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Fantasy. Fiction. Horror. Science Fiction. HTML:Deadline is the electrifying and critically acclaimed sequel to Feed, the �??Astonishing�?� novel that launched the Newsflesh series �?? a saga of zombies, geeks, politics, social media, and the virus that runs through them all �?? from New York Times bestseller Mira Grant. "Deft cultural touches, intriguing science, and amped-up action will delight Grant's numerous fans." �??Publishers Weekly (starred review) Shaun Mason is a man without a mission. Not even running the news organization he built with his sister has the same urgency as it used to. Playing with dead things just doesn't seem as fun when you've lost as much as he has. But when a CDC researcher fakes her own death and appears on his doorstep with a ravenous pack of zombies in tow, Shaun has a newfound interest in life. Because she brings news�??he may have put down the monster who attacked them, but the conspiracy is far from dead. Now, Shaun hits the road to find what truth can be found at the end of a shotgun. More from Mira Grant: Newsflesh Feed Deadline Blackout Feedback Rise Praise for Feed: "I can't wait for the next book."�??N.K. Jemisin "It's a novel with as much brains as heart, and both are filling and delicious."�??The A. V. Club "Gripping, thrilling, and brutal... McGuire has crafted a masterpiece of suspense with engaging, appealing characters who conduct a soul-shredding examination of what's true and what's reported."�??Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) �??Feed is a proper thriller with zom… (more)
User reviews
On its own, Feed works very well. Most of the major plotlines are wrapped up, and we’re left with Shaun wondering what he’s going to do now that Georgia’s gone from his life. It’s a bittersweet and not necessarily a satisfactory ending—yes, the villains are dead, but Shaun’s world is shattered—but there’s no real major plot threads, and one could read Feed as a stand-alone. But there’s always more to the story.
Shaun was my favorite character from Feed, and picking up on the narration again, he does have a great voice. It’s made pretty clear in Feed that he’s not a bland copy of Georgia, and I like that a lot of his narration is pretty funny—not completely cynical, but you can tell how much Shaun’s been hurting since Georgia died. I also loved how Shaun’s grief and conversations with Georgia were handled. A lesser writer would have probably shoehorned the idea that Shaun was either going crazy or that his talking to Georgia was his method of coping, but Grant never gives us that viewpoint. I like that it’s more apparent that most people think that Shaun’s doing one of the above, but we do see his coworkers brushing it off as Shaun acting normal. And I also loved that no one told Shaun, “She’s dead, get over it.” I liked that Shaun’s grieving was addressed, and that it’s still raw for him, no matter how long it’s been.
In the first book, it was really easy to forget that the After the End Times wasn’t just Buffy, Georgia and Shaun running the whole site on their own, with the dirty work being handled by Mahir. I loved finally getting to see the rest of the team in full force here. It’s saying something that Mira Grant can introduce me to a new character, place them in a dangerous situation and me rooting for them to get out as soon as they could. (Daaaaaaave.) I loved the whole team, especially in how they all worked together. It never felt like they all had one role to fill and that’s all they were good for; I liked that Shaun asked for everyone’s input on the situation. Despite what happens in the book, I do ship Becks/Shaun (or Poking Dead Things. Can that be a ship name? No? Maybe?)—I loved their chemistry together, not just as a romantic pairing, but as colleagues and friends.
Kelly Connelly and her run from the CDC brings a whole new level to the massive conspiracy in the first book. While Tate did feel like a one-off maniacal villain, you could also argue that the CDC’s plans are just as maniacal and make no sense. Why would the Center for Disease Control want to stop studying reservoir conditions and a way to potentially cure or halt the development of Kellis-Amberlee? No, it doesn’t make any sense. But I’m interested in knowing why and following Shaun and his team as they hunt down the truth. Also, can I point out the brilliant pay-off with Kelly’s story when she first shows up in Oakland? It may seem like it’s out of left field with the talk of cloning and the ethical issues behind full-body cloning, only to be dropped when it’s revealed “OH BY THE WAY, reservoir conditions can cause amplification but then the subject can fight off the infection.”
(Also, Dr. Abbey is the best, I love her. She may be a rogue mad scientist, but she doesn’t give Shaun a lot of bullshit, and is willing to help him, so long as he plays ball. And she infected an octopus with KA.)
