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

Great book 2

Mild Spoilers. The narration is excellent. The characters are mostly relatable. The world building is fascinating. The political, social, economic, medical, technological and cultural aspects of this version of the United States is absorbing and thought provoking. This book, compared to the first book, Feed, feels a little over-narrated by the protagonist, Shaun. That’s the danger with first person storytelling. He way over comments in all aspects of himself and others. Perhaps this is intentional since the whole book is a commentary on just about everything but I found him to be overly hostile and self absorbed even taking into account his psychosis. He was this way in book 1 but his sister off set these characteristics. Despite Shaun absolutely mistreating and physically abusing his colleagues/friends (he punched one in the nose and broke his nose), his colleagues are dependent on him for their livelihood so they stay by him. It’s all fairly unexamined. Despite pretty much really not liking Shaun and instead mostly feeling very sad for him, but also repelled, I’m in for book 3. Grant knows how to tell a story.

A gripping story that just keeps getting better.

This second book in the trilogy is even better than the first! The characters continue to have depth; the conspiracies are even more chilling. I was not too fond of the narration in the first book, but Chris Patton does an amazing job in Deadline! I can hardly wait for the third book to come out.

Much better narration than Blackout.

Performers better on this book than in Blackout, the series conclusion. But you have to finish the series...

Great story and such a great performance!

The second installment in the newsflesh trilogy totally delivered. I'm am so glad I decided to buy it and am going to buy book 3 as soon as I finish this review.

Better than feed

More action packed. I liked it even better than feed and left me wanting to go straight to the next book in the series.

Love it!

Sequels can be disappointing, but this is a definite exception. Fun book, narration is excellent.

Surprisingly, a great second novel in a trilogy

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Normally, second books in trilogies tend to fall flat. We already know the characters, we have an idea of where the overall story is heading, and the middle sort of sags. Well, not this one. This second novel is told from a different character's point of view, and has it's own wonderful story arc that stands well on its own. I would recommend reading Feed first, but this one is quite good.

What did you like best about this story?

I really enjoyed seeing Shaun Mason's point-of-view and his breakdown associated with a loss he faced in the first book. The way his friends helped him continue to function despite his obvious mental problems was fascinating.

My only disappointment has to do with the villain. The bad guys, in general, could have been more well-rounded and less two-dimensional. I have a hard time accepting the moral compromises that so many people were willing to make, but I think I could have accepted them more easily if they'd been explained better by more "fleshed-out" (zombie humor... sorry) villains.

Which character – as performed by Chris Patton and Nell Geisslinger – was your favorite?

I really enjoyed Chris Patton's "Shaun Mason" character. The voice actors in this audio book were excellent and very well chosen.

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

(Spoiler) I particularly liked the part where Shaun first sees his sister. His response was what one would have expected from a man who has been hallucinating for a while, and very memorable.

A new genre for me?

You’d be forgiven for classifying this series under “medical thriller” instead of “zombie” and quite frankly it’s the only reason I read it. Zombies and monsters and vampires and werewolves are SO NOT my thing.

When I bought Book 1, based on the synopsis I somehow got it into my head that it was a medical thriller and I found that piece quite interesting! I didn’t realize it was a zombie book at first, and had I known I never would have bothered to continue.

Overall I enjoyed the story so I was pleased that I was duped into it… and perhaps it has introduced me to a new genre, gently easing me into the World of The Undead. I don’t think zombie-lovers would like this book that much because of the lack of zombie-action but for me this was a definite plus.

I was mostly intrigued by the medical thriller side of the story and that kept me going through all the things I didn’t like about this book:

•I don’t like Shaun (the main character). Too much repressed anger; it gets tedious.
•Too many snarky side comments and sarcastic quips. A few can be funny, but this just felt whiny after a while. It missed the “ humorously cynical” mark.
•Lots of filler which felt unnecessary to me; get to the point already!!!
•The whole general set-up with blog excerpts etc, I didn’t mind it so much in Book 1 - but I’m over it now.

I decided that 2014 would be my year to continue (or even complete) series I started so I was game for Book 2 but since I did not enjoy it as much as I hoped, I have low expectations that I will ever bother with Book 3. I think instead I’ll move on to “Parasite” by the same author.

Dreadful follow-up

What would have made Deadline better?

This book lacked enough plot to justify its length. Nothing really happens, and nothing really engages the listener. The attempts at humorous quips were embarrassingly bad.

Would you ever listen to anything by Mira Grant again?

Maybe... I enjoyed the first book of the trilogy, but I have no interest in hearing the third.

How could the performance have been better?

The performer did his best with the clunky dialogue. The biggest problem was the fact that, although the narrator was male, most of the characters are female. It's much easier for female readers to perform male character than the other way around. (Sexist? Perhaps, but there it is.) For the female characters, the narrator employs either a breathy, faux-sexy voice which is beyond creepy or a clipped Valley Girl-sounding voice. (Except for the character with the last name "Garcia" which gets a squirm-inducing "Mexican" accent. The writer makes it clear she's an American born and raised, so why the accents???) Just bad.

Oh the cliffhangers!

I finished ‘Feed,’ the first of the Newsflesh series by Mira Grant, quickly, and did not wait at all to pick up ‘Deadline.’ Grant is a master of the cliff hanger. I simply had to know what happened next. ‘Deadline’ picks up right after ‘Feed’ and is narrated primarily by Shaun Mason, everyone’s favorite Irwin. He is a changed man. The events that took place after the end of the campaign left him and the staff of ‘After the End Times’ scarred. The events, however, left Shaun in worse shape than anyone else. He hears voices in his head and he answers them. Those closest to him deal with it, but it is unsettling to those outside of his insulated circle. Shaun is no longer a carefree, devil-may-care Irwin. He has changed his focus to helping Mahir with the administration of the site despite the general roar from the public wanting him to go back to poking dead things with sticks. It’s what they love him for.

The plot of this book surrounds the CDC and their involvement, scientific methods, and potential conspiracies with the Kellis-Amberly virus(what causes humanity to become zombies). One day Doctor Kelly, Doc, shows up at Shaun’s headquarters in Oakland with information that Irwin’s don’t understand and the Newsies only are getting a glimmer of understanding before a full outbreak takes out Oakland, and ‘After the End Times’ headquarter. The assumption – it could only relate to what Doc knows, the timing of her visit, and knowing who has the power to cause this kind of incident.

Shaun and his team go completely off grid in towns that have long since been abandoned by civilization and surrendered to the walking dead. There are several people who live this way, including scientists that work outside the rules of the CDC. Shaun and his team get to know the mad scientists as they unravel what is really going on.

My rating is really more of a 3.5. The tale is more disjointed than ‘Feed.’ It does not flow as well, but it will still suck you in. It’s an intriguing book, but at times you will feel bored and other times not understand character motivation and involvement. Shaun is very changed, as I mentioned above, and it can be hard to completely sympathize with his anger, desire to stay crazy, and his lack of compassion for those surrounding him. A problem I’ve always had with characters is when they start acting like petulant children. Let me fair, however, Shaun has reason to act out.

Mira Grant is great at providing some exceptional twists. Ones I refuse to give you and ruin the surprise. All I will say is George still has a part to play, and there is one deliciously large twist at the end that raised my evaluation of the book. If you loved ‘Feed’ continue to ‘Deadline’ accepting it will not be quite as good. If you were lukewarm on ‘Feed,’ I recommend stopping here.