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

A Punishing Book

Any additional comments?

Initially, I was going to give this book two stars since the first third of the book wasn't bad, if a little odd. However, I reserve one star reviews for books that I cannot finish. Now I did in fact finish this book. but only because I was reading it with someone, and they kept pressuring me to finish it, since if he could, I could too. Now let me try to impart upon you why I hated this book.

It is hard to decide where to begin, well I guess I'll start with the drinking game I made up (though thankfully did not play) for it so that I could tolerate it more.



Take one drink if:
The word "coke" is mentioned (Warning, there are at least 49 instances of this in the book)
Any time it is referenced that Georgia is dead
A character gets a blood test and it is described (I do not advise following this rule...you may very well die)
Kelley is abused for no real reason other than the characters a jerks

Take two drinks if:
Mahir is woken up or is half dead exhausted
It is mentioned that Shaun's parents only thought of him and Georgia as a ratings stunt
Buffy is described as being a great technological wiz (SHE'S DEAD!)
Buffy is mentioned as betraying them (she really didn't, not directly anyway)

Take three drinks if:
"Mahir is the head of the newsies"
Any allusion to the [technically not] incestuous relationship Shaun and Georgia had.
You are given the backstory of a dead character.



As you can see from the drinking game, this book is repetitive. It is repetitive in the language and word choice. Not only that, it is also repetitive in the plot. Basically you will have a few chapters of them sitting around talking or doing nothing sensible, then something big will happen, then someone will die, then they have to escape. This happens three times, and that is the book.

As for that repetitiveness, why are half the repetitions about characters that died in the previous book?

On the topic of the characters, they are still kind of flat like the first book, but they at least start out different. By the end of the book however, I couldn't tell what character was talking at any given time because all their personalities melded into one. Needless to say, I stopped caring about any of the characters left alive.

The reason I read books is usually for the story, I love stories, and am VERY tolerant of them. But this book was awful. The plot is driven by asinine decisions, stupid reasoning, or just the random will of the author, not the characters, the author. The characters don't ever seem to have any legitimate reason for doing things, and this leads to plot holes. Big, massive, moon swallowing, plot holes. Please direct yourself to the drinking game, I used square brackets incorrectly in it. The thing is, square brackets are best used in news reporting as a way of adding something to clarify a quote that wasn't actually said. This is kind of news media 101. The funny thing is, that even though all the protagonists in this book are somehow linked to reporting the news, they stop doing it. They probably don't know how to use brackets. My only assumption is that the KA virus makes people stupid, manic, or neurotic. They get some huge Earth shattering news that everyone should know about so they can be saved. Do they report it the first time? nah. How about the second bit of news? Nuh-uh. The third or 4th bit of news, how about the bit that could save MILLIONS. Noooope! Really? It is insinuated that that would put them in more danger with the people trying to kill them. THe people that are spying on them. The people that know where they are and have lots of resources to kill them. I ask you, wouldn't telling the world about why they are trying to murder you actually protect you? I mean they couldn't hide your deaths then, and they'd probably be worried about getting murdered themselves.

Also where are the best buds from book one, you know the ones that are now president and vice president?

The long story short on what my issue with the book is that nothing changed. This is the middle book of a trilogy. The only things that changed from the end of Feed and the end of Deadline is that the reader knows two small bits of information and the cast is a little different. If I had messed up and read book one then book three, I would not have missed out on anything. In the large scheme of things in the world, absolutely jack happened that couldn't be summed up with an en medias res first chapter of the third book. SIGH

PS: And the award for the MOST awkwardly written sex scene ever goes to this book.
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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.

Not a Fun as the First Book

Contrary to the first book here we are mostly left with the brother narrating this story. The actual voice actor does a tremendous job making him sound believably and sometimes humorously cynical. The narrator carries this book bringing Sean, the brother, to life. But far too often he just comes across as bitter and a little unlikeable. The story tries for a playful tone and occasionally succeeds. One of the only interesting parts of this book is a novel plot device the author uses to add a character. The middle book of this trilogy is the weakest by far of the three. I bought them all so I'm forcing myself listen to them. If you liked the first book you'll be a bit disappointed by the second one.

Great listen

Mira Grant Makes involves you with her characters. She has a talent for making you interested in them from the moment they are introduced. With this second book in the series she does an amazing job of continueing this and leaves you salavating for the next book. If you have not listened to, or read the first book do so before downloading this one so you can enjoy the full experience of the worls she creates. You will not be dissapointed

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.

Great follow-up with as many twists as book one

Warning: This review contains spoilers for "Feed," the first book in the series.


