バイオハザード〈3〉死者の街 [Baiohazādo <3> Shisha no machi]

Resident Evil #3

by S.D. Perry, 風間 賢二 (翻訳)

そこは死者の街だった―新米警官レオンは配属先ラクーンシティに到着した途端、死体に襲われる。人気のない街は、獲物を求め彷徨う喰人鬼と咆哮する獣、死の淵から蘇ったゾンビに埋め尽くされていたのだ!必死の思いで警察署へ逃げ込むが、そこは異形のモノたちに占拠されていた。謎の美人記者エイダと共に脱出路を探すレオンだが、彼女には隠された目的が…。二人は無事に脱出することができるのか!?ゲーム2の完全ノベライズ版(原題『RESIDENT EVIL3』)本邦初訳登場。

Genres: Horror, Zombies, Fiction, Science Fiction, Video Games, Fantasy, Action

297 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

SD Perry (Stephani Danelle, by the way, though she prefers SD or Danelle) has been writing novelizations and tie-ins for most of her adult life. Best known for her work in the shared multiverses of Resident Evil, Star Trek, and Aliens, SD is a horror nerd and an introvert. Her father is acclaimed science fiction author Steve Perry. SD lives with her family in Portland, Oregon.

Reviews

[Peter Topside · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this entire series a few years ago. I am a huge fan of the games and the books are more or less just written adaptations of each video game. The writing is good, but for those not familiar with the video games, these may or may not peak your interest.

[Misty Marie Harms · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield arrive in my favorite undead city, Raccoon City. A botched attempt by the Umbrella Corporation to retrieve a devastating mutagenic weapon has resulted in a horrifying viral outbreak. The city population is now 33,032 undead souls and they are hungry. Still here and loving the series. I am addicted.

[Jamie Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Resident Evil: City of the Dead
🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️

Let’s talk about guilty reading pleasures. You know the books your afraid to openly love for fear of being judged.

For me that’s a series of books written by S.D Perry in the nineties that novelised the resident evil gaming franchise. Why? Because even as a fan of horror it’s pretty nerdy to love the second hand version of a story. At least, that’s what I thought when I discovered them in my school library as a teen, reading them them with the books pressed flat against the table. It was nerdy enough playing videogames or enjoying reading at my school let alone doing something that sort of combined the two.

The games themselves were my first taste of horror, particular the third one, establishing a love for the zombie genre that still exists today so, of course I have a special place for them in my heart. For those that don’t know City of the Dead is the novelisation of Resident Evil 2. Just to be confusing the book is actually the third in the book series, despite featuring the story from the second game.

Leon Kennedy, a rookie cop, is journeying to Raccoon City to start his first day on the force while Claire Redfield is heading there in search of her brother, Chris, a character in the previous books. By chance they meet up after discovering that this quiet, isolated city has become overrun within zombies.

Unlike the common zombie lore at the time of its publication these aren’t the rise from the graveyard type of zombies. These are infected people from a man made virus that kills and reanimates them. I always loved the blend of sci-fi about biological warfare leading to zombie outbreaks in the Resident Evil series, especially as it allows for other monsters beyond the zombies themselves.

The book is a quick read, despite, it’s 300 plus page count. S.D Perry does an incredible job of translating the story to the page, fleshing out characters that only come alive in cut scenes in the game by providing an insight into their motivations, feelings and fears. While the book does not reach the sinister atmosphere of the game as the characters explore the overrun police station or the other settings, it does create creepy moments that aren’t featured in the game with characters such as the perverse police chief.

So do I still consider this a guilty pleasure? Not at all.

🌟🌟🌟🌟

What are your guilty reading pleasures?

[Jes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok. I've mentioned at length about how my sudden Resident Evil hyperfixation absolutely wrecked my long streak of romance novel reading. So it shouldn't come as any surprise that an RE novelization would be the next step. And if it's not clear from my fifty-one notes and highlights or my vaugely rabid liveread thread on Twitter, I did truly enjoy this book.

A lot of the reviews of this book seem preoccupied with the plot diversions from the original RE2, which feels a little bit trivial to me. Books and video games are two different mediums and it's often necessary to give more events emphasis so we can see in the heads of the characters experiencing them. And I think the whole A Scenario / B Scenario deal is tough to handle on the page so it makes sense that there are a couple of major differences between this book and the game.

