Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice-for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker.

Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Steamy Southern Gothic has much in common with Hart’s successful debut (The King of Lies, 2006), but its juicy melodrama often slides into pretentiousness.Īre we not men? We are-well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z (2006).Ī zombie apocalypse is one thing. A sizable supporting cast of offbeat characters thicken the atmosphere and mystery. Things hit rock bottom when Adam discovers Danny’s partially decomposed body, and Dolf is arrested for his murder.

Adam’s half-brother Jamie has a gambling addiction and an alcohol problem, and his half-sister Miriam suffers from suicidal depression. Grace Shepherd, the teenage daughter of Adam’s oldest friend Dolf, is attacked near the river shortly after Adam (on whom she had a childhood crush) talks to her. Adam’s old girlfriend, Robin, now a cop and nursing a grudge about his abrupt departure, takes him in temporarily. Danny’s out of town, but his father Zebulon shows his ill will toward Adam by helping beat him up. Adam thinks often about reconciling with his father Jacob, a hardworking farmer nearing retirement. Adam stood trial back then for the murder of local football hero Gray Wilson and, though he was acquitted, his beautiful stepmother Janice testified against him, and much of the town thought he was guilty. A black sheep’s homecoming triggers violence, murder and much sensual heat.Īdam Chase returns to his North Carolina home, prompted by a cryptic phone call from old friend Danny Faith, after five years of self-imposed exile in New York.

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