The second book in the Newsflesh trilogy picks up where Feed left off. Feed introduced us to George (Georgia) and Shaun Mason, two bloggers in a post-Rising world in which the Kellis-Amberlee virus means zombies are now an everyday part of life, and have reshaped society accordingly. People huddle in enclaves, road trips are for heavily-armed truckers and the borderline suicidal, and you can't go from point A to point B anywhere without sticking your hand in half a dozen blood testing units, and people are always standing by to shoot you in the head if any of those tests indicates you are positive for infection. Much of book one was a commentary on this post-Rising world in which people have allowed fear of the walking dead to take over their lives, curtailing their freedom of movement, autonomy, and privacy.

Now, while I think that was a valid point to make, I also think the author and her characters really failed to offer any alternatives. I mean, if the entire world now has to live with this highly-contagious virus that in minutes can turn anyone into a mindless flesh-eating zombie, and any large gathering of people is a potential bloodbath if just one thing goes wrong, of course everyone's life is going to change and heavy security measures are going to make them a lot less free than we are in our zombie-free world. That's kind of unavoidable.

But in book two, Mira Grant expands the scope of this zombie apocalypse, and addresses one of the other weaknesses of book one, the cartoonish villainy of Vice Presidential candidate Tate, who was apparently evil for the sake of evil. In Deadline, we learn the conspiracy was much bigger than him, and there are people who want the virus to keep people living in fear, with the government telling them what to do.

Which is a metaplot that, again, the author delivers with not a lot of subtlety, and maybe the logic holes were a little more noticeable to me this time around. That said, I really liked Deadline, just as I liked Feed, because what it has, and a lot of it, is Plot and Pacing. Something horrible is always just around the corner. A new twist, a serious complication, or another near-death experience. And as is par for the course in any zombie story, you know not all the characters are going to make it to the end and you're kind of laying mental odds on who survives and who doesn't.

At the end of the last book, George died. The author gets around this by having Shaun be "insane" in this book; George is constantly talking to him, and sometimes he even sees her. His friends are used to him talking to his dead sister, albeit a little disturbed by it. George's voice sometimes even tells him things that supposedly he shouldn't even know, which made me wonder if there was going to be some bizarre twist in which it turns out that George somehow really is inside his head.

I did get kind of tired of Shaun and his angst over his dead sister. I mean, yeah, it's tragic, she was his sister and best friend, but seriously the degree of closeness and his inability to live without her started skeeving me out a little. When, for the first time in two books Shaun actually shows interest in another female (I was wondering until then if he was a virgin), he ruins it by... saying George's name at a very inappropriate time. Now that was creepy. Seriously? This guy has problems, and hearing his dead sister's voice in his head is not the worst of them.

Notwithstanding the one-dimensional Shaun "I can't get over my dead sister" Mason and his deathwish vengeance crusade, this book did cook along, a little improbably at times, but with so many thrills and twists that it was never boring and I had to know what would happen next. Mira Grant even makes all the virology infodumps interesting. In Deadline, we learn that even in the wake of a zombie apocalypse, things can indeed always get worse.

That said, the BIG twist at the end? I totally saw it coming. But nonetheless, I have to read book three, and soon.

I want More!!!!!!

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

Yes, Because it freaking awesome!

What did you like best about this story?

The characters you find yourself so attached to the all.

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

Can't choose and this is no cop out really I loved all of them.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

The news isn't always good!

Any additional comments?

YES!!!! I want the next one NOW!! My Brain almost exploded when it ended.

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.

Zombie bureaucracies

Mira Grant's Deadline is the 2nd installment in her Newflesh trilogy. With Shaun running the news site after his sister's demise, he's quite directionless until a conspiracy is dropped into his lap that suggests the CDC is hiding something. Barely staying one step of attempts to kill the story as well as Shaun and his crew, he uncovers some pretty disturbing revelations, including the possibility that his sister may not have been zombified before he put her out of their mutual misery. With the help of some well positioned partners, an inside CDC whistleblower, and his steady crew, they succeed in uncovering the biggest story since KA took over the planet. This paces them one step closer to solving the mystery of who actually murdered Georgia.

This installment has much fewer zombies with a greater focus on the science behind the KA virus. In addition, the reservoir condition figures prominently with an eye towards (although not explicitly called out) immunological privileged sites as the source of the reservoirs and a possible cure. Exactly who is the mastermind behind this conspiracy that is basically secret experiments on unknowing subjects is left for the trilogy closer.

The narration is well done with excellent character distinction and solid pacing. While there's less zombie escapades, the action is non-stop nevertheless.

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.