The Umbrella Conspiracy
| The Umbrella Conspiracy paperback book cover art The Umbrella Conspiracy paperback book cover art | |
| Author | S. D. Perry |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | Resident Evil |
| Genre | Horror |
| Publisher | Pocket Books |
Publication date | October 1, 1998 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 304 pp |
| ISBN | 0-671-02439-6 |
| OCLC | 59379439 |
| Followed by | Caliban Cove |
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Conspiracy is the 1998 novelization of the 1996 video game, written by author S. D. Perry as the first book in her series of Resident Evil novels. The novel combines Jill and Chris' scenarios into one narrative and features all five of the main characters (including Barry Burton and Rebecca Chambers).
The book was written a few years before the Nintendo GameCube remake, and so omits the presence of Lisa Trevor in the mansion. However, the book does allude to the original version of George Trevor's journal from The True Story Behind Biohazard, as well as the short story it contained Biohazard: The Beginning, which involved the disappearance of Chris Redfield's friend, Billy Rabbitson. Another notable difference in the novels is moving the location of Raccoon City from the Midwest to Pennsylvania, and also a mysterious man who works for umbrella named Trent, who helps the main characters in various ways.
Contents
Prologue
The book starts with a prologue, where the reader is taken into the events happening in Raccoon City using news articles, similar to those in the intro of the first game.
Chapter one
Chapter one follows Jill being late for the S.T.A.R.S. meeting that's about to start, Chris being worried about the disappearance of his friend Billy Rabbitson and Chief Irons forcing Albert Wesker to send the S.T.A.R.S. teams to the Raccoon Forest separately. None of the team members are happy about this, but Wesker claims he can't order otherwise. In this chapter George Trevor and his disappearance in the mansion is also mentioned. None of the events from this chapter happened in the game.
Chapter two
In the beginning of Chapter two, the S.T.A.R.S. meeting starts and lasts until the Bravo team reports their mission going wrong. That's when the Alphas start preparing for their flight over the Raccoon forest, the same flight during which the game begins.
"... you copy? Malfunction, we’re going to have to..."
The rest was lost in a burst of static. It sounded like Enrico Marini, the Bravo team leader. Jill chewed at her lower lip and exchanged a worried glance with Chris. Enrico had seemed... frantic. They all listened for another moment but there was nothing more than the sound of open air.
— S. D. Perry, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Conspiracy, Chapter two
Chapter three
Chapter three talks about Jill being approached by Trent minutes before the flight and then about the flight itself. In this chapter, Alphas find the crashed Bravo helicopter. The chapter ends just when they land to rescue the other team members.
Then he saw it less than a mile away, even as Jill pointed and spoke, and his concern turned to cold dread.
"Look, Chris—"
An oily plume of black smoke boiled up through the last remnants of daylight, staining the sky like a promise of death.— S. D. Perry, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Conspiracy, Chapter three
Chapter four
This chapter tells the part of the story where the Alpha team is in the forest, looking for the Bravo team and fighting the mutated dogs. The part ends when they enter the mansion, exactly where the game intro ends.
"Joseph!"
Jill’s scream ringing in his ears, Chris drew his weapon and stopped in his tracks, trying to get a clear shot at the raging beasts that were attacking Joseph. Wesker’s penlight sent a thin beam dancing over the writhing creatures, illuminating a nightmare.
— S. D. Perry, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Conspiracy, Chapter four
Chapter five
Combining the stories of both scenarios, this chapters tells the story between the start of the gameplay after the intro movie to the point where the characters return back into the main hall discovering the fact that Wesker has gone missing.
"Stop!" Her voice was high and shaky, her expression horrified—
—and she fired, once, twice, still backing toward Barry, her breathing fast and shallow.
"Get clear, left!" He raised the Colt as she moved out of the way, as a tall man stepped into view. The figure’s arms were stretched out like a sleepwalker’s, the hands frail and grasping.— S. D. Perry, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Conspiracy, Chapter five
Chapter six
This chapter continues where the previous ended by telling the story from the moment when Jill and Barry come back to the main hall, finding out that Wesker is missing. It continues to describe the story of Jill in the east wing and the story of Chris in the west wing of the mansion. The chapter ends after Chris finds Rebecca Chambers in the small storage room.
From the shadows beneath the steps came a heavy, gurgling sigh and the scuffing of wood; another one. He was trapped, there was no way he could kill them all—
—door!
It faced the side of the stairs, the dark wood blending so well with the shadows that he almost hadn’t seen it. Chris ran for it, grabbing at the handle, praying that it would open as around him, the creatures closed in.
If it was locked, he was dead.— S. D. Perry, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Conspiracy, Chapter six
Chapter seven
Chapter seven continues the events of chapter six up to the point where Jill finds the gate of new life and Chris finds a journal and reads its entries.
Chris edged toward the sword door, training his weapon left, then right, then left again; he’d had enough surprises for one day. He checked the small offshoot across from the door and seeing that it was clear, quickly inserted the slender key into the lock.
— S. D. Perry, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Conspiracy, Chapter seven
Chapter eight
Spanning only to 4 pages, this is the shortest chapter of all. Wesker's history and evil plans are revealed. In this chapter he also decides to force Barry to help him in his evildoing.
Chris wasn’t viable, he was too gung-ho, and Jill was still an unknown quantity... Barry, though... Barry Burton was a family man. And both Jill and Chris trusted him.
— S. D. Perry, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Conspiracy, Chapter eight
(This section is being expanded. There is a total of 20 chapters.)
Memorable quotes
"She couldn’t lie to herself about the simple joy that often followed facing death and walking away. She felt... good. Alive." ~ Chapter seven
Errors
- In chapter six, Permethrin is spelled as permephrin, very probably a typo by the author.
- In chapter seven, an entry in a journal Chris finds says: "Feeding instructions were to give it live animals. When I threw in a pig, the creature seemed to be play with it..." This might be an intentional typo which would be done by someone infected by a T-Virus already mutating, but since the journal contains entries which were made during later days and they are perfectly correct, more probable alternative is that it is a typo by the author.
- In chapter eight a wrong indefinite article is used in the sentence: "The last contact with the estate had been over six weeks ago, an hysterical call from Michael Dees to one of the suits in the White office."