But. I mean. All that said. I can totally see why Capcom hasn't invited SD Perry back to write anymore books after she finished her Resident Evil series.

Mostly, the way this author writes Ada Wong is just so..... awful. Maybe I'm a little bit too enamored with the Ada we're presented in the RE2make, but this book takes a bizarre stance on 1998 Ada. By this, I mean she falls into ridiculous puppy love with Leon. She spends a lot of page-time feeling guilty over doing her job and manipulating him. Like. Okay. It goes so against the iconic image of her as a nuanced femme fatale with complete agency over her decisions and emotions. Most iterations of Ada seem to have a soft spot for Leon but still manage to continue with their job. It's strange that the author went the complete opposite direction and turned Ada's quick moments of affection into entire rants about how much she would love to run away with Leon and leave her espionage days behind her. Thematically, I think it's always been important for RE2 Leon to be a complete ingénue with glimmers of worldliness and for Ada to be mostly detached, serving as a major factor for his emotional development into the absolute skank Leon is in RE4. (This is me speaking objectively, of course.) Ugh. So yes, one star off for the un-girlbossification of Ada Wong.

Other than that, I feel like this book is very nearly a four star. The action scenes are done pretty well, and I appreciate the streamlined bits around puzzles and areas of RE2 that would be tedious in a narrative. I adore Claire and Leon, as always, and I enjoyed seeing a little bit of their backstories before the Raccoon City incident. Sherry was also incredibly well-written and avoids the slightly grating "helpless little girl" area she hits in the '98 RE2. She is very small and very capable. I love my daughter.

So yes! I shall not be purchasing anymore Resident Evil novelizations (for now). I haven't finished Love at First yet and I feel bad for putting it on hold for a Capcom zombie franchise. That said, this book was an incredibly fun diversion.

[Will Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast paced and an exciting read. Although I cannot help but think someone who has not played the game before hand might feel differently . Some of the descriptions of rooms and locations can be a bit bland a repetitive . The action is described in great detail though and you have to give Perry the credit that she did a great job of condensing what is really 2 games into one coherent novel.

[Roman · Rating 5 out of 5]

WE DID IT, WE FINISHED IT!!! And I love resident evil so much. One thing that was super fun was we recently watched some game play of the original RE2 and saw exactly what S.D. Perry pulled from and understood what content she was working with. She turned those graphics into a perfectly interpreted story.
I'm so glad we have four more of these to read, idk what I'll do when they're done... I'd kill for her to write the rest of the game novelizations.

[Mac Dubista Keso The Bibliobibuli v(=∩_∩=) · Rating 4 out of 5]

IT WAS OKAY. ^_^
4 Stars

+Even if your not a RE Player you will definitely love the story of this book,
The only problem that I had with the book is the author has side stepped the majority of the puzzles that are in the game, BUT it's okay,considering how long will be the book if she write every little thing like in the game.

+I literally PLAYED the resident evil 2 so I know how the story goes, I like how Ms. Perry writes her books as if you are actually there with the characters, taking part in the action. I really enjoy the way Ms. Perry develops her characters and describes their feelings and actions. She doesn't make her setting up of the story tedious or too wordy.



+I love LEON S. KENNEDY! Urggghhh I thought, He and Claire will be, you know, partners, BUT then all along Ada Wong ruined it, everything! LOL Kidding!



+I also admired how Sherry Birkin survived in this story.





+Over all I enjoyed reading this book, It was okay, BUT not one of my favorites. I expect more in the next book. :)

+Recommended for every one!

^_^

[Will Meeks · Rating 5 out of 5]

City of the Dead is based on the Resident Evil video game series. In this case, City of Dead is third book, in the series, based on the events of Resident Evil 2. The cool thing about this game is the scenario feature. The game included two discs. One for Leon Kennedy, and one for Claire Redfield. Upon completion, with each character, Scenario B is unlocked. While you played the main game as Leon Kennedy, Claire Redfield was doing her thing. While you played the main game as Claire Redfield, Leon Kennedy was doing his thing. Reason I wanted to point that out is the fact that this book is based heavily on Leon's scenario, and Claire's Scenario B.

