Feed

The Newsflesh Trilogy, Book 1

By: Mira Grant

Narrated by: Paula Christensen, Jesse Bernstein

Length: 15 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Feed is an electrifying and critically acclaimed novel of a world a half-step from our own that the New York Times calls “Astonishing” a novel of zombies, geeks, politics, social media, and the virus that runs through them all - from New York Times best seller Mira Grant.

The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beat the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: Feed.

Now, 20 years after the Rising, Georgia, and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives - the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will out, even if it kills them.

More from Mira Grant:

Newsflesh

• Feed
• Deadline
• Blackout
• Feedback
• Rise

©2010 Mira Grant (P)2010 Hachette

Critic reviews

"It's a novel with as much brains as heart, and both are filling and delicious." (The A.V. Club on Feed)

“Feed is a proper thriller with zombies.” (SFX)

"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)

Politics as usual...Full of Zombies.

Newsflesh is Political thriller and a Medical thriller woven together, in a world filled with Zombies.
The first volume, FEED, sets the stage and is pretty much all about the politics, following a presidential campaign in a future USA where people can't (or won't) gather en masse, travel in armed convoys, and still expect candidates to visit every state kissing babies.

The story is engaging, the characters interesting, the plot intriguing and the author is ... Wonderfully evil. Thank You Mira, may I have another.....

A story about people...

Would you listen to Feed again? Why?

Yes. Despite a couple of minor editing issues, it's a well told story with just enough difference in its execution to make it stand out as refreshing.

What other book might you compare Feed to and why?

Feed's similar to Brook's World War Z in that it's a portrait of people with a back drop of the zombie apocalypse. Feed's focus isn't on horror in the traditional sense, but on how people deal with a world that's been turned upside down and inside out.

Which character – as performed by Paula Christensen and Jesse Bernstein – was your favorite?

The primary focus character, Georgia Mason, is the one you get the most "behind the eyes" time with. Despite the occasional jaunts into the heads of the other protagonists in the troupe, the book is really mostly told from her point of view. Georgia's an interesting duck. She's tough, but not heroic in the traditional guns blazing sense. She has a nice mix of pragmatism and idealism that makes her feel very realized as a character.

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

Don't want to spoil, but yes. There's a particularly devastating reveal, just before the section marked book four in the text that actually teared me up. It was well handled, with only a minor flub in dialog tone at the end.

Any additional comments?

The best zombie stories are people stories. No one cares about the shamblers too much. What we're really interested in the people who have to deal with the horrific reality of the walking dead. That story gets told mostly when the zombies aren't "on screen." It's told in their interactions and choices as they deal with other people in the story. Feed really hits on that and does its job well.

This is the experience you get an audiobook for

The Newsflesh trilogy is a perfect example of what audiobooks do really well: take great books and bring them right into your head in three dimensions. Mira Grant (who also writes as Seanan McGuire, in case you want to check out her other work) hits a nerve with this story of a horror that's become everyday reality, and the political corruption that it seems can't ever be killed. If you think things can't get any crazier than they are in the first book, wow, are YOU in for a surprise!

A huge part of what makes this such an excellent audible experience, of course, are the readers. Throughout all three books, all of the readers are first-rate. It's amazing (and surreal) to hear the female reader doing the male character's voice as her character thinks of what her brother said, and later hearing the male reader doing the sister's voice. If they can pull THAT off, imagine how well they do everything else. Seriously, these books are full of win from the first minute through the last.

a political thrillelr with a killer zombie twist

It’s 2012 and Earth is suddenly and effectively exposed to a mutated virus that quickly infected millions and changed the world over night. So what do you do when the people who are supposed to be dead get back up and start coming at you with hungry (infected) chompers? The smart people take what they learn from the popular zombie movies of George Romero and they kill them before they get to them.

20 years later and people have learned how to fight back and not get dead. Humanity gained back its numbers and slowly took back (most) of their countries and humanity gained back control from the undead forces. Well, for the most part… they have earned to co-exist with the threat of infection and so life goes one. And with humanity politics is never far off.

