So, I’m a big fan of Zombie-horror provided there is a bit of humour, satire and/or social commentary under-pinning the gratuitous gore. Which means that I was totally blown away when I read Feed, the first volume of Mira Grant’s Newsflesh trilogy.
Feed is set some 20 years after a Zombie apocalypse, The Rising, which was caused when two experimental viruses (one a cure for the common cold, the other a cure for cancer) were accidentally released from their labs. In the wild they combine to form a nasty pathogen which, when it’s host dies, goes into a kind of overdrive and sends the corpse shambling forth to spread the disease. Humanity survives but both virus and zombies persist as a threat to the tightly controlled safe zones society has retreated to.
Against this backdrop bloggers Georgia and Shaun Mason win the contract to follow and report on Senator Peter Ryman’s campaign for the US Presidency. They quickly find themselves embroiled in a chaotic mix of conspiracy, death, mayhem and zombies…
What I particularly like about this story is that it builds a very convincing post zombie-outbreak society that is clearly on the edge despite retaining some of the comforts we know today. It also has a good explanation of the zombie plague’s genesis – the genetic modification of viruses in an effort to combat two common illnesses. I can’t speak to the scientific accuracy of this explanation but it seems to make sense within the context of the story and certainly seems plausible.
There are also twists and turns that would make most twisty-turny things jealous but I’ll have to leave you to uncover these for yourselves.
Overall Feed is a well-paced horror story with strong undercurrents of political intrigue, subtle hints of satire and the occasional shocking slap in the face – just to make sure you’re awake.
Enjoy!