Meticulously researched and well written. Mira Grant's second installment in the Newsflesh Trilogy doesn't disappoint, even if it does feel sometimes like it's the middle book treading water until the ultimate finish. Deadline continues where Feed left off (you can read that review here) - Georgia and Shaun Mason, brother and sister news team followed the presidential campaign of Senator Ryman to the nominating convention, only to have Georgia killed by a vast conspiracy which included Gov. Tate, the other possible candidate. Tate dies at the hands of Shaun without giving up the head of the conspiracy and Shaun vows to track down those responsible for Georgia's death. You see, a freak accident explained in exquisite detail in the first book, caused two viruses to combine to create a super virus that redirects the body'd energy into becoming a shambling infected vessel determined to infect or eat any living thing. Yay. Deadline picks up a year after those events with Shaun as our new narrator. I have to say, I miss Georgia. She was analytical and wry. Shaun's great, but he's no substitute, the fact that Mira Grant has written him to be aware of this drawback is next level aware and I appreciated it. To deal with the trauma of losing his sister, the only person he's ever loved, he latches onto a non-corporeal (not literally) Georgia, who speaks to only him. The rest of the team just rolls with it and it only occasionally becomes a concern. In any case, the conspiracy starts rolling once a CDC doctor winds up at Shaun's Oakland apartment, claiming she has some secret information to deliver. While she is delivering the message, a massive outbreak occurs and the team is running for their lives to evacuate the city before it is "cleansed" in a massive fireball. The information the doctor shares is that individuals with dormant virus conditions are dying at disproportionate rates to the rest of the country. In this world that means these people, like Georgia, are being targeted. In his quest for answers, Shaun unveils even more secrets that dwell right in the heart of the CDC. But a massive outbreak suggests a terrifying evolution in the disease. The action in this book was more subdued than the last time as the characters aren't moving around quite as much and the book lulled in moments where the main focus was setting up events for the conclusion in book three, but the book took the time to lay it all out and I'm sure book three is going to be a great conclusion. It's hard for the second book in a trilogy to outshine it's predecessor and Deadline is no exception. But the cliffhanger ending and the revelations added excitement of their own and made Deadline an enjoyable read. This is a must-read for anyone into the Zombie genre.
4/5 Stars.
I received this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. I've had some pleasant surprises from NetGalley recently so I probably had higher expectations going into reading this that never fully coalesced into a feeling of satisfaction. The story begins with Aaron Englund packing up his stuff and leaving his partner of 20 years, Walter at their home in Albuquerque. It's really unclear what led to this ultimate split, but it appears that Aaron has more or less fallen out of love with Walter and is ready to change his life. So he heads to San Francisco to begin anew.Upon arrival he rents a horrible studio apartment from a feuding married couple, and begins work as an ESL teacher in a poorly run school. And then Aaron struggles. Part of this is likely based on his background. His father was abusive but died before a cathartic parting would give him mother any satisfaction or confidence. So his mother moves them to a small town, proclaiming it is NOT the kind of place to start over. With that omen hanging over their story, they barely get by together until Aaron turns 15 and his mother leaves. In swoops Walter and the rest is really, well kind of boring (I read another review that used the word tedious - which is probably more on point).
Aaron is a collector of stories and the vignettes he relays regarding other people are pretty fascinating. But Aaron, who is our eye piece in the story, tries to use these outside stories to define himself. It's a technique that feels almost, but not quite successful. The narrative is harmed by a dizzying skip through time and place which is distracting when it's not down-right confusing. I wouldn't say I liked this book in total, although some parts were bright spots. I also wouldn't say I disliked it.
3/5 Stars.
I'm actually pretty torn on how to review this book. On the one hand, Sue Miller stories are a master class in character examination. On the other, the book was a bit slow and plodding and ultimately a little boring. The Arsonist follows the life of Frankie Rowley, who returns to her parents retirement home, a place she spent summer vacations as a child, in Pomeroy, NH (again, I'm sorry if these spellings are incorrect, I listened to the audio version of this book). Frankie is coming off another stint as an aid worker in Kenya and she's feeling a little lost, a little forlorn at what seems like the repetitive love and life cycles of "temporizing" in Africa.She arrives in Pomeroy to find her father mentally deteriorating due to Alzheimer's or perhaps Lewy Body disease. Her mother, Sylvia, is dealing with her own feelings of unfulfillment as she contemplates a retirement life taking care of a man who she never quite loved enough. There's a lot of deep character stuff going on in this book. Whether we can shake who we are, find fulfillment, that kind of thing. Typical stuff that Sue Miller does better than basically any other author I've ever read. In the background, fires are being set at the houses of Pomeroy's summer residents. The fires begin to fuel fear and mistrust in the town. This is all covered in the local paper by Bud Jacobs, a man who left Washington DC to escape the big city stories and who's aim was to settle into small town life in Pomeroy. Bud eventually falls for Frankie and their romance is complicated by her being unsure about what she wants to do with the rest of her life. The arson does little more than set a backdrop to the characters lives, and to focus the book in time by giving events to move the story forward. In all, Sue Miller does such a great job delving into the motivations and lives of Frankie, Bud and Sylvia that you end the book really understanding who they are and why they do the things they do. But there is also a faint unfulfilled longing for change or progress to be made by the characters that really sets in motion the ultimate lesson that people don't change, they make decisions based on their personalities and backgrounds, and sometimes they make good decisions, sometimes bad, but they are fundamentally who they are. And what they do with their lives is entirely up to them. While the ending doesn't feel fully satisfying, it does feel overwhelmingly real. And that is what I have come to expect from Sue Miller (you can read my review of another Sue Miller book here). So in that respect, she didn't disappoint.
