Publishers Weekly
★ 02/07/2022
A prescient premise drives this stunning weird tale from Devlin (Unexpected Places to Fall from, Unexpected Places to Land): a disease renders the infected vulnerable to perceptions of relative realities, making them susceptible to “the fiction between the real and the perceived,” or what they refer to as “the narrative.” Two years prior to the start of the novella, the narrator, Lewis “Spence” Spencer, was infected, and, believing that patrons at the restaurant where he worked had turned into a pack of cannibalistic monsters, he and fellow believer Macey killed more than 30 people. Macey’s death helped to break Spence from his delusions, leaving him “cured” but still living in the Ironside medical facility. Now, he meets new patient Leila and together they escape from Ironside. On the outside, Spence seeks redemption for the atrocities he committed as he tries to determine which narrative is true. Devlin does a superb job showing how his afflicted characters are compelled to accept outrageous beliefs that contradict the objective realities before them. The result is an unsettling cautionary tale for the age of alternative facts. (Apr.)
From the Publisher
Included in Esquire's roundup of Best Horror Books of 2022
"Intelligent, compassionate and unsettling, And Then I Woke Up is both an invitation to and a caution against allegory."—The New York Times
“Devlin twists and breaks the typical zombie narrative without spoiling one of the cleverest conceits in recent horror. Suffice to say that the author takes a scalpel to the post-truth era.”—Esquire
"Devlin’s post-truth parable is almost too clever to summarise . . . Already pitch dark, the book accrues awful weight in the wake of Covid denial and political lies."—The Guardian
“Devlin does a superb job showing how his afflicted characters are compelled to accept outrageous beliefs that contradict the objective realities before them. The result is an unsettling cautionary tale for the age of alternative facts.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Speculative fiction’s futuristic and fantastic worlds have always served as a mirror for present-day issues, and this is a fine example of the new wave of stories grappling with our current tumult.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“This unique take on classic horror stories will have wide appeal.”—Library Journal
“Fans of Brian Keene, Adam Nevill, and Simon Strantzas will devour this apocalyptic pandemic tale, which will remind readers of a cross between Resident Evil and Fight Club.”—Booklist
"Devlin has produced a novella that is both entertaining and has something to say about the state of the modern, media driven world. Recommended unreservedly."—Black Static
“A scathing portrait of the world we live in and a running commentary on what’s story, what’s truth, and what’s not.”—Stephen Graham Jones
“This is a beautiful exploration of the seductive power of narrative, the need to be a part of something, and the toxic influence of propaganda. Highly recommended from every angle.”—Mira Grant
“The perfect story for the maddening times we find ourselves in. For every time we've said of a loved one who's gone astray, 'dear God, why can't they just wake up?'”—Alma Katsu
“A sly snake of a narrative that, with wonderful pacing and elegant writing, continuously sheds its skin that revealing ever new realities that weave together and inform each other.”—Jeffrey Ford
“And Then I Woke Up brilliantly calls into questions not only our ability to recognize truth, but also our ethics, politics, and most fundamental perceptions of each other, all within a gripping story.”—Nancy Kress
“And Then I Woke Up is a deft and moving novella about the ways in which with stories we make and unmake the world—and sometimes lose track of reality in the process.”—Brian Evenson
“Brutal and affecting”—Kaaron Warren
Library Journal
04/01/2022
In Devlin's (You Will Grow Into Them) latest, the world is healing in the aftermath of a deadly mass delusion caused by an infection that induces hallucinations of zombies in its victims. Having survived the illness, jack-of-all-trades protagonist Spence now resides in the Ironside rehabilitation facility; there he meets Leila, a new Ironside inmate. Both of them committed gruesome acts of violence when they were afflicted with the zombie hallucinations, convinced that they were surviving the apocalypse. Spence, who's still plagued by guilt, agrees to help Leila escape to find the loved ones she left behind. The plot twists in Devlin's novel turn the archetypal zombie story on its head and make for a thoughtful, if quick, read; readers who balk at metafiction can enjoy it as a horror story, while others can have fun with the novel's genre savvy. VERDICT This unique take on classic horror stories will have wide appeal.—Aaron Heil
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2022-03-02
A virus transforms those it infects into violently unreliable narrators in this dystopian novella.
Spence was working as a dishwasher in a pizzeria when most of the staff and patrons suddenly turned into rotting, ravenous monsters, forcing Spence and his friend Macey to kill their attackers and set the place on fire. Over months scavenging for food and supplies while defending himself and other survivors from the ravenous “Others,” Spence gradually awakens to the truth: He and his compatriots are afflicted with an illness that makes them see the uninfected as monsters when in reality they are just innocent people living their lives. Inside the Ironside facility, Spence has almost come to terms with what happened to him and what he did under the virus’s influence. But after he befriends Leila, a new inmate, and learns her story, he must consider if it’s better to confront an ugly and painful truth or to live a dangerous, but in some ways comforting, lie. Elements of this fable will surely resonate with contemporary readers living in a world where “alternative” facts and competing narratives have driven people to violence and death, and a virus is just one of the natural, social, political, and cultural upheavals that have polarized the population and led them to perceive those on the other side of the divide as monsters or idiots. Speculative fiction’s futuristic and fantastic worlds have always served as a mirror for present-day issues, and this is a fine example of the new wave of stories grappling with our current tumult.
Understandably unsettling while offering a glimmer of redemptive hope.