The greatest strength in the book is the amount of tension. After the zombie outbreak in Oakland, every time the group went on the move, I was on the edge of my seat. That last trip from Tennessee to Weed was just horrible. I’m not someone who reacts to a lot of jump scares—namely, because I can see them coming and I tend to ignore the part when the scary thing pops up. But when you’ve got something like an eerily silent trip across the United States, and not seeing a single person the whole team, I was just waiting for a zombie to pop out or guns to start firing. And it just made the eventual reveal even worse. You would think reading thirty pages of boring road trip scene would be…well, boring, but knowing that not one of these characters is safe, it made it worse.
Mira Grant takes the rule of great sequels—take everything great about the first book, and amp it up to eleven—and doubles it. If I hadn’t been doing a read-along, I probably would have finished this within two or three days, because I needed to know what happens next. I cannot wait to start Blackout and see how this all ends. (I’m going to assume it will have a lot of tears and nuns.)
Turns out I didn’t have to worry, because George is still a very large part of this book, if only in Shaun’s head. Rather than
The events of the first book left everyone in this one more than a little shell-shocked, and the trauma affects many of their actions. I liked that this book gave us a little more of an idea of what things are like in the rest of the country, away from the big cities, when you’re not surrounded by security and RVs.
One of the more interesting aspects of this series is the author’s imagined evolution of bloggers and blogging, where they become the real truth tellers of society. I think it’s become an even more compelling vision in light of what has been accomplished (good and bad) with social media in the last couple of years.
There were big doings at the end of this book, and a major cliff-hanger. I’ll definitely be reading the third.
I loved Deadline. As with the first book, I was completely glued to the page within the first chapter. If I had my way, I would have sat and read this book for as long as it took me to finish it. But in real life, pesky things like eating and sleeping forced me to reluctantly put the book down. The aspect that struck me the most was the detail in describing the Kellis-Amberlee virus and how it works. I’m always interested in the science aspect of zombies because I like the zombie mechanics to actually make sense within the world. This virus is the most unique I’ve ever read because a dormant version of it is in each and every person. I really couldn’t have asked for more scientific detail, which made the world incredibly realistic. When I read the book, I felt fully immersed in this wonderful and terrible world that seemed so much like our own.
In Feed, I noticed Shaun, but he didn’t honestly make a huge impact with me. Georgia’s character outshined him, mostly due to the fact the she narrated that book. He really shines in Deadline and has many more facets than I previously thought. Fiercely loyal and quick to anger, Shaun is an emotional character who feels crazy and broken since his sister died. The only one who really understands him is her voice in his head. He knows she’s dead and not really speaking to him, but the inner voice still provides insight and guidance. Shaun grew as a character from being shallow and adventure seeking to someone more fragile and serious. Through all of his pain, he never once gives up on finding answers. I enjoyed getting to know Shaun. I really want to reread Feed now and pay more attention to his character to better see the changes he’s gone through.
Deadline is a relentless adventure. The plot doesn’t stop and alternates between heart-stopping adventure and slow burning mystery solving. I like that this book is half action movie and half cerebral mystery. The ending is completely shocking, but sets up the next book. I’m glad Deadline isn’t a typical second book, where it’s typically just filler for the finale. I can’t wait for the next book and I would recommend this to all zombie fans.
His sister might be dead, but Shaun Mason still runs the most popular news blogging site in the post-zombie-apocalyptic world. So when a CDC science goes rogue with her knowledge of the virus
It's rare that I enjoy the second in a series as much as the first. They usually lose half a star, at least. This time I'm just as impressed. It's a combination of the story's breakneck pace, the way it all feels real and possible, and the hints of more conspiracy right down the road. Seen this time from Shaun's perspective rather than Georgia's, the world is a bit new again, and that really helps keep it fresh. He's a little bit of a psycho for me (he wants to punch nearly everyone in the face) but even that is tempered by the idea, "Who wouldn't be that psycho at this point?" And if the world is populated by people who all seem to be either Shaun's age or his parents' age, that pretty much works with the blogger mentality.
Great stuff. I'm just annoyed I read it so quickly after release, and now have to wait a year for the third book.
Still, I really like this series- both "Deadline" and the earlier volume "Feed" (which is an utterly brilliant title for it!).