4/5 Stars.
Stephanie Plum is still out there doing mediocre work as a bounty hunter. She's tenacious, but when it comes to the actual apprehension, she's not very good at it. This time around she's trying to find a woman named Maxine, who skips bail for stealing her boyfriend's car. The boyfriend, predictably, is a real piece of work. Oh and this time the ante is upped because Stephanie's nemesis and husband stealer - Joyce Barnhart, has also decided being a bounty hunter could be a good line of work.
Stephanie manages to have yet another vehicle blown up and her apartment fire bombed so she shacks up with Morelli for a few days while repairs get underway. And that's probably the best part of the whole book. FINALLY, after three installments (you can read my reviews of the last book here), Stephanie gets her man. Ahem.
Oh yeah, there's something about counterfeit money, and fingers start getting chopped off of witnesses too. In addition, we get a new member to Stephanie's odd posse that previously included her 80 year old grandma and the former prostitute turned file clerk, Lula. To this merry band we add the cross-dressing heterosexual Sally Sweet, bass guitarist and puzzle solver extraordinaire. I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of Sweet at the series continues.
This installment was entertaining because of the character arc development of hooking Stephanie up with Morelli finally, and because Grandma, Lula and now Sally make quite a team. There were a few laugh out loud moments. The story did get a bit slow in parts. I've come to realize Stephanie never captures her fugitive the first time she meets them, sometimes not even the second or third time, so it always ends up making the book feel unnecessarily long.
3/5 Stars.
I liked this book more than the first in the series (you can read that review here). It helps that we already have a background in the story so the names and the places aren't as unfamiliar this time around. There also just seemed to be a better flow and the characters seemed more human this time around.
Dune Messiah takes place 12 years after the events ending the first book, namely the ascension of Paul Atreides as emperor and his political union with Princess Irulan. But things in the realm are not going so well. Paul's global jihad, the one in his name, but for which he constantly wishes would not endure, has killed up to 60 million people across the universe. His Fremen armies have spread out and vanquished foes on hold out planets far and wide.
Having the give of foresight, Paul sees no other path before him and knows each path provides only ever greater death and destruction than the one he has set himself on. He feels trapped in his present, having already seen how it all plays out. His attempts to delay the inevitable cause him more heartbreak.
Enter the picture a plot to overthrow Paul. A group of schemers, to include his princess-consort Irulan, Reverend Mother, a Guild Steersman and a new face dancer of the Bene Tleilaxu all meet in secret to come up with a way to take back the empire. The Reverend Mother of the Bene Gesserit insists that Irulan must bear the heir to the throne. She's trying, but Paul still loves Chani, the Fremen girl he met when he was cast out in the desert at 15. Chani has been unable to bear him any more children since the death of their son in the final battle which placed Paul on the throne. The plotters plan involves gifting Paul a remade Duncan Idaho, reclaimed of his original flesh, this part man, part robot thing called a "ghola" looks like Duncan Idaho but has new memories and abilities. He is to be the secret weapon to kill Paul when the time comes.
Meanwhile, Paul's sister Alia grows frantic in her attempts to understand her brother's actions and the ever growing mix of religion and politics that is taking place due to her brother's status as a god. How to overcome this path and set the empire to rights again? And why is she falling in love with Duncan Idaho, the ghola?
The only weird thing missing in this story is Paul and Alia's mom. Maybe Herbert decided it was time to let the second Atreides generation take the highlights of the plot and keep the older generation out of the picture. But their mother would have provided some interesting insight and perspective as the person who set this whole crazy train in motion.
I won't say how the book ends, because it's a main driver of the plot to find out what Paul decides or gives himself up to in the end. But I will say it's satisfying as a story arc to have it end the way it did, even if it didn't feel entirely necessary.
4/5 Stars.
