Mandy Reviews: Mira Grant's - "Feed" and "Deadline"

Feed and Deadline are the first two books in Mira Grant’s Newsflesh trilogy. Before I go any further, it has to be said they’re at the pointy end of Young Adult reading – why? There’s the very occasional swear word, possibly a not-very-explicit (at all) sex scene and some pretty complex science talk that you’ll have to suspend belief for. If you’re okay with all of that, go for it. Now. Because there’s zombies. And government conspiracies. And twists and turns that will knock your socks off.

The first book, Feed, is told from the point of view of Georgia Mason. She runs a news blogging site ‘After the End Times’, which is the way folks in the near future get their info. Bloggers come in three types: The Newsies, who report the news, the truth, and nothing but the truth. Then there’s the Fictionals, who write poetry, fiction (duh) and are basically pretty placid kind of folk in the scheme of this world. The most interesting of all bloggers though, are The Irwins. Named for a certain deceased Australian adventurer, Irwins will do anything for a rush, higher ratings and to stir the pot. This includes putting themselves in calculated danger time after time, wearing concealed cameras to record every moment while they go about the business of poking zombies with sticks.

The first part of Feed deals with the explanation of how the zombie crisis began. Way back in 2014, (these books are set in the 2030’s) two man-made viruses were set upon humanity. One was to cure the common cold, the other successfully cured cancer. All good until these viruses mutated and joined, creating Kellis-Amberlee – the zombie virus. Everyone carries it in their system somehow, but it’s not that much of a problem until you die. And then don’t. Grant’s zombies are fairly traditional un-dead types. They moan, they need to feed, they bite and spread infection. Government policy is to shoot (and permanently kill) anyone who has gone into ‘amplification’ immediately. This means big changes in how society works, including dozens of mandatory blood-tests every day.

But it’s not so much the actual zomification these books deal with. Along with her adopted brother Shaun (chief Irwin on After The End Times) and loyal team, George gets a life-changing gig reporting with on the campaign of a senator with aspirations to become the next president of the United States. This, of course is where the conspiracies come in – and a hell of a lot of action, laughs, tears (yes, tears!), gory stuff and evil dudes. My only negative with this book was that there’s a bit of repetition and the big bad was easy to spot. Not so much the ending. I seriously didn’t see that coming.

Deadline differs from Feed in that it’s told from Shaun’s point of view rather than George’s, but his voice is just as witty, sharp and damaged as hers. Grant has created two extremely likeable, funny and sarcastic narrators, breaking up what could otherwise be a tale of misery. It’s the characters, and what goes on inside their heads, that really push these books through.

In Deadline, the presidential campaign is far behind them, but not so the ramifications of the team’s need to find and report the truth. Secret laboratories, shocking twists and turns and a massive revelation early on made this book extremely hard to put down. Oh, that and the fact that even though physical descriptions of each character aren’t really dwelled on – I think I have a crush on Shaun. Bad attitude combined with a sense of righteousness, fear and recklessness and more than a touch of insanity make this character and his story one that I’m looking forward to continuing. Mira Grant has a sadistic way with cliff-hanger endings, and Deadline was no exception. Book three – Blackout – is due for release in June this year, which is way too long to wait.

Feed by Mira Grant

Published by Orbit Books

IBSN – 978-0-356-50056-0

Paperback 574 pages

Deadline by Mira Grant

Published by Orbit Books

IBSN – 978-1-84149-899-7

Paperback 524 pages

Mira Grant is a pseudonym for author Seanan McGuire. You can check out her other novels at: www.seananmcguire.com