Washington State about 90 miles outside of Seattle. The village is a modern-day commune – a place for wealthy urbanites to get away from the grind while enjoying great internet access, renewable energy, and delivery drones galore. As is mentioned in one of the interviews, it’s not people returning to the wilderness – it’s people trying to bring the city to the wilderness.

It’s a utopia for intellectuals and theoreticians (the characters in this book are the kind of liberals conservatives REALLY hate), until one day tragedy explodes around them. Mt. Rainier, which is an active volcano, erupts, and destroys the roads and communications connecting the village to civilization. The characters are now isolated.

By the way, did you know that Mt. Rainier is an active volcano? I didn’t know that until I read this book – and apparently the biggest concern during an eruption would be the lahars that would form, just like in the book. That’s one of the touches Max Brooks really brings to the table – deftly weaving in truth to bolster an otherwise impossible tale. Wait until you end up Googling what a Gigantopithecus is!

Anyway, as a result of the eruption destroying much of the Pullayup Valley, the ecosystem changes. First, deer start arriving in the village to feast on the berry bushes. Then mountain lions arrive to feast on the deer. Then…something starts eating the mountain lions….

Again, what Brooks is able to do with one of the goofiest of all monsters is shocking: make Sasquatch frightening. By sewing in nuggets of truth (including a passage from Teddy Roosevelt of all people), Brooks aptly sets up how they would have arrived here, where they would have lived, how they would act, etc. As the Bigfoot tribe comes into better focus, they become more and more scary.

All said, another very good effort by Max Brooks – highly recommended!