Deadline

The Newsflesh Trilogy, Book 2

By: Mira Grant

Narrated by: Chris Patton, Nell Geisslinger

Length: 15 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

This electrifying sequel from the New York Times bestselling author of Feed reenters a world of zombies, geeks, politics, social media, and the virus that runs through them all.

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

Listen to more in the Newsflesh Trilogy.

©2011 Mira Grant (P)2011 Hachette

Critic reviews

"Astonishing ... a fascinating exploration of the future."—New York Times

"Deft cultural touches, intriguing science, and amped-up action will delight Grant's numerous fans."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"OK, all of you readers who want something weighty and yet light, campy and yet smart, horror with heart, a summer beach read that will stay in your head and whisper to you "what if," Deadline is just what you are looking for."—RT Book Reviews

excessive profanity

the first book had profanity sprinkle throughout. this book has it almost every other word, and made it difficult to listen to. the stories is good though, and I just suffered through the unnecessary barrage of F-bombs

Live-Blogging the Apocalypse

Where does Deadline rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I'm still only in my first few months of audiobooking, but Deadline is in the higher tier. I've really liked the performances for the Newsflesh books, and I've liked the books themselves a lot, as well.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Deadline?

Oh, come now: Spoilers.

Okay, I can do this. I would have to say that one of the most memorable moments of Deadline was George Mason, in the van outside the lab, talking to himself.

That's pretty spoiler-free, I think.

Any additional comments?

Feed, the first book in this series, surprised the crap out of me. In my review, I explain how Feed is made up of a collection of tropes and plots and stuff that I strongly dislike, as a rule. And yet I loved the book. Seanan McGuire understands reader investment and she understands her genre, and everything about the book that I am naturally inclined to hate works fantastically because of it. Deadline is no different in this respect, picking up where Feed left off and going to interesting places with it. Some of those places are surprising in their freshness, and others are gleeful in their familiarity (see: the final scene), but all are interesting. My only complaint is that, unlike Feed, the exposition in this book does have a tendency to drag, with characters repeating known information one or two too many times, or with characters failing too often to understand information that is perfectly clear. This gets frustrating, but it does not undermine the text.

Solid book but the end...

Deadline is a solid continuation of the Newsflesh trilogy. It picks up in the not too distant future after “Feed” and has plenty of zombie action as well as the overarching conspiracy of the trilogy, and leaves you with a “WTF” moment at the end. The main character shifts between stories for obvious reasons, and despite Shaun’s partial mental break and short temper, I find myself still liking him, or at least rooting for him. Even in a series I like books that can stand on its own as a story, rather than a way to get you to buy the next book. The first one was like that, but with the way this ended I really feel as if I’m missing out if I don’t read the third book, but other than that I can’t really complain.

The performance by Chris Patton was great, he really brought the characters to life.

THE ABSOLUTE PLOT TWIST AT THE END

I was already enjoying this series, but the ending of this book? Oh my goodness!

A Zombie apocalypse conspiracy theory!

I did read the first book in this series. - and I liked it well enough - but it doesn't hold a candle to this one... not even close. The first book was more like an adventure story set in a world that had zombies, this one is a zombie apocalypse conspiracy theory - it's darker, scarier and much better plotted/paced than the first book. And did I mention that it's scarier?? It's not scarier because it's more horrifying or gory, but because you'll wonder "what if scientists could really do any of this'?

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 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 manage to get away with, 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.

A great middle chapter in trilogy

What did you love best about Deadline?

Shaun trying to live his life after what happened in Feed. He has a "odd" way of handling it. I won't say more because I don't reveal spoilers. Read Feed first.

What other book might you compare Deadline to and why?

Besides Feed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and probably Zoe Martinique Investigation series.

Which scene was your favorite?

The last couple chapters are great and stunning.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

A scene where a character in the first book betrays our main characters. Just how deep is this conspiracy?

Any additional comments?

Several reviewers have had issue with the change in narrators. The female narrator isn't heard very much, so it's no loss there. The male is different, but I believe it works because the Feed male narrator is jokey and goofy and the Deadline narrator is more serious, since the events in Feed have changed him. I think both narrators did good jobs.

Just when you thought it couldn't get worse

it gets worse...

The election's over. Lots of people are dead. And someone shows up to tell the survivors why.

And then they get mad and do something about it.

Medical mystery thriller in a zombie-infested world.

really enjoying this series.

I really am enjoying this series however this book is read from the male perspective. I do not like the idea of switching the person narrating it. as well as when they do the girl voice they no longer include the original female voice. Just a little something to throw me off from the story and make it harder to get back into the book. sure hope for book three they don't change it around again

The Suspense is Perfection!

This is honestly a book I will use to study the art of writing suspense. There is a bit close to the end where they are driving through a storm, and the writing kept me up until 4am. It was fantastic, and I look forward to listening to the other books in this series. Thank you so much for writing this chef's kiss of a book.

Loved it

After listening to the first book I knew I had to see what happen next now with Shawn’s story and this was incredible. It was thrilling exciting and a great listen!