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Book Review: "Deadline" by Mira Grant
Jun. 22nd, 2011 10:48 amFirst off, I really enjoyed the first book in this series, Feed. I thought it was powerful, interesting, and certainly a unique take on the zombie apocalypse novel, being set after the apocalypse and using how we'd adapted as the backdrop for the real story: the Ryman campaign trail and the conspiracies surrounding that.
Deadline, the sequel, is a good follow-up to that novel, although it does not have the same emotional power as the first. This time, we're dealing with Shaun as the POV character. The premise is that a CDC doctor appears on Shaun's doorstep with the hints of some type of conspiracy regarding the Kellis-Amberlee virus going on at the CDC itself. Kelly, the doctor, with the help of her boss at the CDC, has faked her own death in order to escape and bring this evidence to Shaun and his newsgroup, but it appears that someone knows that Kelly is still alive because within hours Shaun's neighborhood is targeted for an outbreak and subsequently firebombed, Shaun and his fellow journalists barely escaping.
That begins Shaun's investigation, done while on the run from the CDC. Part of the reason that this book isn't as powerful for me as the first is that I wasn't as emotionally invested in Shaun as I was in George in the first book. Part of this is because Shaun isn't as emotionally available as George was; it's hard to write about a character who is detached, because the writing must also be somewhat detached, so getting the reader to latch onto that character is more difficult. Another reason was that I didn't feel like the plot was as laid out and coherent as it was in the first book. There never seemed to be a clear thread for Shaun and his investigation to follow; it felt more like they were simply moving from place to place without any solid focus. I'm still not exactly clear on what it is that they discover during all of their investigations. Some things (such as the importance of the reservoir conditions) make sense, but I only have a vague sense of what the CDC was actually trying to do. I think this is a consequence of the fact that Deadline is a transitioning book--it's taking us from the solid ending of Feed and setting up what I assume will happen in the third novel, Blackout. In that sense, readers should approach Deadline as the second novel in the standard fantasy "trilogy".
The parts of the book that I found compelling and interesting--the parts that really drew me into the story--were those things that happened toward the end of the novel. I can't really say what those were without spoiling some of the novel, but once the group left Memphis, the rest of the novel rocked. Great atmosphere, great tension, and great set-up. I certainly want the next book in the series RIGHT NOW. Out of everything that happened before this, only one real event had me hooked and made me go, "Wow."
Don't get me wrong though, it was all fun reading, with lots of action and certainly interesting characters. As with the first book, Mira Grant's talent is creating great characters you love and writing in a style that's smooth and easy to read. But up until the group fled Memphis, I would have only rated the book as three stars. It was what happened after Memphis that pushed this up to four stars for me. And the "surprise" at the very end . . . well, I have to admit that I saw that coming WAY earlier. *grin*
Deadline, the sequel, is a good follow-up to that novel, although it does not have the same emotional power as the first. This time, we're dealing with Shaun as the POV character. The premise is that a CDC doctor appears on Shaun's doorstep with the hints of some type of conspiracy regarding the Kellis-Amberlee virus going on at the CDC itself. Kelly, the doctor, with the help of her boss at the CDC, has faked her own death in order to escape and bring this evidence to Shaun and his newsgroup, but it appears that someone knows that Kelly is still alive because within hours Shaun's neighborhood is targeted for an outbreak and subsequently firebombed, Shaun and his fellow journalists barely escaping.
That begins Shaun's investigation, done while on the run from the CDC. Part of the reason that this book isn't as powerful for me as the first is that I wasn't as emotionally invested in Shaun as I was in George in the first book. Part of this is because Shaun isn't as emotionally available as George was; it's hard to write about a character who is detached, because the writing must also be somewhat detached, so getting the reader to latch onto that character is more difficult. Another reason was that I didn't feel like the plot was as laid out and coherent as it was in the first book. There never seemed to be a clear thread for Shaun and his investigation to follow; it felt more like they were simply moving from place to place without any solid focus. I'm still not exactly clear on what it is that they discover during all of their investigations. Some things (such as the importance of the reservoir conditions) make sense, but I only have a vague sense of what the CDC was actually trying to do. I think this is a consequence of the fact that Deadline is a transitioning book--it's taking us from the solid ending of Feed and setting up what I assume will happen in the third novel, Blackout. In that sense, readers should approach Deadline as the second novel in the standard fantasy "trilogy".
The parts of the book that I found compelling and interesting--the parts that really drew me into the story--were those things that happened toward the end of the novel. I can't really say what those were without spoiling some of the novel, but once the group left Memphis, the rest of the novel rocked. Great atmosphere, great tension, and great set-up. I certainly want the next book in the series RIGHT NOW. Out of everything that happened before this, only one real event had me hooked and made me go, "Wow."
Don't get me wrong though, it was all fun reading, with lots of action and certainly interesting characters. As with the first book, Mira Grant's talent is creating great characters you love and writing in a style that's smooth and easy to read. But up until the group fled Memphis, I would have only rated the book as three stars. It was what happened after Memphis that pushed this up to four stars for me. And the "surprise" at the very end . . . well, I have to admit that I saw that coming WAY earlier. *grin*
