Welcome to a world where cancer and the common cold have been cured. Welcome to a world where George Romero is a nation hero, and not just known for B-grade horror films. Welcome to a world where zombies walk the land and everyone carries the infection waiting dormant in their veins. Welcome to the world of George and Shaun Mason.

From the first moment where Shaun is poking a zombie with a stick to the last fight during a massive outbreak Feed, by Mira Grant, is unique among most zombie stories. Why, because Feed does not take place during the rise of the undead, but rather twenty years after the first infection. Feed follows the story of a group of Bloggers, now a licensed profession, as they follow the presidential candidate on the campaign trial. Feed’s story takes off from there, while it may not be a true zombie story, one of a small group trying to survive, It does show, perhaps very accurately, that people will find a way to live, a way to go on, to prosper, and a way to kill each other. Feed also it of note, because it brings the reader close to the character and there are moments where the emotions of the characters are transmitted directly to the reader, both the moments of elation and humor, as well as the darker emotions, such as sadness. This alone puts Feed above many of it’s forbearers but it also takes the reader into the mindset of someone who is living in a world where the next zombie outbreak could quite literally a heartbeat away. Feed also looks at the ramification of zombie on the world stage, how not just people react but how countries and governments might react to the rise of the undead. Laws that demand blood tests to make sure that a man who is on his way to becoming a zombie does not eat his neighbor to Big Brother wanting to know where you are driving so that he might map the next outbreak.  Feed is a literary gem, not just for the reader of zombie horror, but for anyone looking for a good story to sit down to.

Okay, now that the fluff is out of the way, My honest opinion.

Feed is one of the few book, as of late, which I have picked up and gotten truly excited about once I started reading it. Not only is it a story that is immersive and captivating, but it is written by an author that is not afraid to take risks to tell the story. I found myself thinking about the story during the day and once I got into the true meat of the story I was not able to put it, finishing the last three hundred pages, half the book, in one night. The story is also well thought out and some of the combat techniques that are deployed are even sound, this coming from someone who has put as much thought in how to combat the undead as anyone and even I had not thought some of the techniques.

While Feed may provoke the ire of some for not being true to other zombie stories it is unique and deserves a look by anyone who claims to know anything about zombies or believes that they might survive the zombie apocalypse, because if you do this might be the world in which you will be living.

On ZAC’s book rating scale I give it two out of two stumps up!