Blackout (Newsflesh Trilogy) [Mass Market Paperback]

This was fantastic! The best in the series. I just finished and I am shaking. I don't think there will be anything this good for me, ever again. This is not a review, lol, I will be back to write a more coherent and better put together thoughts. Mira Grant is a brilliant writer.

**
I was in love with this book from the beginning. I should say upfront, I liked Feed but not as much as Deadline, which I loved and not as much as Blackout, which is my favorite. For me, Mira really hit her stride with Blackout. The alternating points of view were very effective and I loved the blog posts from the various team members. The way Mira tells her story, both in first person point of view from various characters and in a journal format via quotes and blog excerpts, really worked for me. It gave the story a multi-layered feel.

Blackout was non-stop struggle, fight and chase from the beginning. The action never stopped but it was my favorite kind of action. I skim or close my eyes during fight scenes and car chase sequences but the action in Blackout had me hooked. I did not miss a word. I wondered about people's motives, I worried that there would be unresolved issues and I worried about my favorite characters. I shouldn't have worried. Not everyone can live or survive in a world like this one, but the characters are dealt with fairly and I was satisfied with the outcome.

A book about a zombie plague that affected the world's mammal population and a future dytsopia setting is bound to have its unbelievable moments, but for me this never happened. Mira Grant writes this book in such a way that it is believable. A lingering question at the end of every zombie book is -how did the zombie plague happen? Well, in Newsflesh Mira Grant lays it out for the readers. We know why it happened. She provides enough detail to readers so that the science is acceptable. Her world building is not just in boundaries and political alignments, but is is also done with science.

Political plots can be a real yawner. Ther are some books with political plotlines that I liked (Kushiel's Dart and Game of Thrones are some examples), but I prefer an action based plot or a character driven plot -- Blackout manages to have both and has politics intertwined and somehow is still. There is political intrigue, backstabbing and power hungry grabbers. But there are other political elements as well. One of the political themes that I picked up on, is the idea that citizens should not trust a government or authority that derives its power from fear. Mira touches on this theme very subtly and effectively but does not hit the reader over the head with it. But what I thought was interesting, but questioning the government on the issue of fear and safety, she is calling into question the premise of the world she has constructed. Are those multiple blood tests really necessary? Necessary or not, they play a key role in the books but there is a hint that these blood tests may be used as a method of pacification and mollification rather than simply a safety measure.

While reading the first two books I often wondered -- what about the people who live off the grid? Was that even possible? Mira takes the readers off the grid in Deadline; we get to see people who have walked away from the fences and the government protection. While the first two books had more of a dystopia setting feel by showing us the off-the grid folks it was evident that the apocalypse was still going on. And that is downright scary. It really isn't under control but what the government is doing to maintain the problem isn't working. There are so many issues addressed in this book -- power, greed, love, desparation .....

Ugh, I am so sad this trilogy is over. I would love to have more stories about these characters. I am hoping Mira Grant considers returning to this world. She has created something so unique in the zombie genre that deserves to be revisited.

I just finished Blackout after staying up all night to read it. While not as good as Feed, Blackout is miles ahead of the mediocre offering of Deadline. The return of 97% cognate Georgia Mason is much needed and welcomed even though her scenes at the CDC are sometimes hard to wrap your brain around. There are some recurring problems throughout the trilogy that prevent me from giving Blackout five stars.

1. Repetition of details. I'm assuming this is a problem with the editor because I don't understand why some details were allowed to be repeated ad nauseam. Thankfully, Coke is only mentioned twenty times in this book (as opposed to at least fifty in Feed). However, we still get several mentions of Shaun's craziness and of Georgia's aversion to white walls.

2. Length. This book did not need to be 600+ pages. My mind started to wander a bit during Shaun and Becks road trip. Although a zombie bear is somewhat amusing, I felt like the book took too many unnecessary detours.

3. Rushed reunions and ending. The most disappointing thing about the book was that I wanted more one on one scenes with Georgia and her team, and I didn't get them. George and Mahir barely got to spar. Also, I was really looking forward to a showdown between George and Becks. The ending Becks did get was a bit too convenient and allowed for George and Shaun's unique relationship to go unchallenged.

All in all, still a pretty good read and a mostly satisfying last installment to this trilogy.

After the shocking ending of Feed and the intensity of Deadline, are you ready for more? Hope so, because Blackout is just as good, and it was so good, I didn't even think about the fact that it's the conclusion to the trilogy (well, I didn't think about it much.) Shaun and company are at Dr. Abbey's remote lab helping to gather subjects (aka zombies) for her studies of Kellis-Amberlee, and Shaun's mental state isn't getting any better. That's to say, not only is he still hearing George's voice in his head, he's starting to actually see her. Little does he know that George is alive at the Seattle CDC. Well, sort of. A clone of Georgia Mason is alive and being held by the lovely folks at the CDC, who plan to use her as a tool for their own nefarious means. For all intents and purposes, she is Georgia Mason (97% of her, at least). They've found a way to transfer memories as well as clone someone physically, and the new Georgia is about as much like the old Georgia as she can be, and being held in a white room, deprived of her beloved internet connection is not the way to win points with her. That's not even taking into consideration the constant medical tests they're running on her to prove her "viability." So, Georgia needs to get out of her new prison, but how? Knowing who to trust is a shell game, but it seems that she may have some friends on the inside. Well, more like "the enemy of my enemy..." Anyway, she must find a way out before they decide she's little more than a practice model. Then there are those KA infected mosquitoes...

In Blackout, Mira Grant returns us to the post apocalyptic, zombie ridden world of Feed and Deadline with a fierceness, made all the more poignant because of our affection for Shaun and Georgia. These books don't take place in a wasteland, but rather in a world 20 years out from the outbreak that started the zombie apocalypse, and it's a world a little like the one we know, but with some important differences. Like, the blood testing units at nearly every entrance and exit, and the vast amounts of land that has been declared uninhabitable, overtaken by zombies. The CDC is a rather nefarious entity too, when they should be a bastion of safety, and conspiracy abounds. When Shaun and his crew are sent to bargain with his adoptive parents, the Masons, for help gaining entry into Florida to save Alaric's sister, they get a little more than they bargained for, and I'll admit, I was on the edge of my seat waiting for Shaun and Georgia to be reunited. They've also been tasked with finding out the truth about the KA infected mosquitos that have begun spreading the virus all over again. I wouldn't consider this series funny, except for some excellent banter between characters, but a high point in Blackout was a series of meetings with The Monkey and his crew, who are known for providing bulletproof fake IDs and papers. The Fox is a homicidal delight, and you'll chuckle (some seriously dark humor here) and cringe in equal measure.

The focus is not on the zombies in Blackout (it never really, truly was), although there are zombies and some zombie action, even a zombie bear. Rather, the focus is on finding the truth of the Kellis-Amberlee virus and where it originated. And you know how Shaun and George feel about the truth, don't you? Alternating between Shaun and George's narratives, the author keeps the tension tight, and the action nonstop. I mean, cloning, zombie bears, conspiracy, kidnapping the president: it's all in a day's work for these guys, right? I promise you'll be up late with Blackout, and you'll love the explosive and satisfying ending. This superb series is absolutely not to be missed!