Rating: 4 1/2 stars (Spotlight Review)
One of my most anticipated books for 2011 was Deadline by Mira Grant. This is the second book in her Newsflesh series. The first book, Feed, was one of my favorite books of last year and may end up being one of my favorite books of the decade.
Feed was an explosive reading experience as it engaged all of my emotions. Mira combines the zombie myth with technology and on-line blogging that worked wonders.
Feed had a very unique protagonist with George Mason who lived and breathed reporting the news and blogging; and, because of this, she was killed. George and her brother Shaun found themselves in a world of political espionage where someone was using the zombies as a way to control society and for their own maniacal greed. Deadline begins almost two years after the events of Feed and this time we’re in Shaun’s head as he comes to grips with losing George, his best friend and soul mate.
Shaun still grieves over the loss of George and the guilt he couldn’t save her. However, George speaks to him in his head. Is Shaun going crazy? Perhaps. But Shaun doesn’t care. As long as George talks to him, he can keep on living and reporting the news.
Shaun would love to get his hands on the person or people responsible for injecting George with the virus that killed her so mercilessly, and he may get his revenge when Dr. Kelly Connolly from the CDC comes to Shaun with shocking news: she planned her own death. One by one, each member on her research team has been killed, and she is next. The CDC not only is still trying to find the cure of the Kellis-Amberlee virus, but is involved in something straight out of a science fiction novel—they have created illegal clones and are experimenting on them.
It seems the Kellis-Amberlee virus may not be as dormant as the public believes and Shaun takes upon himself to investigate, putting him in grave danger—not from infection or the zombies, but from those who would kill to keep their findings a secret.
Deadline builds at a steady rate, leaving you uncertain to what’s going to happen. The first 500 pages moves slowly but doesn’t bore you. Everything is metrically planned out, much like a ride on a rollercoaster. You sit there in that small seat, your heart pounding as you climb up that rickety track, waiting to reach the top. And when you finally reach the top, you fall from such a height where your stomach drops down to your feet. Your adrenaline is running and you open your mouth as screams burst forth from your mouth.
Deadline scared the living crap out of me. I can’t even tell you the last time a book made me have such a physical reaction. Grant has crated one of the best cliff-hanger endings since Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. Your mouth will drop, your body will tense up and you’ll be not only on the edge of your seat, but climbing it. Talk about a rush. I think I felt high the entire time I read.
Deadline is as close to a perfect read as you can get.
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Mass Market Paperback: 624 pages
Publisher: Orbit; 1 edition (June 1, 2011)
ISBN-13: 978-0316081061