** spoiler alert ** 
 MEGA SPOILERS AHEAD. 
 So I "liked" Feed - a solid 4 star read. I thought it probably dwelt on the politics a bit much and the zombies not enough but still, a good read. Deadline is easily 5 stars. 
 I've been trying to figure out why I liked it more - was I already emotionally invested in the characters having just finished Feed a couple of days ago? Did the focus on science and virology just appeal more to my inner science geek? 
 I think it was Shaun. 
 George was a good narrator. But she's a newsie. You get the truth she wants you to see, she's a bit distant, hiding behind those sunglasses and being the rational, cautious one. She told a good story. 
 Shaun on the other hand is all about the emotions. Not that he has a handle on them (I'm not sure I would have stayed working for a boss who routinely punches the wall...if you're lucky, or your face, if you're not). It felt...more raw and immediate I guess with him telling the story. His interactions with ghost-George are well done - Grant didn't lose George's voice when she made her a voice in his head - and touching. There's nothing like a bit of crazy to make you realize how fucked up with grief someone is. Then there was the whole scene with Becks...ugh. I cried. I kept thinking about that bit all day - it made his loss all the more poignant knowing they were intimate in that way (which I had thought was going on when I read Feed but wasnt sure if I was reading into things or not). Like Feed, the actual interactions with actual zombies comes second to a story about "chasing down the truth" (even if at times the action scenes are a little unbelievable). I will be buying Black Out the day it is released.