In Kate Holland, readers will find a sympathetic character of flawed American sensibilities and untested potential for life as a budding survivalist.īrooks’ trademark brand of fear (in the early stages anyway), doesn’t come from any flesh-eating monster, but rather the realisation of how utterly in denial society can be when faced with disaster. Much of the book feels like it’s trying to answer that common criticism. If you were one of the unlucky people who found World War Z too impersonal, then Devolution may be the novel for you.

As was the case in World War Z, there’s a narrator/reporter looking to find truth amid the tragedy by interviewing people who were close to the victims, and reviewing the journal entries of Kate Holland a woman who stands at the centre of the rapidly escalating conspiracy involving a lot of death and maybe even supernatural creatures.

The plot concerns a killing that has occurred in the eco-centric community of Greenloop, which hides in the wilderness near Seattle. Devolution is a page-turner that’s just as addictive as Brooks’ previous works, with similar themes that are less epic and yet a lot more intimately explored. Saying that, Devolution isn’t concerned with a viral pandemic, but it does share the ‘world in collapse’ concept that we’re growing more familiar with as 2020 rolls on. For many of us, Covid-19 has been the ultimate awakening moment, and it’s just the sort of frightening situation that has allowed Max Brooks to worm his way into our affections once more. Is it any wonder that those of us who get stuck in this circle of modern life look for so many opportunities to make it all just a little bit easier? To escape and not consider the many terrible things that could sunder our cushy existence in a heartbeat. And what’s more, I’ve discovered that cupboards don’t fill themselves! Those odd jobs and not so odd bills are ten times more draining on your soul when it’s only you responsible for them. Since reading Max Brooks’ terrific World War Z, I’ve since acquired a house of my own and personally experienced those challenges associated with rebuilding a life in the face of adversity.

Devolution brooks novel