(I do have some quibbles with the science- which I wouldn't have if it had more hand-waving and less attempts to be explicit;
Anyway- mostly it's a thriller, and a truly excellent one that i enjoyed very much indeed, and i'm greatly looking forward to the next installment.
If you haven't read the first volume of Mira Grant's (pen name of Urban Fantasy author and John W. Campbell award winner Seanan McGuire) Newsflesh trilogy (Feed) be warned that there are spoilers for that here. You have been warned!
Okay, if you're still reading I'm going to assume that you've read Feed and jump straight into Deadline. It picks up a few months after the end of Feed and is narrated in first person by Shaun Mason. Ever since his adoptive sister George died in Feed, Shaun has been a lost person. He and George were one person, they just happened to share two bodies. Without George, poking zombies with a stick isn't fun anymore.
Shaun still runs the news blogging site (The End of the World Times) that he and his sister founded, but he's not active in the field anymore, and the guy who really runs the organisation is their man in London; Mahir Gowda. Shaun wants to stay out of the spotlight and deal with the mess his life is without Georgia. Being an Irwin, Shaun never really had a firm grip on sanity, but George's death seems to have knocked it looser than ever. She's dead and he still talks to her...and she answers back.
That's how it is until a refugee from the CDC (Centre for Disease Control); Dr Kelly Connolly, turns up on his doorstep and the subsequent spontaneous zombie outbreak manages to destroy their headquarters in Oakland. Events that also lead to the book's first significant death. From then on it's Shaun and his team of motley outlaw bloggers against the world, as it becomes clear they're about to blow the lid off one of the biggest cover ups in world history.
I'll make it clear that I adored Feed. It was one of my favourite reads of 2010, and I'm tickled pink that it's been deservedly nominated for the Hugo this year. I went into Deadline with some big expectations and for the most part it meets them. Not to say that it isn't without it's problems. It suffers from the lack of George and my own favourite character from Feed; techno whiz Fictional, Georgette 'Buffy' Messonier. I liked Shaun okay in Feed when he was filtered through Georgia's perspective, but with his somewhat hazy hold on sanity, and having him as the primary narrator makes him into a bit of an arsehole and somewhat hard to identify with. However I did like the urbane, anglo Indian Mahir Gowda and was glad he got a bigger role in Deadline. I also warmed to Shaun's fellow Irwin Rebecca 'Becks' Atherton, and head Fictional Magdalene 'Maggie' Garcia and her herd of miniature epileptic bulldogs were also suitably quirky. While, she was also at times a pain in the backside (possibly this is a side effect of living in a world where anyone can spontaneously turn into a flesh eating zombie), I was quite impressed with the no nonsense, tough talking, renegade medical researcher Dr Shannon Abbey.
Deadline does suffer a little from 'second book in a trilogy' syndrome in that for the first half of the book it's quite heavy on the exposition. It does a lot of 'this is what you missed' early on, before it gets into the new story. I do understand that not everyone picks up trilogies from the first book, but I felt this was overdone and I also would have appreciated a little less of Shaun explaining to everyone that he does talk to his dead sister and she talks back, but he's not all the way crazy.
Once you get over the half way mark the story ratchets up a notch or twelve, the action gets really tense and full on and the body count rises. As with Feed, I began to become concerned for the key members of the cast and know that not everyone was going to make it to the final page. Mira Grant is a master at this and I love her and her work for it.
After reading the Coda of Deadline and saying 'WTF?!' (anyone who says they saw that coming is lying) I'm now eagerly awaiting Blackout next year.
When will you rise?
I spent a fair bit of last month looking for a good "airplane book." You know, something fast-paced and fun, something engaging but not too demanding. You wouldn't think that would be
But, while I did like the first book in the series, I just didn't expect this one to be quite as enjoyable, mainly because I thought the most appealing aspect of Feed was in the thoughtful, surprisingly believable way that it explained the zombie plague and explored the social consequences of living in a post-zombie-apocalypse world. And I didn't figure there was a whole lot more to say about that. But if anything, I actually I liked this one better. It does, in fact, explore the zombie-animating disease and its implications a little more, but mostly it's just a fun read.