Shortly after the events of RE 1/Umbrella Conspiracy, and Caliban Cove, the infection of the T Virus has spread into the heart of Raccoon City. Most of population has been turned into zombies. Leon Kennedy, a rookie transfer to the Raccoon Police Department, and Chris Redfield's sister Claire arrive in Raccoon City. Leon and Claire must try to find a way to get out of Raccoon City, seeking shelter inside the Raccoon City Police Department. In time, they realize even that place isn't safe. Along the way Leon encounters the mysterious Ada Wong and Annette Birkin, mother of Sherry Birkin and wife to William Birkin. William Birkin first made an appearance in RE Zero/Zero Hour. William Birkin is the main antagonist of the Re 2/City of The Dead, having injected himself with the G Virus.

After being split up from Leon, Claire finds a back way into the Raccoon City Police Department. She encounters Sherry Birkin, informing her that her mother Annnette Birkin told her to go there. Now Claire would not only be dealing with protecting Sherry, but also the menacing Mr. X. Mr. X is revealed to be a Tyrant. The Tyrant makes it's first appearance in Re 1/Umbrella Conspiracy, and as a prototype in RE Zero/Zero Hour. It wears a trench coat and is very hard to kill. Leon, with the aid of the mysterious woman Ada Wong, defeats William Birkin after he fully evolves. Though Ada dies in order to protect Leon, after confessing her love for him and that she was a spy who worked for the same corporation that Albert Wesker worked for. Claire Redfield was able to defeat Mr. X, as well as save Sherry.

When I first read City of the Dead, I had only played Scenario A for both Claire and Leon. So of course I was rather clueless when Claire's Scenario B story was included in City of the Dead. The reason why you see five stars, instead of four, is because the author did a fantastic job of putting Claire's Scenario B into written form. They took some liberties with the weapons though. In the beginning, Claire and Leon are only armed with a 9mm Beretta. As the game progresses, they each get better weapons. Leon eventually gets a Desert Eagle 50 AE Magnum, which can be customized if the parts are found later on in the game. In the book, Leon starts off with a 9mm Beretta and an already customized Desert Eagle 50 AE. In the game, the customized form allows Leon to line up multiple zombie head shots, while the book lessons the damage to just mainly being a regular one hit zombie dropping weapon. For those who have played the game, they can get some references. Paying homage to the game, is the police locker room where all the ammo and such can be found. In Scenario A, one locker holds two items. Extra ammo, or a sub machine gun. If you picked the gun in Scenario A, the other character would be able to collect the extra ammo in Scenario B. In the book, however, Claire receives the sub machine gun near the end to kill Mr. X.

The game ended with Leon, Claire, and Sherry leaving Raccoon City. In the future installment, RE 3, they are interviewed by members of the US Government where Sherry is then taken into protective custody. In City of the Dead, they walk for a few miles before being picked up by people in a van. It was Rebecca Chambers and the rest of her team from Caliban Cove, leading to the eventual tie in for fourth book Underworld. Sherry, at this point int he book, is instead taken to a family relative due to the fact that Claire and Leon will be getting into more danger on down the road during Underworld.

[Mark Gannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

*Prolonged internal scream*

That was my first reaction to this book. Resident Evil 2 was the game of my childhood- the first game I actually owned and I game I come back to play on a regular basis. Within the first few pages of the book I was going "What the *bleep* is this? The narrative of the game has been mutilated. It has been totally butchered." With some online checking, I found out that the S.D. Perry novels are considered to be an alternative version of the universe- which is good, in a way, because the game and book timelines wouldn't match for a start. Lets not get started on characters- to my mind, a fair few of them have been mangled - Ada is a mysterious stranger, a shadowy participant that allows the games player to project various motives and attributes onto her- not some tough as nails operative who is overcome with puppy love.

I suppose that the book has merit as a stand alone book. Within the whole S.D. Perry universe of Resident Evil, it fits quite well. If you have played the games, wave good-bye to a large portion of the games subplots. Some (such as the puzzles) you can understand the need to get rid off, but others, not so much. I don't want to go dropping spoilers. Two point five stars.

[Joshua Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was my favorite out of the series so far. In this book it doesn't suspend the zombies until later in the book instead it puts them basically right at the start, Because they did that it made the book have more action then the rest. The setting of the book is in the town of raccoon when the zombie outbreak happened. The thing that i liked most in this book was the mutated Mr.Berk he was basically like a boss in a video game. This book is fictional horror, overall I have enjoined this book and I would recommend this book to horror fans.

