The Umbrella Conspiracy (Resident Evil #1)

The Umbrella Conspiracy is the kind of novel that proves Resident Evil was never just about zombies — it’s about what happens when corporate greed, unchecked science, and secrecy collide. What really makes this book stand out is how well it expands on the beloved game many of us grew up loving. It fills in the story gaps fans have always been curious about, adding background, motivation, and context that the games only hinted at. Instead of replacing the source material, it enhances it, giving longtime fans more of the lore we’ve been craving for years. The book does an excellent job setting the foundation for the entire Resident Evil universe. Rather than relying on nonstop action, it builds tension slowly and intelligently. You get a clear look at how the Umbrella Corporation operates behind closed doors, how critical decisions are made, and how those choices spiral into catastrophe. That added depth makes the horror feel earned instead of exaggerated. The pacing is strong, maintaining a steady sense of dread that keeps you turning pages. The writing is clear and approachable, even when touching on scientific ideas, and it never feels confusing or overdone. Fans of the games will appreciate how faithful the story is to the established lore, while newcomers won’t feel lost — everything is introduced naturally through the narrative. What stood out most is how grounded the horror feels. The real fear doesn’t come from the creatures alone, but from the realization that this disaster was avoidable. The characters react believably, the stakes feel real, and the consequences are chilling. If you’re a longtime Resident Evil fan, this is essential reading. If you’re new to the franchise, it’s one of the strongest entry points available. Either way, it’s a tense, atmospheric read that deepens your appreciation for the world and stays with you long after the final page. Highly recommended for fans of survival horror, sci-fi thrillers, and anyone who’s ever wanted more story from the Resident Evil universe they grew up with.

S.D. Perry (while I haven't read much of anything else by her) is a name that I see a lot as a nerd who frequents Barnes and Noble. In the sci-fi and fantasy sections, I usually see her name lumped in with all the other tie in novel writers. I see her name attached to Aliens, AVP, and of course Resident Evil, quite often. I adore all these series, Resident Evil above all, with Alien being a close second (the original film being my all-time favorite), and I always wanted to read them. As quite often I hear people say that anything written by Perry is bound to be entertaining. And this was certainly a very entertaining read. It had a few bits of the original games scrappy dialogue, my favorite being in the first few chapters, Chris's infamous "No! Don't go!" And it also contained a few of the files from the game for added measure. Tying it together nicely. Along with having a few of those little bits of needed and admittedly welcome fan service, it adds a lot to the characters that we didn't get to see in the original game. Such as Jill, and who she really is, and what she's done in the past. Although, it goes without saying that the things stated in this book are canon ONLY to the books in this series, and not the main games or CG movies that officially fit in the main canon. And certainly not those atrocious live action movies... Two of the books in this series are original stories, the book after this one being the first of which, focusing on what Rebecca does after the Spencer Mansion incident. I'm looking forward to reading that, even if it isn't canon to the games, as Rebecca is a personal favorite of mine, and I find it sad that she's been missing in the main canon, only appearing in two games (and the upcoming CG movie, I squealed when I saw the trailer, thank you Capcom). All in all, I wholeheartedly recommend reading this book if you want a good, entertaining time passer. Just don't expect anything too new, if you've played the game, you know everything that happens in this book aside from the first three or so chapters, and the deviations made to make it flow better in written form.

