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Despite critical acclaim, I think I stayed away from this for a while because zombies seemed overdone. But thankfully this isn't another variation on the tired "small group of people trying to survive in zombie-overrun world" formula. In fact, while there are Romero-esque zombies, I don't remember seeing this type of story being done - set in a paranoid, militaristic future a generation after civilization survived a zombie plague. And the zombies themselves aren't that big a part of the story (readers looking for gory gut-munching will be disappointed). Instead, this is more a political/journalism thriller, and more sci-fi than horror (especially with looking forward how the nature of the internet and technology is set to change how news is distributed).

Anyway, I quite liked this. It's not without its flaws: technical details are tedious and repetitive, the main human villain is a laughable caricature, and the snark of the young-adult protagonists (especially Shaun) is wearisome. But as I said, the world creation and genre mix is interesting. And it builds to a truly intense and emotionally powerful ending. Despite being the first of a trilogy, thankfully this stands completely on its own as a self-contained novel (so new readers don't have to feel like they're committing to 3 books to get any kind of ending). I'll probably move on and give the 2nd of the series (Deadline) a shot ... though unfortunately, it sounds like the annoying Shaun character is the 1st person narrator (hopefully he tones down the snark or I may not make it through).

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Finished 1632, starting in on its sequel.

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Book 2 of the "Newsflesh" trilogy. Unlike the first one, this is not standalone (you'd need to read the first one to get much out of it, and it ends on a cliffhanger). It's still very good and I'll move right on to #3.

Still working on The Wages of Destruction.

Not only is it a huge doorstopper of a book, but the author writes in thousand-word paragraphs. It's not uncommon to see a two-page spread with a single paragraph indent.

But it's fascinating. Hitler bet the whole German economy and the whole army on the invasion of France. If it had met a delaying opposition, the army had no reserves of fuel, manpower, or vehicles, and would have been destroyed. The German economy would have been a shambles. The army was outnumbered, outgunned, and the Allied tanks were superior to German tanks. He bet everything on a single stroke. Luckily for him, the Allied generals were inferior and he carried it off.

After France was taken, Romania agreed to sell 100% of its oil to Germany, Switzerland sold 100% of its precision instruments to Germany, and Italy became an ally.

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I liked it quite a bit, but it really made me want to re-watch the film. A good example of an adaptation being superior to the source material.

Just Finished:

Box by John Locke



Just Started:

The QB: The Making of Modern Quarterbacks by Bruce Feldman

I know I'm late to the game on this one, but in anticipation of the movie, I'm a little more than halfway through:



Every once in a while it briefly gets bogged down in technical details, but overall I'm enjoying it a lot. Last night I finally got to the point that it sold me on how good a movie it could be.

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Really good trilogy of books ... solid all the way through. I'll have to keep an eye out for other things by Mira Grant.

The other series she's written under the Mira Grant name, Parasitology, isn't as good (especially the second one, which just dragged--I think they convinced her to stretch out to 3 and she shouldn't have), but some of the Novellas in the Newsflesh series are excellent, I especially liked this one, even though it's kind of fucked up (since it takes place in an elementary school):

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Field Of Prey (Kindle) - John Sandford

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Reading:

John Marquand - Thank You Mr. Moto



Mr Moto is not much like the sweet and gentle character portrayed by Peter Lorre. He is polite and ruthless.