Devolution

In our very tech focused and hyper-integrated world, it can be hard to imagine just how brutal and unforgiving nature can be. Try to picture then, a quaint and cute little haven away from the hustle and bustle of the technological world, surrounded in an oasis of natural phenomenon. This is the small planned community of Greenloop, situated in the Pacific Northwest and in the shadow of the magnificent Mount Rainier. Still hyperconnected to the comforts of the modern world though, wifi, great cell reception, drone deliveries, and biofueled houses which you can adjust at your leisure. 

Truly a small piece of paradise.

Until the mountain erupts. In a flash of fire and fury, the modern world is swept away, leaving the people lounging here stranded. All one once the inhabitants of Greenloop are cut off from the outside world, their access gone, drone deliveries, gone, and they're stranded in an unforgiving environment at the onset of winter. But it's just a matter of time until they're rescued right? Perhaps, but what if the eruption of Mount Rainier has driven something more dangerous, something more deadly, something more primal towards them? What happens when these modern people, who have never known the terror of primal nature, its mercilessness and its hardship, come face to face with their potential primitive past? You get a severe case of Devolution.

Max Brooks new novel sets out to tell an engaging scary story, one quite appropriate for the modern world.

The story is told in the familiar scrapbook style, revolving around the nameless journalists' interviews with those familiar with the incident, excerpts from news pieces, and the main meat of the story, the diary of Kate Holland. Her story is one told with an interesting twist as she writes a diary to deal with her stress from the overwhelming nature of everyday life, to keep her therapist abreast of how she's feeling, and chronicle her own state of mind to see her progress and express herself.

Her trip has, with her husband Dan, been undertaken to improve their marriage, give them some piece of mind, and help them get back on track. 

They meet the colorful cast of other eccentrics coming from the Pacific Northwest to relax and unwind in this isolated, but technologically connected community. Run by the stunningly beautiful and technologically savvy team of Tony and Yvette Durant, the community looks amazing with its individual houses and common house. 

The other members of the community, the overweight and arrogant philosopher Reinhardt, the power couple of Carmen and Euphemia with their adopted daughter Palomino, husband and wife Bobbie and Vincent, and the reclusive but powerful presence of the elderly and diminutive Bosnian artist, Mostar. This little group, thrown together from diverse backgrounds, will suddenly have to survive their own little apocalypse.

It tells an interesting story of city dwellers who are expecting nature to revolve around their needs. They feel that, with technology, their little group can tame nature. That they've all only lived in the city, never interacted with untamed nature, and have no survival skills that don't revolve around technology, doesn't really occur to them. It puts human need for technology and community front and center, and shows how the hyper-individualistic and society of instant connection can be sorely tested by extreme situations. They also learn the hard way that nature is not nice.

All of the issues of being cut off from greater society, planning for long term survival, and otherwise pulling together, might have been overcome if it were not for the sudden intrusion of another group of equally desperate primates. The Sasquatch. This throws everything into turmoil as these new critters are desperate and hungry, and the humans of Greenloop, while smart and intuitive, are not exactly equipped to fight them off. Whether from sheer lack of preparedness, a semi-naïve philosophy of harmony with nature, or simple inability to understand their new neighbors, the people of Greenloop are very much unprepared for the danger they face.

Like most of Brooks works prepping does feature, to a greater or lesser degree, into the overall story. He tries to outline practical examples of disaster preparedness, reminders about the fragility of high technology in emergencies, and that most people don't really know how to survive in the wilderness. It's an honest, not really preachy, way of putting forward the idea of keeping yourself ready for even a mild natural disaster which, I can say from experience, can really throw you for a loop. It also takes a few potshots at tech gurus, thinking nature is calm and pleasant, or that humans can be effortlessly on top of the food chain. Though most of all, reminding us that nature is full of wild animals and not tame petting zoo critters.

We have a great slow build to the story, with the gradual encroaching disaster, a slow creep of the monsters, and a build up to a tense, unknown situation with a brutally climactic ending. One of the true triumphs of the book is so comprehensively dealing with the modern problem of instant communications in horror, by using the destruction from the Rainer eruption to so totally cut off the characters. It gives you a real feeling of isolation and horrible solitude that is hard in our modern world, and I think that every time this is pulled off well for an author it should be applauded.

I definitely think it's great to have Max Brooks back in the game of horror. He writes phenomenally well, establishes a diverse, exceptional, and unique cast of characters, and uses them in an unexpected and interesting way. They really do jump off the page, through the biased views of the narrator, and with the "after action report" of the various interviewees. A great read for 2020 and anyone who loves the horror genre!