It's certainly not a perfect or flawless book. Among other things, the conspiracy plot may require more suspension of disbelief than the zombies. But, boy, did it scratch the itch. Or, at least, it would have if it hadn't ended on a huge, WTF-ish cliffhanger. When the heck is book three coming out?
It’s been one year since Georgia Mason’s death and her brother Shaun is still struggling. Chasing zombies
This book focuses less on the actual zombies than Feed did and more on investigating deeper into the conspiracy uncovered in Feed. I’ll admit that some of the more scientific aspects discovered about the Kellis-Amberlee virus that were explained in this book were hard for me to follow. I’m not sure if that’s my fault or the author’s. I’m hoping that it will all make perfect sense after I read the final book in the trilogy, Blackout. (It doesn’t come out until June 2012. Boo!)
The one thing that bothered me in this book and that kept it from being a five-star review is some repetitiveness. It seems like we are constantly reminded that Shaun drinks Coke even though he doesn’t really want to and that he is probably crazy. That got a little irritating after a while – we can tell Shaun is crazy because he acts crazy.
Overall though I thought this book was fantastic. It took my breath away at times just like Feed and the ending left my head spinning. I can’t wait to read Blackout.
Yes, the first one was better, but this is the middle book of a trilogy. You have to read Feed first.
The people who complained about not enough zombies in the first one, will really hate this one.
There's a considerable amount of exposition in this book, which recaps events from the first book. This is good for readers who may have picked up the books out of sequence (but why would they when Feed is so awesome?!). However, it was sometimes annoying for me, as I have read Feed and because the exposition is reiterated occasionally and sometimes unnecessarily at different points in the story. But this was an easily ignored flaw for me as the story was thrilling enough to keep me going.
One of the great things about the first book was Grant's (the pen name for Seanan McGuire) love and exploration of virology. The science comes through making the disease of the undead seem logical and possible. Top that off with a set of cool characters who you want to root for, and you've got a rocking good book.
There are revelations in this book that change the entire way you read the last book, so that after you read this book, you may want to go back and read that one again too. Be forewarned that there is something in this book (yes, other than zombies) that may be a little too much 'squick' for some of you. But it is very tastefully done, and while a major part of the plot, the details are left between the lines, for the most part.
I grew to love the characters so much that the fact that I know Blackout (the third in the trilogy) will be their last appearance makes me indescribably sad. In addition to the kind of characters, few and far between, who become part of you, the book has some awesome 'what-if' apocalyptic science. It's believable and gripping and heartbreaking. If you don't want to read this more than you want to eat lunch by the time you've finished this review, I haven't done my job well enough. Someday, someone will make a list of seminal horror classics of the 21st century. This trilogy will be on that list.
This story doesn't spend so much time meandering and focuses much more clearly on the horribleness of the source of the zombie apocalypse. And it the explanation for the zombies was well-done, believable, and terrifying. You know... I'd even go nearly as far as to say that you don't have to read the first book at all - other than one recurring character playing an odd role (and a nice twist), the stories are pretty independent.
This book doesn't spin off into unrelated tangents, and the characters take reasonable actions to deal with the situations they find themselves in, for the most part. Sure, they're extremely lucky to get away with everything they do, but, really, there has to be some suspension of disbelief in a zombie book...
No doubt at all that I'll be buying the next book in this series.
After the death of his sister, Shaun is at a loss as to what to do with his life. Then a doctor from the CDC shows up with some really interesting data and Shaun is drawn into a plot that is bigger than him and his sister ever dreamed. Now Shaun and he fellow bloggers are trying to unravel the plot around the virus before someone stops them, like terminally stops them.
This book was absolutely engrossing and just full of awesomeness! If you enjoyed the first book you will enjoy this one. This book is told from Shaun's perspective, although Georgia is present as a voice in Shaun's head. There are a wonderful cast of characters, some new, most of them old favorites from the first book.
The book alternates between heart-pounding action scenes and periods where the characters are trying to piece together the conspiracy and mystery surrounding Georgia's death. There is definitely some heartbreak in this book, people die as to be expected in a zombie book. But this is so much more than a zombie book. There is discussion on disease, conspiracy, blogging, and conditioning humanity as a whole to live in fear. Grant does an excellent job discussing these things and obviously has done a lot of medical research as well as techie research.
As with the last book each chapter opens with blog entries from the characters involved; included are some previously unpublished blog entries from Georgia. The plot has many twists and turns and is well-woven and completely unpredictable at times.