I bought this book because i wanted to know the resident evil storyline without having to buy the game from a individual seller and find out i have been scammed because of a big scratch on the back of the disk. Then have to return it and the seller dos not refund the money and I then need to go and do extra work and then find another seller. plus then i get a working copy and have trouble betting the game with the boss fights and puzzles. So i decided to get the book and i really enjoyed it but the author towards the end of the book decides to finish it in her version, but i'll explain that later in the review. For those who don't yet know the story. the book follows the events of resident evil 1. Book follows the main characters veteran Chris Redfield, former cat burglar Jill Valentine, Family man Barry Burton, the young biochemists Rebecca chambers, and the cool collected Albert Wesker. All of theme are a member of the Raccoon city police department S.T.A.R.S.(Special Tactics And Rescue Service) group, which is an anti terrorist squad. The Story takes place in the fictional Raccoon city. Recent news reports tell of families being attacked by groups of ten or so people out in the northern raccoon city forrest . the victims are eaten. The police chief gets worried as regular cops cant solve the mystery or have any leeds. so he sends in S.T.A.R.S. led by captain Albert Wesker. Wesker sends in S.T.A.R.S bravo team first to complete some Reconnaissance and then plans to send in alpha team to finish the job but 15 minuets later Alpha team receives a distress signal from bravo teams helicopter. Wesker then immediately sends in alpha team for a rescue mission. Alpha team flies into the forest and Brad Viccors the alpha team polite finds the crashed helicopter. Wesker orders Brad to stay in the ship while he, Chris, Jill, Barry and Joseph search the wreck. The helicopter is intact but the bravos are missing and the weopons and first aid kit are still there her orders everyone to search the area. As they spread out Joseph finds a spertated hand holding on to a gun when all of a sudden Joseph is attacked and killed by 3 large dogs. Horrified alpha team attacks the derranged dogs but more jump out of the brush and they quickly find themselves out matched wesker orders a retreat to the helicoptor but Brad chickens out and takes of without theme. with little choices the team runs away from the blood hungry dogs. Chris then realizes a that a mansion is out up ahead alpha team runs and get into the mansion barley escaping the dogs. Alpha team finds themselves in an abandon mansion with no help or means of escapee. The group hears a gunshot which comes over from the next room. Thinking its the lost bravos Wesker sends chris to investigate alone. Chris goes to investigate but not eaven a minuet later the rest of the team hears a blood curtailing scream from chris. Barry and jill go to investigate while Wesker secures the main hall. Jill and barry enter the next few rooms and end up in a hall. they walk down the hall and a human appers around a corner crouching over a mutilated body. the man has green rotten flesh and blood around his mouth, he smells of death and attacks the Jill and Barry. They decide to neutralize him with force. The creature was a zombie. JIll and Barry first think its all a bad dream until they realize the man the zombie was standing over was Kenneth one of the bravos. He was dead and the creature had eaten him. Jill and Barry decide to tell wesker but they head back to main hall Wesker is gone without a trace. They decide to split up and look for the Captain, Chris, and the bravos in this nightmarish house. So thats the storyline. At first i thought the book would be kinda dull since its a book about zombies and a nightmare come true but NEVER judge a book by its cover. I really enjoyed the book especially how the author described it so close to the game and used words really well to describe the mood, atmosphere, and character's thoughts as reality and logic betray theme. The book really doesn't start to pull you in until chapter 5 or 6, but from reading the prologue you can tell its going to get better. People who don't play video games will also enjoy the book for the character developments, suspense, and drama. Like when the characters start to realize that the mansions is a cover up and you learn there where illegal biological testing and a freak accident. I wont tell who but one of the S.T.A.R.S members is a traitor but the author really conceals it until she just tell you flat out, one of my dislikes of the book. People who read the book will have a very experience than those who play the. The book while draw you in with suspense and wonder who the traitor is while people who play the game will remember eerie music, close corners, and many jump out scenes ( if you do buy the book and like it i totally recommend the game if your interested). The book is 262 pages long and offers a small chapter of the second Resident evil book at the end (for your information the second novel does not follow the official story but looks interesting if you wants to continue the story). At the back of the book there are advertisements for The soundtrack, Magazines, and toys which i didn't really like but you can just skip over them they don't cut into the story. I would say this book is for 13 year kids or over due to the swears ( they don't get that vulgar there kids most likely already know theme), the violence (the author paints a good picture in your head), and the concept that one of the S.T.A.R.S members is willing to kill his team and put many peoples lives at risk just so he can make a quick buck. Now its time for my complaints of the book. First the alpha team searches for bravo team immediately after they lose contact. while in the game they wait 24 hours before departing and thats an important note which fans of the game will think is Very important but people of the novel not so much. Second Within the first few chapters they reveal who the traitor is. this adds drama to the book but it gets rid of the suspense of who is the traitor is. And finally when the characters find there way out of the mansion and into the courtyard the author rushes to the end of the book fairly fast which i did not love. I have more reasons why i dont like the book they reveal MAJOR SPOILERS witch i will right in the next paragraph for people who already knows how it ends. Even though i have quite a few reasons why i dislike the book i really do recommend it to fans of the game and people who are just interested in a new and different read which is why i give it 4 S.T.A.R.S . if you get that joke? Okay now for the other stuff i did not like, just a reminder this section has major spoilers so don't read unless you want the ending to be ruined. Unlike the actual story of the game the author goes on her own rules towards the end. First it reveals Weskers true intentions way to early. Second Jill and barry accidentally released the tyrant form its sleep not Wesker. Thirdly Wesker does not inject himself with the experimental virus so when the tyrant moratly wounds him he actually dies. When the mansion explodes Wesker's body burns in the fire instead of him getting up after the tyrant wounded him and escaped the mansion. So he isnt the main antagonist in the next books, unlike the official story. Next JIll, Barry, Rebecca, and chris all kill the tyrant instead of Chris (which is why Wesker hates him so much in the later games). The ending to the game and book is very different. I hope this review helps its really a good book thought.

