Blackout by Mira Grant

Source: Public Library
Paperback, 659 pgs
On Amazon and on Kobo

Blackout by Mira Grant (beware there could be spoilers for Feed or Deadline in this review) is the final installment in the Newsflesh series, and it is a stunning ride that will leave readers breathless to the final page.  It has been a long time since a zombie series has been this well developed and thought out.  Grant has created a masterful new world after the Rising of zombies in which bloggers have taken over as the trusted form of communication and information, and while the American populace continues to trust the CDC, the government is still considered sketchy at best.  Shaun Mason and his group of bloggers at After the End Times continue to dig into the death of one of their own, looking for someone to blame.  At the same time, Shaun is hardly coping, speaking with voices in his head, and his team is enabling his craziness.

“‘Shaun … ‘ There was a wary note in Alaric’s voice.  I could practically see him sitting at his console, knotting his hands in his hair and trying not to let his irritation come through the microphone.  I was his boss, after all, which meant he had to at least pretend to be respectful.  Once in a while.  ‘That’s your fourth catch of the night.  I think that’s enough, don’t you?’

‘I’m going for the record.’

There was a click as Becks plugged her own channel into the connection and snapped peevishly, ‘You’ve already got the record.  Four catches in a night is twice what anyone else has managed, ever.  Now please, please, come back to the lab.'”  (page 20)

As a tropical storm wreaks havoc on Florida and other southern states ad the dead begin to rise at a faster rate, Shaun and his team not only have to uncover what has happened, but have to find a way to get the word out when the government has effectively caused a media blackout.  While the team is still gathering information and poking zombies, the focus on higher ratings has fallen off the radar for the team.  Conspiracy theorists and zombie fiction lovers will love the ride Grant takes them on, and the series touches upon a number of issues, particularly medical ethics.

Blackout by Mira Grant wrapped up the series nicely, though there is an e-novella that follows this, and Grant has created characters who struggle with the truth — finding it and keeping it real for everyone else.  From experimenting on live subjects to creating clones, the Newsflesh series runs the gamut of medical ethics issues, but it also highlights the idea of journalistic ethics and objectivity.

About the Author:

Born and raised in Northern California, Mira Grant has made a lifelong study of horror movies, horrible viruses, and the inevitable threat of the living dead. In college, she was voted Most Likely to Summon Something Horrible in the Cornfield, and was a founding member of the Horror Movie Sleep-Away Survival Camp, where her record for time survived in the Swamp Cannibals scenario remains unchallenged.

Mira lives in a crumbling farmhouse with an assortment of cats, horror movies, comics, and books about horrible diseases. When not writing, she splits her time between travel, auditing college virology courses, and watching more horror movies than is strictly good for you. Favorite vacation spots include Seattle, London, and a large haunted corn maze just outside of Huntsville, Alabama.

Mira sleeps with a machete under her bed, and highly suggests that you do the same.