For the most part I absolutely loved this book but there are a couple things that might bother readers. Grant does a lot of recapping throughout; I personally like this because it's been a while since I read the first book, Feed. I think readers who have recently read Feed might find the amount of recapping frustrating. Also having Georgia as a voice in Shaun's head is weird, I think it does really tie into the story later, but in this book it was just kind of strange at times.
Those who have decided not to read this series because it is a "zombie" series, should really give it a try. It is about so much more than zombies. It is about searching for the truth, empowering humanity to make their own decisions, conspiracy, and disease control. There is a lot about blogging in here too, which I love because obviously I blog a lot :-)
Overall an absolutely steller addition to this series. I loved Feed and I loved this book too. If you haven't read these books you should they are awesome. I love the characters, love the plot, love the accuracy of detail, and loved the fact that I couldn't put this book down. Everyone should check this book out! I can't wait to read Blackout next year.
"Shaun Mason is a man without a mission. Not even running the news organization he built with his sister has the same urgency as it used to. Playing with dead things just doesn't seem as fun when you've lost as much as he has.
But when a CDC researcher fakes her own death and
Now, Shaun hits the road to find what truth can be found at the end of a shotgun."
My Thoughts:
I couldn't seem to coherently come up with my own summary of this book without giving away spoilers so I decided to use the above summary. I adored this book! Loved it so much that after turning the last page (and reading the little bonus section in the back) I was ready to start it all over again. I'm going to admit that I didn't think that it could live up to the amazingness that was Feed. But I'm happy to say that Deadline was JUST as good as Feed! That's two, blow me out of the water, recommend to everyone, AMAZING books that make up a trilogy. I cannot read Blackout. How could it possibly live up to these two books??? These may be two of my favorite books ever.
One of the things that I loved about Feed was how surprised I was that I fell in love with the book. It was just SO good and the ending...all of it knocked me over in reading ecstasy. When I started Deadline I was excited to be reading it but I was super nervous as well. I was sure that I wasn't going to enjoy it as much...there was just no possible way to love it as much as the previous book. But it instantly sucked me back into Shaun's world and I loved every minute of it! I keep using the word love but there is no other way to describe it. I adored each and every page of this book and was left wanting more. This book instantly skyrocketed to my top 10 reads of 2012...heck, it may be my favorite book that I read this year. I suppose it is too soon to tell but it could be. I haven't really told you anything about this book and I'm not going to. I think that you should go into reading these books with little to no knowledge of the plot so you have no expectations. Just expect awesomeness. And if you ask me for a book recommendation I'm probably going to mention these. Just saying :)
Bottom Line: An amazing read. An amazing 2nd book in this trilogy. One of my favorites easily! What else could you possibly need to know???
Disclosure: I purchased my copy of this book from the now closed Borders bookstore. BEST purchase ever!!!!
I recognize that this book has flaws, but I really don't care. I found it emotionally engaging, fast-paced, funny
Shaun remains the only hero in this book having lost all his team in the previous one. However we still get Georgia's
Instead we have a fairly normal conspircacy story with a few zombies thorwn in instead of on-the-ball security guards. The first time was just about at the cusp of belivability, the 2nd was frankly shoddy. No organisation should be making security errors at the level that allows a couple of kids to just walk in. Twice. Somehow the tension wasn't quite there either nor was that sense of wonder at the way the world turned out. It was all close, but just not quite as compelling as in the f1st book. In some respects Shaun acknowledges this because his sens of fun as an Irwin has left him, and he now heads the Newsies and only ventures intot he field when necessary. The banter and personalities between the team remain impressive.
Not as good, but still worth reading. As the first chapter of the third book is tagged on the end, I can definetrly say I'll be reading it, but my WTF meter will be running on overload.
One good thing about
Or, on the downside, quite so surprised.
On the one hand, Deadline is seriously awesome. The main plot picks up on one of the unexplored element of FEED that I badly wanted to know more about – already a good sign – namely the reservoir conditions, like George’s ocular Kellis-Amberlee. What spurs those conditions, what do they mean for the overall evolution of the virus? The answer, DEADLINE’S first really killer twist, sends Shaun on a hunt for more information that ultimately blows the conspiracy he (and George) had begun to crack in FEED wide open.
