View source for Newsflesh Trilogy: Deadline by Mira Grant

{{infobox1
|title=Newsflesh Trilogy: Deadline
|author=Mira Grant
|reviewer=Loralei Haylock
|genre=Horror
|summary=Less of a rollercoaster and more of a bullet train hurtling towards the final climatic chapters. Zombies, far reaching conspiracies and nail-biting terror make this an excellent addition to the ''Newsflesh'' series that matches the promise of the first.
|rating=5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=560
|publisher=Orbit
|date=June 2011
|isbn=978-1841498997
|website=http://miragrant.com/newsflesh.php
|cover=1841498998
|aznuk=1841498998
|aznus=031608106X
}}

Ever since the untimely death of his sister, Shaun Mason has been alive, but not much more so than the zombies that populate his post-apocalyptic world. For the man who built a career on poking dead things with a stick, just for laughs, life's just no fun anymore.

And it doesn't get much more fun when a CDC worker who faked her own death turns up on his doorstep, a zombie hoard close behind her, but at least the new development gives Shaun a new purpose. Because the conspiracy that killed his sister has just got a whole lot bigger, and Shaun is determined to get to the bottom of it – or die trying, which gets more and more likely the deeper he digs.

I loved the [[Feed by Mira Grant|first instalment]] of this zombie political thriller series, and admit to being a little worried how it could be topped. With the main character killed off, the conspiracy reaching all the way to the president, there didn't seem to be much space to progress, to heighten the threat. And at least for the first few chapters it seems that the only place the book is going is nowhere – Shaun's depressed, he hates life without Georgia, he sees no way forward, and neither does the reader. And then the CDC doctor shows up, towing a ravenous zombie horde behind her, and the pace picks up about a thousand percent, racing from one end of post-apocalyptic America to another.

The stakes are raised in a conspiracy that reaches beyond the government, in which the CDC, the WHO and other health organisations are involved in murder and germ warfare of the worst, zombie-flavoured variety. The idea that the health organisations have total power in a world that lives in fear of infection is a logical, but nice step up to the world building, which is as thoroughly imagined as ever.

''Deadline'' is less of a rollercoaster and more of a bullet train, hurtling towards the climactic final chapters. And after the gut punch in the last book, the last thing I was expecting was an even bigger twist. Great world building, nail-biting terror with zombies to boot, this latest instalment in the ''Newsflesh'' trilogy is a superb addition and promises an equally superb conclusion. I for one can't wait until ''Blackout'' hits the shelves.

My thanks to the publishers for sending a copy.

Fans of crime and conspiracy with a supernatural twist might enjoy the Felix Castor series by [[:Category:Mike Carey|Mike Carey]].  We can also recommend [[The Country of Ice Cream Star by Sandra Newman]].

{{amazontext|amazon=1841498998}}
{{amazonUStext|amazon=031608106X}}

{{commenthead}}
[[Category:Thrillers]]