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)

pretty good over all

overall its a good story and not what i expected. The doing the mens voices is distracting and the guy doing the girls voices is also weird and the only thing that really bothered me about the reading. Easily overlooked though.

Some of the description repetition gets annoying and takes the imagination away, i could get the idea of a characters emotion pretty quick but then they would keep explaining how a character was feeling.

worth listening too for sure.

My all time favorite zombie novel.

I have returned to this book a few times. its great ever time i reread. the series is fantastic but this one is the best of all of them. Start here.

An Unexpected Favorite

I came into possession of my physical copy of this book completely by accident, and ironically in a time and place of significance in this book/world: ComicCon 2014. While making my last run through of the dealers floor looking for bargains one booth was hanging out free books so they wouldn't have to pay to ship them back, and I happily grabbed a copy of Feed. I started that book in the airport, didn't put it down the entire trip home, and upon getting home went on Amazon and orderd the rest of the Newsflesh series. I was hooked, and years later I still am.

The world building is not just extensive, but artful. There was no pulling stuff randomly out of her ass just because it sounded good. It's logical and methodic without becoming boringly technical, but still explains the rules enough that they make perfect sense. It's a fantasy virus with enough realism to suspend disbelief. And especially right now, in a post Covid world it's amazing to see just how well thought out everything from politics to social media this book really is.

On top of the stellar world building are the engaging characters and the "no holds barred" approach to dealing with them. And I for one appreciate an author who doesn't pull punches with their characters. You will love them. You will cheer them. You will curse and scream when all is said and done, and if you're like me you wouldn't want it any other way.

I don't wish for this often, but damn this would make an amazing movie if done right and true to the written word. Till then, I'll re-read, and re-listen, and recommend not just the entire News Flesh series, but the author and her other books as well. Check them out for yourself. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

Awesome!

Very realistic... I mean for a book about zombies. I loved it. The performer had some trouble keeping up on the accents for the men. But that was my only issue. Otherwise, great book.

So good, I had to stop listening

This book was recommended to me by a friend, and I was skeptical - I didn't think I wanted to read "another zombie book". This book far surpassed my expectations. The world building is excellent - you can see how it developed from our present, but the story is fabulous. It is fast paced, and the actions lead into one another. I had to take a break about 3 hours from the end as it was getting a little too intense and I had been avoiding spoilers so I really had no idea what would happen.

There's humour, drama, action, and characters I came to care about. It was fantastic.

Love the brother-sister dynamic here

The best brother-sister duo ever.
Surprising deaths.
Cool book to read during a presidential election.

Definitely looking forward to continue the series.

(But OMG how could you kill her!!!!)

Different kind of zombie novel but very good

Definitely a different kind of zombie novel. Written very well, easy to follow, and I love finding a new series of good reads

What the hell is this???

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Actually, it took me a while to get through this book as I kept putting it down in disappointment.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

I have not read a "zombie story" from this perspective. That part was interesting. And if the story had revolved around that, I believe I would have liked it. But the whole superblogger, fighting for truth and justice, bit was tiresome very early in.

Any additional comments?

The political and religious attitude of the main character, is in my opinion, just what liberals would like to believe about themselves - sophisticated, enlightened, and non-judgmental. But it comes off as naïve and predictably negative towards Christians and conservatives (of which I am neither). It read at times like the author needed a soapbox to spew her righteous anger which got real old very fast.

Incredible!

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

Top ten, easily. The story itself is incredible, with really tight world building and a take on the zombie apocalypse that I've never encountered before. Paula Christensen does a fabulous job of bringing it to life.

Who was your favorite character and why?

George. It's not often that the POV character of a book written in first person appeals to me so much, but George was different. She was incredibly intelligent, devoted to the truth, and still flawed and human. I also liked having a lead character with a disability.

Which scene was your favorite?

Most any scene involving Steve the bodyguard. I didn't expect to like that character so much, but by the end I just wanted to hug him!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Absolutely yes! I had to keep myself from listening to it at home as audiobooks are how I survive my work days. I managed. Barely.

Any additional comments?

The weak link in this book was Jesse Bernstein as the male narrator. His voice for Shaun wasn't awful, but whenever he tried to put on an accent I was cringing. If you can't pull off an English accent, PLEASE don't attempt one. Especially if someone is paying to hear it. Paula Christensen's dude voices were a little annoying, but nothing on the scale of Bernstein's accents.

Interesting political news feed

I liked this story a lot, but if you are looking for the typical Zombie book this is not it.

Let me get the complaining out of the way:

This appears to be written as if it was a blog, I cannot find anything to indicate that is the case, however the writing feels like that of a blogger. Feel free to wag your fingers at your screen if you can find something.

Each chapter reads as if you are picking up a new book for the first time in some cases. If it was supposed to be written as a blog the listener/reader can forgive the consistent reminders of details that most people should be able to remember. I do forget why I walked into a room sometimes, (okay a lot more than sometimes) but really, I do not need to be told about the plot every single chapter. It felt we were getting retold issues the characters had, religiously. I did get a bit annoyed and found myself developing a sleeping issue. Every time the main character mentioned her affliction I fell asleep. On that note, I did get a lot of rest.

Now for the good stuff:

This is more of a political thriller, rather than a zombie one. There are zombies, and they do cause some problems. It's an interesting take, fun and has some surprising twists. The main antagonist in this book is a bit obvious, but I have a feeling that was intended.

Georgia is an interesting character and the narrator does a very good job of making you feel like you are listening to Georgia and that you are in her head. Paula Christensen is really amazing, she has a pleasant voice and even when she is talking like "Buffy" she is still well worth listening too. Jesse Bernstein is fine, he feels right for the part of Shane. Young and almost gleeful at being a in a world with zombies. He wasn't amazing and I am not sure I would go out and look for books he narrated but for this, he fit.

Well worth the read, even with the repetitiveness. The narration and the story worked well enough for me to get the next book in the series.