[Taryn]

After the mess that was Caliban Cove, we're back to the actual Resident Evil story from the games. City of the Dead is based on Resident Evil 2, which held my title for favourite Resident Evil game until Code: Veronica came out, and is still a close second. (Sidenote for 2018: There's going to be a REmake for RE2 next year and it looks amazing. Carry on.) Therefore, I knew it would be hard for Perry to meet my expectations because I loved this game so damned much. Obviously, she didn't, but that's okay...ish.

At the beginning, after the newspaper articles, we have Jill and Chris leaving for Europe. I'll explain why that's wrong in the continuity section, but what pissed me off what that Jill hints that Chris wants to date her. Hell no. What I really love about Capcom's male and female duos in Resident Evil is that there is almost never a romantic aspect. Chris and Jill are best friends. Hell, in some cut audio from Resident Evil 5: Lost in Nightmares, Jill teases Chris about flirting with a coworker that is younger than them. The only two real romantic type couples are Claire and Steve in Code: Veronica and Leon and Ada in basically any Resident Evil media they appear in together.

Perry follows the Leon A/Claire B scenario, which for the longest time I thought was canon anyway, until I found out it wasn't. And boy, do I have feelings on that, mostly because I hate the Leon B scenario. But I digress. The problem with the story is that I felt like, despite this probably being the longest Resident Evil novel of Perry's, it felt empty. Yes, if you cut down the puzzles in the game, it's not that long of a story at all, but Perry makes it feel even shorter, especially because she cut scenes from the game out as well. No matter whose A/B scenario you do, Leon and Claire always meet up at least once in the game to make a plan and are able to radio each other. This was ignored in the book, so it seems like neither of them give a damn about what happens to the other, too focused on their partner characters (Ada/Sherry). The most we get is Claire finding Leon after he'd been shot by Annette, and he has her run after Ada before passing out. That's it. This also brings up something obnoxious that Perry does in later novels pertaining to Leon and Claire, but I'll discuss that in the next book. Other than that, Leon and Claire were characterized close enough to their game counterparts.

Ada, on the other hand, is given terrible characterization. In the game, we, the players, were never sure where her allegiance was. Umbrella? Wesker? A third party? In this, since Perry was as clueless as we were, she tied her original character, Trent, into Ada's mission. And really, continuity aside, this bothered me. We don't know Trent's plans, but he helped the renegade S.T.A.R.S. in the first two novels, so having him hire Ada to get a G-virus sample was so out of place. It's like Perry was trying to show that Ada was one of the good guys, since Trent, as mysterious as he is, has been helping the heroes, so by extention, Ada is as well. Even if I ignore that, her inner musings were just so wrong for Ada's character. She kept telling herself that she was a hardened mercenary, that she was going to be rich enough to retire on a private island, blah blah blah, and then she meets Leon and starts fretting about how it's "not like her" to care, or daydreams about settling down with him and having kids. Um, are you kidding me? I am probably Ada's biggest hater (really, I despise her character), and even I call bullshit on this. Yes, Ada has saved Leon's ass (and Capcom really needs to stop having her do this. Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil: Damnation, and Resident Evil 6 all have Ada meddling in Leon's business in some way and saving him. I'm tired of it), but it's not because of some deep love and affection for him. Ada Wong has always had an agenda, no matter who she's working for, and if it came down to it, I think she would sacrifice Leon for her mission, even though Capcom would never let that happen because Leon is too popular.

This is basically the bulk of the book. Claire and Sherry run away from Mr. X (the T-00 Tyrant), and we get Leon and Ada's sappy soap opera drama, sprinkled with zombies. Dr. Annette Birkin and Police Chief Brian Irons' points of view are there as well, if only because G-virus infected William Birkin and Mr. X can't really have a coherent POV and Perry seems to like having the villain's POV as well. I don't think either of them really add anything to the story, honestly. The majority of the puzzles are rendered moot because Ada had copies of all of the keys/emblems and opened everything beforehand.

