Con la esperanza de ocultar la evidencia de sus experimentos genéticos poco éticos e inmorales, la Corporación Umbrella desata equipos de mercenarios y una versión actualizada de sus máquinas de matar de clase Tyrant, una criatura letal cuyo nombre en código es Némesis, en Raccoon City.

Though I usually steer away from comparing adaptations in reviews, I assume that any potential audience has played the game or at least know the story, and I will henceforth compare the book to the corresponding game.

The book follows the events of its corresponding game rather well, perhaps a little too well at times. Carlos’ line about how Jill wants to date him because, he presumes, she is swooning over his accent may fly in a 90’s zombie game but does not translate well into book form, not even with the author’s excuse of it being a badly thought out tension breaker. Carlos came across as a sympathetic and serious character. Indeed, it is the segment of Carlos taking care of Jill after the battle with Nemesis and his dedication to find a cure that the book shines and the reason for its three stars.

While it can certainly be interesting to read the villain’s POV in behind-the-scenes chapters, I did not appreciate Nicolai’s POV all that much. He stole too much of the book and his musings and actions, often contradictory for no apparent reason, soon became repetitive. There is little variation in the antagonist’s minds in Perry’s novels. They all have the same entitled, self-centered, paranoid crazy talk, and pretty much all characters, protagonists and antagonists, have this sarcastic banter going on in their heads. This book, as could all of Perry’s Resident Evil novels, could do with more diversity of characterization. ( )

This is a Reading Good Books review.

Ah, the Nemesis. To me, he is the "Pyramid Head" of the Resident Evil series. Everybody knows who he is and he is one of the scariest opponents in the entire franchise. He also made an appearance on the movie adaptation, just like his Silent Hill counterpart. But if you must know, the Nemesis is a creature from Umbrella Labs programmed to hunt and kill S.T.A.R.S. members. He appears in the third Resident Evil game and the fifth book adaptation.

Jill Valentine was part of the S.T.A.R.S. team that survived the Spencer Mansion incident in the first book/game. Several weeks after the events of the third book, City of the Dead, we find Jill, now a vigilante, going solo in not only taking down Umbrella but helping survivors. Raccoon City is in ruins, overrun by the undead and unnatural. She finds herself roaming the streets of Raccoon, ending up at the RPD precinct, and being chased by the Nemesis.

Once again, SD Perry did a great job at translating the game into a book. The plot is very faithful, if not, better than the game plot. The game is played solely in Jill's POV but in the book, the author included a separate plot line from the point of view of Carlos Oliveira. Carlos is a playable character that helps Jill throughout the game, even saves her life. I love that the author gave him a voice in the book and it made the story so much better. We get to see his journey through the story and not just his parts in the game where we meet or get to play as him. At first I thought I wasn't going to like the non-Jill POV but I ended up liking that more. Jill's parts are pretty much exactly the same as in the game. If you're familiar with the game, then this won't give you anything new Jill-wise. It's the Carlos parts that make this book my favorite from the series so far.

The portrayal of the Nemesis was good although I feel that you have to see what he actually looks like in order for you to really get him. I never liked playing against the Nemesis because he's big, scary, and tough to kill. But he's less scary when I'm reading about him. The whole "STARSSSS...." thing is creepy in the book also.

So far, the book series had held up its own. I've only read those with game equivalents and I liked them. They give insight to the lesser characters from the game and in the process, gives the reader/gamer more stuff to think about. I've often wondered how the other characters felt during their individual journeys so I appreciate how SD Perry makes it a point to include those in her book adaptations.

Rating: 4/5.

Recommendation: Not a good place to start the series. But if you've read the previous books and/or played the games, it's a nice companion piece. ( )