Caliban Cove (Resident Evil #2) is a 1998 science fiction horror novel written by S. D. Perry and published with Pocket Books.  Set in between the events of Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2, the story follows Rebecca Chambers and former members of S.T.A.R.S. who travel to Caliban Cove to stop a madman from unleashing a new virus upon the world.

The story follows combat medic and biochemist Rebecca Chambers, the sole survivor of Bravo Team, who joins a new Task Force who seek out to stop the Umbrella experiments.  Rumor has it that a new threat is building in Caliban Cove, Maine, where a madman is building an army of the dead.  Now, the former S.T.A.R.S. embark on a mission to stop the madman from unleashing the new biohazard onto the world.

The story is pretty interesting as we see a the typical Resident Evil formula changed up.  The problem is that the story isn’t compelling.  There is nothing significant or standout about it, no interesting twists to keep readers guessing. The story doesn’t really offer much more to expand upon the Resident Evil lore.  (3 out of 5)

The main character is Rebecca Chambers, a member of the growing anti-Umbrella group.  Along with her are S.T.A.R.S. members David Trapp, Steve Lopez, John Andrews, and Karen Driver.  There is a serious lack of character development for most of the characters and as likable as the S.T.A.R.S. members are, they’re not really that memorable.

Nicolas Griffith is the main antagonist and former biochemist who has designed a virus to relieve humans of their thoughts.  Honestly, he is one of the flattest characters in the entire series.  Resident Evil is filled with mentally unstable geniuses who all of a sudden believe they’re better than normal people so they create scenarios where they feel in control.  Griffith is very much the same way and that is a problem.  He has literally no motivation, no way for readers to connect with him; there is nothing to the characters whatsoever. (2 out of 5)

S.D. Perry’s writing style is pretty decent and the story goes at a good pace. Characters do have their own unique voice and do feel slightly flushed out. The horror based sequences are pretty gruesome and Perry does a good job of painting a pretty vivid picture.  Liked how the direction the story begins going but it does dive into a generic good guys versus bad guys scenario.  The Caliban Cove setting is decent but hardly memorable. (3 out of 5)

The Verdict:  In the end, Caliban Cove (Resident Evil #2) is a decent read but not a memorable one.  Liked the direction it goes but it ultimately becomes bland.  Despite how awesome Chambers is, the writing, and the interesting premise, the story suffer from a lackluster setting, story, and villain. Caliban Cove (Resident Evil #2) gets 3 out of 5.