Inconsistencies from Game to Book:
1) Book: Trent hiring Ada to steal the G-virus. Game: Ada was hired by a company that is Umbrella's rival and her contact was Wesker.
2) Leon A/Claire B. The canon has been confirmed as Claire A/Leon B, because Sherry Birkin gains rapid healing powers as displayed in Resident Evil 6. I'm not a fan, because having Ada just so happen to pick up Sherry's locket and carry it around for no damned reason annoys me. A blending of the scenarios would have been better, where Sherry is pursued by Mr. X because of her locket and Birkin because of her DNA. That would make Leon's scenarios pointless, true, but he could be with Claire more instead of having him pant after Ada like a lost puppy.
3) Book: Ada was coincidentally in a relationship with John Howe, who worked for Umbrella. This gives her an excuse to be in Raccoon City. Game: Ada was sent by the rival company to get close to Dr. John Clemens because he was the head researcher in the Arklay labs. This is the excuse she uses to explain why she's in Raccoon City.
4) Book: Jill leaves with Chris and Barry to go to Europe. Game: Chris goes to Europe. Barry relocates his family to Canada. Jill stays in Raccoon City.

There are a lot more, but that's because of how much Perry cut that was originally in the game. Like I said, this is a huge book for how little is actually shown. Most of it is the characters' inner musings to fill space from where the puzzle solving would be, or Annette's/Irons' POVs which we never see in the game. When it boils down to it, this book is very much "Leon went here. Claire did this. Leon said this. Claire saw this" and lots of inner monologues about musings and feelings.

City of the Dead ends with Claire, Leon, and Sherry being picked up by Rebecca, David, and John, the survivors of Caliban Cove.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Como fan de la saga de videojuegos, y especialmente de esta entrega en concreto, debo decir que el libro es un excelente añadido respecto a su entrega original. Además, añaden un epílogo que si bien no es canon, me ha dejado con la intriga de como será el cuarto título de la saga de libros.

En resumidas cuentas: si eres fan de Resident Evil 2, este libro te gustará.

[Clairey_pop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just a good ol' zombie story based on a classic game. Can't go wrong 🙌

[Bree · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this a lot! The epilogue caught me a little off guard, but I enjoyed it anyway. I liked how it followed different characters and the description of Mr X. I really enjoyed reading this!

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

اشکال نداره، کندی. اسمشون رو بگو، این زامبی ها.

[Jeremy Gonzales · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good for a licensed book

[Alfie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great away to experience the story of a great game. Not really a fantastic book if you don't care about Resident Evil as a whole though.

[Sakebushippo · Rating 3 out of 5]

LEER RESEÑA COMPLETA EN MI BLOG: https://www.blogdivergente.com/2023/0...

La ciudad de los muertos de S. D. Perry es una emocionante adaptación literaria del segundo videojuego de la aclamada franquicia Resident Evil. En esta entrega, somos testigos de la desgarradora lucha por la supervivencia de dos protagonistas principales: Leon S. Kennedy y Claire Redfield.

Leon, para quienes ya lo conocemos, es un valiente oficial de policía proveniente de Nueva York, quien es enviado a Raccoon City para investigar una serie de misteriosos asesinatos ocurridos en los bosques circundantes.

En el primer libro de la serie (La conspiración Umbrella), nos adentramos en una historia donde los ataques y asesinatos eran atribuidos a animales, pero el equipo de élite STARS descubre que la poderosa Corporación Umbrella está detrás de estos siniestros sucesos. Desafortunadamente, sus revelaciones son desacreditadas y perseguidos, dejando a nuestros protagonistas en una carrera contra el tiempo para demostrar la verdad.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

As many others, I too enjoy the video games, but the continuity differences between the games and the books are not what takes away from this series. For me, there were too many characters sharing “screen time” combined with the constant changing of the third-person narrative to the first person inner monologue seemed like it disrupted the overall flow of the story. Because the story follows so many characters, there are two main final boss creatures, and that no one is ever in one location for too long; it honestly felt like I was reading two different books.

[Dustin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure why people say this is the best one of the series. I feel like the only thing going for this one is that the chemistry between Leon and Ada is there, and the big sister energy from Claire rocks. Other than that, the narrative is totally rushed and kind of butchered.

[Chris The Lizard from Planet X · Rating 4 out of 5]

Resident Evil: City Of The Dead by S.D. Perry is a Novelization based on Capcom’s 1999 game Resident Evil 2. RE: City of the Dead is a fast paced horror story that follows Claire Redfield and Leon Kennedy as they do their best to survive the terrifying conditions of an overrun Raccoon City which is crawling not only with zombies but various mutated creatures.

Claire had traveled to Raccoon City looking for her older brother Chris who is a member of the Raccoon Police Department's S.T.A.R.S. (Special Tactics and Rescue Service) unit and she was worried because she had not heard from him in a while. Meanwhile, Leon was a newly hired police officer on his way to Raccoon City to start his first day in the force.

