Holy. Shit. 
 Holy ... shit. 
 I will admit that until maybe the 50% mark, I was fully expecting to rate this a solid 3 stars. Yes, news is interesting, and the world was incredibly well thought-out, but the writing was a bit dry, and I got side-tracked quite a few times into starting other books. Also, George and Shaun's relationship, while understandable, was a bit squicky. (Although that could simply be my extremely squicky mind imposing itself on everything I read.) 
 Until ... 
 Holy shit. 
 Let's just say that sacrifices -- incredible sacrifices -- are made, and Shaun leaves the adventure changed, to my eternal heartbreak. I almost cried for that bugger. George and Buffy ... well ... you'll just have to read it for yourself. 
 EDIT: (view spoiler)[ I just saw something about George being a great character in Blackout and now I'm just so stressed! Why doesn't the library have Newsflesh?! (hide spoiler)]