Devolution by Max Brooks

Amidst the settling ash and chaos following the eruption  of Mount Rainier, there is a massacre of a nearby community. Built to be eco-friendly and self-sufficient, Greenloop is already considered “off-the-grid living,” but in the aftermath of the eruption, the tiny town is even more cut off from the rest of Washington. So when, fleeing the fires, a group of Bigfoot – that’s right, BIGFOOT – descend upon the community, all Hell breaks loose.

The whole book takes place after the massacre, and is written as a series of interviews with people connected to the event, along with excerpts from a diary found at the scene. The reporter is able to bring the whole story to life and recreate the gruesome events by blending the interviews and diaries together, along with some real-life accounts of primatologists and anthropologists, like Jane Goodall.

This is is a wonderfully terrifying read that will have you sleeping with the lights on and taking a second look at the treeline the next time you go camping. The audiobook version was spectacular, especially since it is narrated by multiple great voice actors, who do a tremendous job voicing the fear and the anxiety felt by the residents of Greenloop. It’s not like Max Brooks to write sequels, but the cliffhanger at the end of Devolution will leave you begging for a second book. As Halloween approaches, there is no more perfect, scary, “campfire-y” story you’d want to read or listen to than this book. 10 out of 10 on the “scare-the-****-out-of-you” scale!

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--Aaron, Cataloging Librarian