As Leon drove through town he immediately noticed that something wasn't right because it was eerily quiet and there was no one to be seen either walking down the street or driving down the road. It didn't take long before he found out the reason when he was surrounded by a horde of zombies. Claire found herself in a similar experience when she stopped at a diner and had to make a quick escape where she ended up running into Leon.

The duo were able to escape and made a plan to head to the police station but a zombie attack caused them to be separated. They were still going to continue on with their plan except now they had go it alone which is not an easy task with zombies roaming the streets.

Things escalated quickly in this story because every step of the way was one horror after another. Going to the police station didn't change things but Claire was able to help Sherry Birkin, a 12-year-old girl who had been hiding in the station. Sherry believed a monster was after her but Claire thought it was just in the girl's imagination. However, an encounter with two different monsters instantly changed Claire's mind and she knew she had to get Sherry and herself out of the station. But she still needed to find Leon.

The rookie cop had found his way to the station where he unexpectedly met Ada Wong, a woman who claimed she was in town trying find her boy friend. But Ada wasn't as she appeared, she was really in the city because she was hired to steal the deadly G-Virus that Sherry's parents had created.

The separate set of duos eventually found themselves at the Umbrella Corporation with hopes of finding a way out of Raccoon City but lots of complications were making it extremely difficult. And not to mention Ada was still set on trying to get her hands on the G-Virus but with Leon by her side he was complicating her mission. There was an attraction that was starting to form between Leon and Ada even as she was trying to pretend that it wasn't happening and he was starting to doubt her story of why she was in the city.

Overall, RE: City if the Dead was an interesting read, the book vividly captures the terror Claire and Leon were experiencing during the zombie outbreak as they try to figure out a way to escape the city. You will get drawn into the drama and suspense and all of the harrowing incidents that never seem to stop. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the Resident Evil franchise or Horror genre.

[Nico D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a fan of the games well versed in the lore, it’s always fascinating to see deviations in Perry’s adaptation for good or ill. Overall though, I’ve enjoyed her series up to this point, and this is the strongest outing yet. While the last two books were very enjoyable, I feel like she really got a grasp on the world she’s working with. So much of this universe is Perry’s own, and I completely respect how dedicated she is to it. I also can’t imagine how frustrating it must have been to have to constantly change/incorporate new plot elements/deal with changed elements when Capcom unended her canon with the games as they released (very interested to see how Jill ends up back in Racoon in time for Nemesis).

The exclusion of one particular plot element (Sherry’s infection) won’t matter within the scope of Perry’s universe, but is such a massive event for both Sherry and later events in the RE timeline that it felt a little weird it was absent.

Claire is pitch perfect. Perry’s grasp on the Redfield’s characterizations is top notch. Everyone else is great too—particularly surprising is Brian Irons, the deranged police chief who is the first antagonist in the series I felt was written in a memorable way. Compared to the book’s version of Wesker, who felt like a somewhat inconsistent frat bro, and Evil Scientist from Caliban Cove, who’s name I can’t remember (which should tell you all you need to know about his impact); Irons is legitimately intimidating, has a very tangible presence both in chapters from his perspective and to the other characters, and the way his mania is depicted makes him feel more dangerous than even the zombies.

Sherry’s also a stand-out. Children character so often either seem way too old or way too young, but Sherry’s writing feels very authentic. She’s naïve, but intelligent. She’s more emotionally intelligent then your standard 12-year old would be, which is totally justified, but she’s also scared and prone to more childlike whims. I really loved her segments, and I think the Claire/Sherry bond was easy to invest in.

As a big stan of Ada, I’m pleased with the way Perry chose to humanize her. I didn’t particularly love her first chapter due to the way she lamented about some random girl who died, if only because this is kind of similar to what was done with Jill in The Umbrella Conspiracy and it felt a little cliché. But by the time she encountered Leon, I thought the way they bonded and how her guard was broken down was well handled. Leon/Ada for life, ya’ll.

Perry also continues to be excellent with her body horror. It’s always a gruesome, delightful read.

