Deadline (Newsflesh, Book 2) (edition 2011)

I was really hoping that book 2 lived up to the expectations I set from reading Feed. I thought Feed was amazing… Deadline hit the mark as well. I’m not even sure how to write a proper review without giving anything away, because I’ve had that happen personally one too many times, so I will just say this… the danger and the excitement it doesn’t cease. It’s still a page turner. And the cliff-hanger ending (OMG-I was screaming and my eyes were enormous I'm sure) is huge and you’ll be dying to get your hands on book 3. When does book 3 come out? Way too far into the future. *sigh*
My first concern was when you read a book in a series and a lot of people are killed off, a whole new set of characters is introduced in the next book…and half the time I end up hating the series because I generally hate the newly introduced characters. I was happy to see that this was not the case… I loved the new characters in Deadline. Mira/Seanan didn’t even make the reiteration of the first book obnoxious. Usually authors go on and on about shit that already happened and it drives me nuts. But whatever, I’m just complaining. Haha
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Amazing read. Feed was a tough act to follow but Deadline did it. Action, journalism, zombies, and Shaun breaking my heart over and over again. Damn you Cliffhanger! ( )

The overwhelming feeling I'm left with after reading this one is that it really could have used a thorough editing pass. There's a lot of unnecessary repetition and overlong exposition, often over things that ultimately were more cute or clever than necessary to the story. I didn't feel the characterizations as strongly as in the first book--a lot of people felt largely interchangeable, and there were chunks of dialogue that could have come from any of them. This probably sounds weird to say in a zombie novel where the main characters are targeted and on the run for most of it, but things were just too easy for them. Access to money and equipment was never, and has never been, a problem for any of them; more realistic obstacles might have made this a more interesting book overall. (And that's setting aside plot holes and all of the logistical worldbuilding questions that keep coming up was I read, such as access to raw materials and mass production.)

And I have to say, I felt profoundly cheated by the coda. Probably the most interesting thing about the book for me was the relationship between Shaun and his dead sister (both the conversations--though having Shaun (and everyone around him) keep pointing out that he was probably crazy, and Shaun's singular reaction to said pointing out, got old fast--and the sexual overtones that came to light) and this not only undermined that, but also the end of the first book which I was so impressed with at the time. Killing your POV character was audacious. Bringing her back seems cheap.

Which isn't to say that I'm not planning the final book. But I'm a lot less enthusiastic than I was before reading this one.

WHY AM I ENJOYING THESE THEY ARE TERRIBLE AND HAVE TERRIBLE PLOT TWISTS AND TERRIBLE REPETITIVE PHRASES (IF I HEAR ABOUT COKE AND THAT FUCKING MOTORBIKE ONE MORE TIME...) AND YET I CAN'T STOP READING THEM WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH ME IS THIS WHAT DISSERTATION YEAR DOES TO YOUR BRAIN??????? ( )

The sequels to Feed, which I loved. This is one of those unfortunate series where I kind of wish that the original book had been left to stand on its own. There was nothing wrong with these two, but they didn’t pack the emotional punch that Feed did, leaving me a little disappointed.

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