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 were I snatched them all up on their release dates! Resident Evil: The Umbrella Conspiracy This first book sets the tone for all of the books to come in the series. This book is very well written and shows Jill and Chris’s point of view in parallel. It gives the reader a closer look into the minds of our favorite RE characters and provides a foundation for understanding their actions. This book covers just about every major plot point from the original game (not the GameCube REmake). This was the first book I have ever read in one sitting; I absolutely could not put it down until I was finished with it. Every person who considers themselves a RE fan should read this book if they haven’t already. If you have read it you should own it, because what kinda fan doesn’t own the books?! Crazy, I know. Overall I think this is my 2nd favorite book in the series. 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.

Wow. Surprised I haven't left a review yet. I was, somewhat, wary of reading this but was caught on a hyper fixation so I got a copy any. Thinking at least it'd be an addition to my collection. Quickly into reading I began buying the rest of the series. The characters are well written, expanding on what was given- at the time- without going against the characterization. Plenty of nods to in-game things like puzzles and monsters the works. While also giving insight to Wesker’s pov which I delighted in. Again I must remind this was OG RE Wesker so later retcons aren't present. It also ties together both Jill and Chris's storyline very nicely. I plan on rereading this sometime soon. 10/10 Recommendation

It's kind of funny reviewing a book on Amazon. Am I supposed to rate the book itself or the shipping and quality? Well, both are great. I used to own this book when it first came out decades ago. I work a job with a lot of sitting around so having something to read is nice. I absolutely love Resident Evil (In my top 3 favorite video game franchises), so it was easy to pivot to the books. This one details the first game's plot. It's pretty cool seeing how the writer tackled a game with a lot of backtracking and no linear path in the story. If you like Resident Evil, S.D. Perry did a service to the franchise with this series.

As a long time Resident Evil Fan(since RE2 in 98) My overall collection is vast consisting of most of the games,serious shirts,films,so while waiting for Resident Evil 7,I decided it was time to finally add one of the books to my collection. I had pretty much no expectation when I first started reading that would enhance on the many playthroughs I have done of Resident Evil 1. Now as most know this was written based on the original version and not the REmake it did not reflect any of the changes done. There was some before the game started chapters that I enjoyed and I simply loved the way Perry kept to the original storyline and the fact that Chris and Jill never traveled together and I was not dissapointed in the way she had wrote the way they sperated and it made perfect sense. It was a fantastic and clever thing to read. I however was dissapointed in some regards to the actual combat contained within the storyline. Some creatures such as the giant spiders,Neptune Shark and the second encounter with Yawn were not repersented. One such fact is that Jill encounters the Black Tiger boss and it had already been defeated when she found it,another is the fact not mentioning that Yawn survived the first fight and would be encountered again. Neptune is'nt even in the book at all. Other then then that I found the book to be perfect and a beautiful noval about a video game. If you are an oldschool diehard RE fan like myself,please check out this book you wont be disappointed.

FANTASTIC!!! Oh my gosh this is such a great book from SD Perry. She did an amazing job writing this. Book arrived in prestine condition. Thank you.

Worth the read if you played the first game. Minor changes from the game, but the story is the same. Sheds more light on the characters. I enjoyed this take on the events.

As a fan of the game series I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is non-cannon but really adds a lot to the game series and the characters.

Totalmente nuevo, excelentes condiciones.

A entrega foi bem rápida, chegou cinco dias antes do previsto e em perfeito estado, o livro é muito bonito e deixei também comparações com a versão em português nas fotos! Não tenho muito o que falar sobre a história, ela é perfeita e quem gosta do primeiro jogo vai entender o que estou falando: é uma adaptação perfeita e fiel. Um dos melhores livros que já li!

La storia del primo capitolo di Resident Evil. Poco da dire se non che è fatta bene e che mi ha convinto a comprare i successivi libri!