[Harrison Bahe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Out of the three Resident Evil books I've read, this is by far the best. Not only because I know who Leon S. Kennedy and Clarie Redfield are as a fan of the video games, but it was just written better and paced like an action movie. City of the Dead adapts Resident Evil 2 beautifully! We are given further insight into character motivations. Ada Wong's unspoken feelings for Leon are heartbreaking. The mental breakdown of Annette Birkin is justified and understandable despite her villainous facade. Hell, Leon and Claire are further fleshed out and are somehow more lovable and iconic.

The hilarious issue I had with Book One was that it had the S.T.A.R.S. members running around the Spencer Mansion, solving puzzles and unlocking doors all while actively evading nightmarish bio-organic weapons and, in Jill's case, not becoming a Jill sandwich. However, with this entry, most if not all the puzzle solving antics have been omitted which is such a relief because in the grand logic of the RE universe, a police station, a sewer system, and a working secret underground laboratory wouldn't have such elaborate ways to enter a room. That's always been a funny thought within the RE universe. "Shit, gotta go poop but before I do, I gotta solve this puzzle to unlock the bathroom." Oh, silly Umbrella!!

City of the Dead is a fast-paced wallop of survival horror where even this reader got nervous in the finale as the literal ticking clock was counting down to zero. I felt the character's anxieties, aches, pains, and bloody wounds. No herbs to heal those lacerations. I am curious now how the author will adapt Nemesis as the opening pages feature Jill departing Raccoon City. I guess I'll find out when I get to that book. Book 4 is apparently another offshoot from the game series. Hopefully, it'll be better than Book 2. Onward! 😉

[Jessica Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll start off by saying that I'm a huge RE nerd. I love this stuff and the novels by Mrs. Perry are amazing and I recommend them to any RE fan. I first read these books right after RE0 was released on the GameCube. I also recommended these be released on the Kindle about ten times over the past two years, so when they finally did I snatched them all up on their release dates!

Resident Evil: City of the Dead
For anyone who's played RE2 and knows that there are actually 4 total campaigns rolled into one game...this book follows Leon's A Scenario and Claire's B Scenario. Now that we've established that; this book is my absolute favorite! This is the longest RE novel Mrs. Perry has written in the series. It covers all the major plot points and gives you a view of Ada's perspective during the outbreak in Raccoon City. This book is so good that it's very VERY hard to put down and every time I read it I have a hard time keeping my mind on anything else. The author does a fantastic job of relating the relationships between Claire and Sherry and between Leon and Ada. Even now (post-RE6 release) you can feel that these four are tied together emotionally, even if the RE universe changed their positions a little bit.
If you read any of these books I would suggest it be this one; let the Resident Evil 2 nostalgia take over!

Note:
If you've played the games then I would recommend that you read these books in numerical order (making RE0 last). There are some discrepancies between the books because the RE universe has been tweaked and updated for clarification over the past fifteen years or so. Mrs. Perry does mention this at the beginning of her books and for the most part they still flow together nicely and don't take away from stories at all.

[Jawairia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book so much, I was hooked from start to finish.

Perry does such a good job of writing the characters and developing them. The dialogue and internal monologue of all the different characters was so entertaining to read.

I LOVED the dynamic between Ada and Leon and how you know it's gonna end in tragedy but you're still so invested. It took meeting Leon for Ada to realise her moral conscience... sigh... so romantic.

[Annika · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the first novel and wasn't all that impressed. So why, you may ask, did I bother sticking around for the 2nd book? Well, third in the series, however, I refuse to read the non-canon books.

Well, you see, when you love something very much, you want to engage in as much of it as possible - be it six butchered Hollywood movies following a special snowflake(tm) character that was created for just that purpose or a series of poorly written books that somehow managed to become an entire series despite not being very, what's the word, good. Both of which throw canon to the wind.

That being said, I will admit that Perry did more research on City of The Dead compared to, say, The Umbrella Conspiracy (volume 1). This novel follows the A scenario of Leon and B scenario of Claire pretty well all things considered. The author did take some liberties here and there, which to me proved poor, I will get to that in a bit but that is ultimately the reason why I'm keeping my rating on the lower side of the spectrum.

As any Resident Evil fan will tell you, the 2nd game in the series starts out with Leon Kennedy driving to Raccoon City for, what he believes, to be his first day at work. Technically, game-Leon already knows something hinky is going on and was specifically told to stay away whereas book-Leon just thinks he's running late 'cause he stopped for a burger.

