Resident Evil: City of The Dead is a novelization of the video game Resident Evil 2 published in 1999 by Stephani D. Perry. It is the third Resident Evil novel written by Perry and the fourth novel in chronological order. It was re-published in 2010.
Plot
" Leon Kennedy: an energetic and eager rookie cop looking forward to starting a new life in Raccoon City, only to find the town strangely deserted... the eerie evening silence broken only by an occasional footstep in the shadows, and the faint, unearthly moan of something close by... Claire Redfield: the resourceful but reckless younger sister of Chris Redfield, one of the missing former members of the RPD's special S.T.A.R.S. unit. Claire has come to Raccoon to find Chris at any cost, and to learn what really happened the night her brother's team stormed an isolated mansion deep in Raccoon Forest. But what she uncovers will raise only more questions, and put Chris's fate in doubt... For on this night, Raccoon City has become a necropolis. In a secret lab far beneath its once-bustling streets, a botched attempt by the Umbrella Corporation to retrieve a devastating mutagenic weapon has resulted in a horrifying viral outbreak, transforming every man, woman, and child in the city into one of the living dead. And all of them are hungry. Claire and Leon have one chance to save themselves: get to the RPD headquarters and find some means of escape. But others have sought refuge in the precinct as well, and not all of them are on the same side..."— Blurb |
The third novel starts with an introduction of newspaper articles (as in the first two novels) detailing information in the setting. Raccoon City is revealed to be hiring at least ten to fifteen new officers in response to the city's worries about the attacks that plagued it a few months before. The local S.T.A.R.S. branch has been disbanded thanks to Umbrella's influence, and are no longer present in the city. The last article details an attack on a woman by a supposed "drunk" stranger...
On the night of October 3, Leon Kennedy, a rookie officer, is due to arrive at Raccoon City that day, but winds up being late, due to over sleeping, and New York traffic. As he heads to the city, he muses over the cannibal attacks, and aspires to solve the attacks shortly after he arrives. Lost in his thoughts, he nearly has an accident as a zombie dog runs in front of his jeep. As he arrives in Raccoon City, he notices that the city is seemingly abandoned. Not knowing why, he sees a flock of crows leave the corpse of a partially devoured woman in the street. After examining the woman, he hears groans behind him, and is surrounded by zombies.
Meanwhile, Claire Redfield is on her way into Raccoon City, looking for her brother, Chris. She thinks over the lack of contact with Chris, and about the trouble with reaching him, noting that the lines seemed to be dead when calling anyone in Raccoon. Arriving in the city, she notes the city is abandoned as well, and stops at the diner where she and Chris usually meet when she frequently visits him however, the diner is empty. As she's about to leave, she hears a grunt in the corner. The grunt is revealed to be coming from a zombie as it devours a waitress. Claire is about to flee, when she sees that more zombies have assembled outside the front door. As she flees through the back door, she meets Leon. They run to a police car as zombies slowly outnumber them, before speeding down the streets. Unbeknown to them, a zombie was in the backseat, Leon purposefully crashes the car to keep it from biting Claire. As they recover, they see a truck speeding toward them, both escape by mere seconds before they're separated by the resulting explosion. Leon tells Claire to head to the police station and that they'll meet up later. Both make their way to the Police Department. Leon reaches the police department via the streets behind a gun shop, whose owner has been recently killed by zombies.
At the end, the S.T.A.R.S. Exeter, Maine branch arrive and evacuate the survivors.
Characters
- Leon S. Kennedy
- Claire Redfield
- Sherry Birkin
- Ada Wong - An agent sent by Trent to retrieve a sample of the G-Virus.
- Annette Birkin
Differences from Resident Evil 2
- It follows the scenario Leon A - Claire B, where Claire is pursued by the T-00 (whom she refers to as "Mr.X" as well as "Dr. Evil") and Leon fights William Birkin.
- Being released before Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, it has some continuity errors with it. Namely, the official Resident Evil 2 storyline starts on September 29.
- The book follows pretty close to the game scenario listed above, but almost all of the puzzles and keys needed are ignored entirely, or worked around to save time. The book also explains that Ada Wong has either solved most of the puzzles, or already had the keys beforehand. This in turn also explains how she was able to travel through the areas effortlessly. Ada's relationship with John Howe is further explained as well.
- This novel introduced Marvin's surname, "Branagh" to the English-speaking fanbase. It was later used in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.
- Instead of starting with the VP-70 (which Claire picks off of the Deceased Brian Irons), Leon begins with the custom Desert Eagle. This was later referenced by the airsoft manufacturer Tokyo Marui, who included a replica of the custom Desert Eagle with the name "Leon" engraved on the grip in their Biohazard line.
- Leon finds the Shotgun in the RPD ammo storage instead of the 3 locations in the game; none of the others including Claire's Grenade Launcher are found or mentioned by the other characters.
- When Leon enters the Kendo Gun Shop, the owner is already dead.
- HUNK is never mentioned, nor has any role in the story, but his team is only mentioned as "the men in the gas masks" by Annette. This is the only reference of them in the entire book.
Gallery
| Preceded By | Position | Succeeded By |
| Resident Evil: Caliban Cove | S.D Perry timeline | Resident Evil: Nemesis |
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