Title: Resident Evil: Nemesis
Author: S. D. Perry
Type: Fiction
Page Count/Review Word Count: 288
Rating: 3.5/5
Okay, so the first thing to mention is that this is, of course, a novelisation of the iconic video game. S. D. Perry has actually written a ton of books in the series, and this one falls about halfway through, which makes a lot of sense when you look at the timeline for the games.
The second thing to mention is that I only read this because the Resident Evil YouTube channel happened to upload an audio book of it, and so I figured, “Eh, what have I got to lose?”
I’m pretty glad that that’s how I consumed this one, because while I’m not going to say it was terrible, it also wasn’t exactly great. Even with the story and characters all fully fleshed out for them, Perry does a pretty workmanlike job of things. That’s not to say that it’s a bad book, but it’s one that you can devour quickly and then forget.
I also found that it struggled to keep the tension as high as the game does. One of the great things about the Resident Evil games is that you never quite feel safe, except perhaps for in the save rooms. You don’t get the same sense while reading or listening to the book, because the danger only rears its head from time to time.
Still, considering that there’s a copy of it that you can read for free, it’s hard to get too mad. And I did enjoy the time I spent with the book, just maybe not as much as I would have enjoyed watching someone play it.