But that's not where the book starts, it starts out with Jill about to leave the city with Chris. Which begs the question, how in the world is the next novel, revolving around Resident Evil 3, supposed to take place then? Seeing as Jill has supposedly already left the city WITH Chris.

Trent, our enigmatic non-canon whatever-he-is, is still around and is as enigmatic as ever. I'll call it right away; we are never gonna learn what his deal is. Maybe in the non-canon books (the ones not following any game), however, I will specifically avoid those.

Police Chief Irons is here and, despite all his vile habits and murderous tendencies, Perry portrays him so strangely humane as if we're meant to feel sorry for him, which is the last thing you should. I enjoy the different point of views throughout the novel, especially Annette's since I feel like her part of the story, her grief, becomes more understandable. Irons, on the other hand, was a point of view I could've gone without. He is no Wesker, he has no motivation or import. He is just gross.

After reading the first novel, I was actually not holding any hopes up for most characters to actually make an appearance namely Sherry, Ada, the Birkins, and even Mr. X.

I am pleased to announce all of the above are included. I do not, however, appreciate them all equally. Sherry has more of an attitude than what seems realistic for a child in her situation (like how she points out boys her age are so immature so obviously she doesn't have a boyfriend ...she's 12!), originally Sherry was quite resourceful despite being a child, like the scenario when she runs away from Claire to help her father. In Sherry's story arc, she does very little on her own unless told specifically by Claire. I do like how Claire doesn't talk down to her as much as in the game though, even Sherry herself points this out.

Mr. X is actually decently looming and terrifying, at first I felt like Claire's encounters with him were lazy and very quickly dealt with, however, by the end they were becoming more of a threat and actually nervewrecking, which was a nice surprise. I cannot say the same for William Birkin, I remember very little from his encounters and even less about the actual threat he, too, poses. Aside from that, I will say that Claire's story arc was by far the most interesting and more enjoyable of the characters. She and Sherry has that sisterly dynamic that makes up their relationship, and I was pleased to recognize it here.

Ada, I think, is my biggest problem in this novel. She is a hardcore spy whose feelings hardly ever get in the way of her getting the job done. In the game, she hides her true identity by posing as a civilian looking for her boyfriend. Which is why I'm rather disappointed with her character being portrayed as nothing more than a lovestruck girl who uses her charm in an almost pitiful damsel-like manner to trick Annette or even to flirt with Leon.

Most of her character arc is her feeling bad about lying to Leon and what he may think of her when he discovers her motives and who she works for. Whether she has feelings for him in the games, I'm not about to go into details about except she does soften up to Leon as well as his helpfulness and company. But this is too sugary to fit into a Resident Evil plot, in my own honest opinion. Since Ada is such a self reliant character, it's sad to witness her being reduced to an emotional lady for the benefit of Leon's story. Like how she starts crying when she realizes she cannot shoot him? That's not the Ada Wong I know.

I will say, I am pleased that the author decided not to include puzzles in this novel, or not as heavily as in the first book, which was quite a hassle to read through. Unlike the first novel, the story actually progressed more smoothly all things considered.

And that's the that on that, I'll see you around for my review/complaint on Nemesis.

[Evan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had a lot of ups and downs with this book. I mainly took issue with the Claire storyline, I felt it wasn't nearly as strong as Leon's, and really impacted my enjoyment of the novel. This is unfortunate because I love Claire's story in the game (Remake) and was anticipating how they handled it here. Despite that, this is still a fun story but (if my memory serves me correctly) not as good as the first one. I really wish more time would've been spent in the RPD, as that's my favorite set piece in the game and they really just brushed over it. The action and gore is super well written, Perry really seems to have a knack for that kind of thing. I did enjoy the action in this story, but if I'm honest some of the action got a little all over the place and confusing, and I could see someone who hasn't played the games being very confused. This story really did land the ending, which was really nice to see, very happy about that. Overall, if you think you might like it, give it a shot (especially if you are a fan of the game), it can be a fun time!

3.25/5 (Quarter stars now I guess!)

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the first two books in this series ages ago and I remember finding them to be average at best. This one, however, was quite engaging and entertaining. 3.5/5

[✦...Ale...✧ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Con los últimos capítulos estuve con el corazón en un puño, y en realidad sigo así 😹😹😹 Sinceramente disfruté de esta lectura, y definitivamente seguiré con los demás libros que me faltan.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely done, another good book 🧟‍♂️👀