Devolution by Max Brooks is set in the wilderness around Mount Ranier in Greenloop, an eco-community of a handful of families that combines the best of technology with the isolation and peace of wilderness living. That is, until Mount Ranier erupts, cutting them off completely – no internet service, no phone, no road out, only car radios that can report what’s happening in the world. Winter is approaching The touchy-feely stereotypical liberal characters (David Sedaris calls it “laugh-out-loud social satire”) are (except for one) ill-equipped psychologically to fend for themselves without drones to fly in food and may starve unless they find ways to ration and supplement what remains (they have no guns for hunting). But guess who else is hungry? A tribe of Sasquatch driven to their location to escape the lava flow.
This is a horror story about the community’s fight against a Bigfoot tribe, told as journalism based upon interviews (not with the participants, as none are known to have survived) and the found diaries of Kate, a Greenloop resident. There are a number of interesting and well-developed characters (including the Sasquatch, who have personalities and their own hierarchy). There’s a lot of interesting material about apes generally that will make you ponder humanity. I recommend the book. Here’s what Kirkus Reviews says:
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/max-brooks/devolution/
