Series: Newsflesh
Publisher: Orbit, 2011
Genre: Horror
Sub-genre: Post-apocalyptic
Rating: 4 pints of blood
It's Halloween, and therefore it seems appropriate to post a review for a zombie book. And not just any zombie book, but the sequel to my favourite book of last year. I fell madly, madly in love with Feed when I read it last year, so it's no surprise I'd want to dig up the sequel. Yeah, ok, it took me a year to get to it, but after being so completely blown away by the first book, I was afraid the second just wouldn't quite hold up.
They've basically stuck with one formula for the cover of all three books in the Newsflesh trilogy, each with a slightly different background colour and a different insignia on the front, but otherwise the concept is very much the same. This is what I had to say about the cover for the first book:
Because the cover art is so similar, I could basically say all the same things this time around. So... there you go! Instant cover commentary!
It's not possible for me to be able to talk about this book without thoroughly spoiling Feed. Really, even discussing the premise pretty much spoils everything from the first book, so if you haven't read book one, do not enter ye hence. Instead, get thyself to the review of book one, or better yet, get thyself a copy of book one and read it. It's a very, very good read, so why not?
Unable to recover from the death of his sister, Shaun is barely holding on to the blog they created together. Having lost the heart to take the risks he once took on for fun, he's passed on the Irwin torch, doing his best to ignore the people trying to convince him to return to his place in the field poking zombies with a stick.
He's spurred into motion, however, when a former CDC employee shows up on his doorstep, having just faked her death to escape someone who's trying to silence the research she's been doing --research related to the conspiracy that killed George, which turns out to be bigger and further-reaching than anyone would have suspected. He might not be quite right in the head, but he can still be motivated by the one thing in the world that still matters to him.
While there's been some time for Shaun and company since the Ryman campaign and Georgia's death, for all intents and purposes Deadline picks up right where Feed left off. Shaun is still struggling both emotionally and questioning his sanity as he hears his dead sister speak to him (and occasionally argue with him). For those of us who loved George, this is lovely, since it keeps her very present in the book. It also provides an interesting few moments where the reader questions whether what Shaun is hearing might be real, if he's not crazy and his sister could actually be communicating with him somehow. It's lovely and sneaky because Shaun never considers this. He's not only accepted that everyone around him thinks he's less than perfectly sane, but he agrees with them, which makes him a fascinating narrator.
This is very much a middle of the trilogy type of book. It relies on the previous book to set it up, and leaves off with more questions than answers, including a dramatic cliffhanger. Fortunately, book three is already available, so if you're the type of reader who can't stand cliffhangers, this shouldn't dissuade you too much, since you can just head immediately into the next story to resolve things.
After a slow start, which serves more to establish Shaun's state of mind than anything else, the story begins to pick up, and once again we enter a world in which any character could possibly die. I spent most of the book terribly afraid my favourite characters would be killed, and if Grant saw my nervous reading, she'd probably laugh most maniacally, evil genius that she is. I can't say this is a book I couldn't put down, because I did put it down several times. You know how sometimes you'll be reading something and you have to pause a moment to absorb what you've just read because it was just too big to keep running merrily along? Deadline is full of those moments. There are a ton of little surprise moments in there.
There are a couple of plot twists that from a lesser writer would feel gimmicky, and with someone else I'd roll my eyes and whine about them. Coming from Grant, however, I have to believe she's building up to something, and I'm more than willing to let her do the convincing, because at this point she's earned that bit of reader trust.
Deadline is available in paperback
or as an e-book
.
Publisher: Orbit, 2011
Genre: Horror
Sub-genre: Post-apocalyptic
Rating: 4 pints of blood
It's Halloween, and therefore it seems appropriate to post a review for a zombie book. And not just any zombie book, but the sequel to my favourite book of last year. I fell madly, madly in love with Feed when I read it last year, so it's no surprise I'd want to dig up the sequel. Yeah, ok, it took me a year to get to it, but after being so completely blown away by the first book, I was afraid the second just wouldn't quite hold up.
They've basically stuck with one formula for the cover of all three books in the Newsflesh trilogy, each with a slightly different background colour and a different insignia on the front, but otherwise the concept is very much the same. This is what I had to say about the cover for the first book:
Having read the book, I can understand how relevant the cover is. I like the idea behind it a lot, and while I usually do like simplicity in a book cover, this one just isn't very striking. I'm not sure why exactly. It's certainly different from what else is out there, and the blood is effective without going over-the-top. So why don't I feel more than "meh" about this cover? I don't know, but it's never jumped out at me, despite having been on my radar for quite some time. And that's probably part of the reason I've never picked it up before. Yes, I am shallow, but that's not a new revelation.
Because the cover art is so similar, I could basically say all the same things this time around. So... there you go! Instant cover commentary!
It's not possible for me to be able to talk about this book without thoroughly spoiling Feed. Really, even discussing the premise pretty much spoils everything from the first book, so if you haven't read book one, do not enter ye hence. Instead, get thyself to the review of book one, or better yet, get thyself a copy of book one and read it. It's a very, very good read, so why not?
Unable to recover from the death of his sister, Shaun is barely holding on to the blog they created together. Having lost the heart to take the risks he once took on for fun, he's passed on the Irwin torch, doing his best to ignore the people trying to convince him to return to his place in the field poking zombies with a stick.
He's spurred into motion, however, when a former CDC employee shows up on his doorstep, having just faked her death to escape someone who's trying to silence the research she's been doing --research related to the conspiracy that killed George, which turns out to be bigger and further-reaching than anyone would have suspected. He might not be quite right in the head, but he can still be motivated by the one thing in the world that still matters to him.
While there's been some time for Shaun and company since the Ryman campaign and Georgia's death, for all intents and purposes Deadline picks up right where Feed left off. Shaun is still struggling both emotionally and questioning his sanity as he hears his dead sister speak to him (and occasionally argue with him). For those of us who loved George, this is lovely, since it keeps her very present in the book. It also provides an interesting few moments where the reader questions whether what Shaun is hearing might be real, if he's not crazy and his sister could actually be communicating with him somehow. It's lovely and sneaky because Shaun never considers this. He's not only accepted that everyone around him thinks he's less than perfectly sane, but he agrees with them, which makes him a fascinating narrator.
This is very much a middle of the trilogy type of book. It relies on the previous book to set it up, and leaves off with more questions than answers, including a dramatic cliffhanger. Fortunately, book three is already available, so if you're the type of reader who can't stand cliffhangers, this shouldn't dissuade you too much, since you can just head immediately into the next story to resolve things.
After a slow start, which serves more to establish Shaun's state of mind than anything else, the story begins to pick up, and once again we enter a world in which any character could possibly die. I spent most of the book terribly afraid my favourite characters would be killed, and if Grant saw my nervous reading, she'd probably laugh most maniacally, evil genius that she is. I can't say this is a book I couldn't put down, because I did put it down several times. You know how sometimes you'll be reading something and you have to pause a moment to absorb what you've just read because it was just too big to keep running merrily along? Deadline is full of those moments. There are a ton of little surprise moments in there.
There are a couple of plot twists that from a lesser writer would feel gimmicky, and with someone else I'd roll my eyes and whine about them. Coming from Grant, however, I have to believe she's building up to something, and I'm more than willing to let her do the convincing, because at this point she's earned that bit of reader trust.
Deadline is available in paperback
or as an e-book.2 comments | Leave a comment