Can I once again express my gratitude for zombie fiction where zombie culture not only exists but is utilized to protect the remaining population? It saves me from unnecessary eye-rolling and the plot from predictable reactions I can always do without when it comes to zombie fiction.

It was also awesome to see blogging so important to the plot and not as just a hobby or a creative outlet. Don’t see that a lot in media, so it was a pleasant surprise. :) The plot and world building were spot on, by the end of the world building left no questions unanswered. It’s obvious the author did a thorough job researching everything from politics to medical science and created thoroughly believable world.
a little more on FEED and blogging

After the population got their shit together, they realized traditional news can not be trusted (there’s a shocker). Every one knows where there is a pandemic, there’s at least 10 government agencies trying to cover it up. So when the panic settled, and people have mostly rebuilt their numbers, they’ve learned to take what traditional media says with a grain of salt and have turned to sources they knew they could trust: bloggers just like them, reporting what they learn from experience. Bloggers have since divided into three major groups:

Irwins: These bloggers face danger head-on by interacting with zombies and spreading the word on new ways to kill zombies or how the zombies are adapting. These guys are the adrenaline junkies of the FEED world.

Newsies:These are blogging reporters that deal in facts and keep everyone updated on whats going on in the world. Sometimes this job brings them into dangerous situations, but they aren’t drawn to it like the Irwins.

Fictionals: The writers of the FEED universe, they entertain people with stories.
my thoughts on character development

The plot wasn’t the only thing Grant does well, she’s also mastered the art of character development. Shaun, Georgia, and their techie best friend, Buffy, are the main characters of FEED. Each main character is a blogger with their own ranks, titles, and blogs. Shaun is the Irwin of the group. His sister and closest friend, George is a well-respected Newsie and her voice is the book’s main point of view. They share a close bond that would be seen as unhealthily co-dependent in our world, but is just a sign on of the times in FEED. Both Shaun and George are the characters’ I connected with the most.

Buffy rounds out the trio with her technical skills and her Fictional blog, but to be honest I never liked her all that much. She never seemed as loyal to the group as the siblings were, and I soon learned why in the most shocking way. *hint hint*

After the three best friends are chosen by Senator Ryman to cover his presidential campaign, they combine their individual skills into one new site devoted to their new political journey. The experience quickly turns dangerous and I watched (in anticipation) every character go through obvious character growth that helped to nail home exactly what role they played and why.

The superb narration helped make this audiobook a 2015 favorite.

I couldn’t possibly write an audiobook review without mentioning the narration! Paula Christenson was the main narrator for FEED; she narrated the entire story with Jesse Bernstein narrating the last few chapters. I believe he also did a couple supporting voices and clips from Shaun’s blog in between important chapters. I have a feeling Bernstein will have a bigger role in book 2, and will have more of an opinion then. :)

Christenson did a great job of holding my interest. I could clearly distinguish every male and female character, which had to take a lot of hard work with such a large cast of returning characters. The male characters’ were handled very well and contrasted nicely. I never had an issue with the way their voices were portrayed, like I have with a few other audiobooks I’ve read that were also single narration. I couldn’t have enjoyed FEED as much as I did without the awesome narration, and will be looking out for more books narrated by Paula Christenson in the future. :)
I loved FEED and you will, too! (I hope)

This book was a five-star read for me, so clearly I enjoyed myself. If you are looking for more blood and gore than political thriller, this may not be the zombie book for you, but there was enough zombie action for this zombie enthusiast. :) I will warn you it isn’t a “zombie survival” story, so don’t expect it to be one and you won’t be disappointed. It was a nice addition to the story and shouldn’t be missed! I quickly purchased the second audiobook in the series and cannot wait to continue the trilogy!

Love the book

I enjoy this book so much! I have read the series several times. I just wish the people reading were different.

Don't Believe The Dissenters!