But for all that, I’m not ready to pass judgment on DEADLINE. I’m not ready to call it a success. It leaves too many questions unanswered.
For example: In DEADLINE, Georgia lives on in Shaun’s mind as a figment of his imagination. She chats with him, they have conversations. Everyone, even Shaun, sees this as a sign of mental illness. He can’t let go, he can’t move on, so instead he has a relationship with an imaginary Georgia.
But throughout the novel, Georgia supplies ideas and information that Shaun couldn’t generate on his own. She knows facts that he wouldn’t remember, processes information faster than he would, and remembers character quirks about their friends and employees that he never knew. She seems like an independent entity, and Shaun doesn’t seem crazy. Even his willingness to admit that he’s crazy is proof that he’s not crazy.
I know that the NEWSFLESH series are zombie books, so clearly there’s an element of the magical or impossible, but that’s why I appreciate Mira Grant’s incessant discussion of virology. Aside from the fact that I find it interesting, it’s kind of like a pledge. She’s promising to keep her alternate reality as real as possible. She tells us about things like yellow fever and malaria to reassure us that she’s basing her pseudo-science on real world phenomena.
So what’s up with George in Shaun’s head? There’s no realism or pseudo-science to her disembodied voice. It’s impossible. I hope Mira Grant has a good explanation for this, but until I hear it I’m going to be worried that there’s a huge element of the book that’s impossible and magical and makes no sense.
There are other examples, but that’s the biggest and the safest to discuss, since it’s present from the beginning.
FEED could have been a standalone novel. It felt like one to me. DEADLINE is not just a sequel, it’s an obvious link in a chain. That makes it less impressive in some ways, but has the potential to make the series as a whole much stronger. By the end of the book, the post-Rising status quo is over. Add up all the revelations and all the curveballs, and there’s an endgame in sight. The zombies are going to take over or they’re going to lose everything. And, whoever’s narrating, Grant is going to keep us in the thick of it.
Feed was one of my very
These books are pretty massive, roughly 600 pages each, so they take some reading, even for a speed demon like myself. The world building in this series is freaking mind-blowing. I cannot even put into words how good it is. Grant has so many details, all intricately woven so it never feels like you're sitting back for fifty years of exposition. Well, at least, that's how I feel. I know some readers have been turned off by all of the focus on politics and science, but I loved that, even though science and politics are pretty much at the top of the list of things I hate.
Despite the length, I really never felt like the plot of Deadline dragged. I was constantly eager to keep moving and find out what was going to happen next. This book made me cry, made me laugh, made me seriously concerned for the state of humanity, and made me go WTF just happened (Ending, you were cray...why do I not have Blackout now?). You should definitely watch out for Grant's humor, which can be found throughout. She has this great, dark sense of humor that just kills me. For example, she describes grocery shopping in the post-Rising world as "not an activity for the faint of heart" (345). Yes, you do learn about grocery shopping in a zombie-afflicted world. The characters are all vibrant and feel so real. In a lot of ways, her style reminds me of Joss Whedon. Just saying.
At this point, I'm going tell all you peeps who haven't read Feed to bounce. Either go read my review for that book or, even better, GO BUY FEED AND READ IT RIGHT NOW. The rest of this review will have crazy insane SPOILERS for Feed, so I really don't want anyone without any knowledge of book one continuing on. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Usually, this is not a plot line I would be able to handle, but Grant has done it so well. See, the thing is that George and Shaun had only each other for so many years. They are more closely bound to one another than Heathcliff and Catherine, on top of being a million times less obnoxious. Because of this, it makes sense that he can't let her go completely. In fact, the only thing keeping him going is his need for revenge on whoever orchestrated her death, because Shaun's not buying Tate as a mastermind. Where Feed delved into corruption in politics, Deadline focuses on the medical profession, and the truths of Kellis-Amberlee. I don't want to go into any more detail than that, because that might detract from your joy on the journey. Just know that it's amazing.
Mira Grant's Newsflesh Trilogy is, without a doubt, my favorite zombie fiction. With complete honesty, I can think of NOTHING that I would like to change about them. I could open the book up at random to any page, any of them, and find a quote I love. For me, the writing, tone, pacing, humor, world and characters are all absolutely perfect.