I almost didn't get this book because of a few reviews. First, that the dialogue was unbelievable & forced and Second, that it was Anti-Christian. Neither of these are true. The dialogue is intelligent and not at all forced. Maybe the reviewer doesn't know anyone who speaks this way, but I do.

As for it being anti-Christian. This isn't true. It's anti-extremist! The bad guy is someone who uses his misinterpretation of religion as a justification do horrendous things. It in no way protrays all religion or Christians as bad, evil, or misguided.

That being said, this isn't your typical Zombie book. The Zombies are very much a side story. It takes place 20+ years after the initial outbreak and is a picture of what society would be like with this constant threat. I found it highly enjoyable, but probably not for the person who wants nonstop zombie action.

Not what I expected, but still good

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Any additional comments?

Listening to the audiobook of Feed by Mira Grant left me with a most unexpected experience. I've read my fair share of zombie books from horror to humor, but none have left me feeling the way Feed did. I'm not even sure how to review it but I'll give it a shot.

Feed is told from the point of view(s) of a team of bloggers after the world has fallen prey to a zombie infestation. The news gets to folks more quickly and effectively through various blogger types, Georgia and her brother Shaun being a fairly successful team have signed on to caravan with a presidential hopeful during his campaign. Along the trail this team of bloggers will fall into the middle of what could be the largest most dangerous political conspiracy ever and it will put all their lives at risk.

Quite a large chunk of the beginning of the book is focused on world building told by both Gerogia's narrative and also by the occasional blog post. It was an interesting approach to writing. The world Grant creates is both fascinating and terrifying. She has put a ton of detail into this futuristic danger zone filled with brain eaters and I love what she has come up with.

Another aspect I enjoyed was the character development. There is a large cast here but it was easy to get a clear grasp of who everyone was. I had heard rumblings about the relationship between Georgia and Shaun being odd and turning some people off, but I didn't feel that. It is a very dependent relationship, they rely on each other for everything (literally) but it never felt anything other than a very close sibling bonding to me. Taken into context of what this world is like, I think it may be natural. I actually enjoyed the relationships all the bloggers had with each other.

Without giving any direct spoilers, I have to say that the bravery Grant showed at the end of Feed was amazing. Not many writers would take the leap she did, straight into the deep end of the pool, it was utterly unexpected and pure genius.

What I did not enjoy was the pacing and the lack of action. This zombie ride is a slow moving vehicle with little flesh eating outbreaks and honestly, that just isn't what I typically look for in Z books. I like the gore and blasting of brains. It's not to say that Feed wasn't a well written and enjoyable read. It is, but it isn't what I thought I was going to get.

I think I will still continue with the series, I will just be hoping Shaun will be doing a lot more poking of zombies with sticks, because that would rock!

Interesting Political Zombie Book

What made the experience of listening to Feed the most enjoyable?

The reader of this book did an amazing job with the personality of the main character. I enjoyed that at the end of each chapter when it would end in a personal note from an outside character that a different voice would come in. It really help set up the atmosphere for a well done story. I believe most people will like this book. I got 90% of the way done with it, and unfortunately lost interest in the story though. I have a friend who really liked this book, and I read the first half with ease and was in love with the story. However the story didn't remain interesting enough for me. However I give the author and reader a lot of credit for their creativity.

Intelligent

Warning - not your classic guts and gore zombie lit. More West Wing than Romero. That being said, I'm a sucker for an intelligent, fully conceived post disaster world, and this one took me by surprise. I didn't realize until the end that the story itself was a bit immature - expected a bigger reveal. But I was so distracted by the detail (and a tragedy) that it didn't matter.

Turned right around a ordered the next book, DEADLINE. Where I discovered the author could let go of something both this reader and writer had grown to love.

Policital Zombie 101

I listened to this book on the recommendation of a friend, and it definitely kept my interest. political stories and zombie stories aren't really my jam, but this book is the perfect combo of both. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series!