Will Sargent reviewed Blackout by Mira Grant (Newsflesh, #3)
Review of 'Blackout' on 'Storygraph'
3 stars
I wanted to like this, I really did.
But the premise defies all belief. Of all people, the CDC cloned Georgia Mason. Even in a world where zombies walk, this makes absolutely no sense from the CDC's perspective, no matter who is leaning on them.
And given the amount of putative power that the CDC has (spies, government assassins, firebombing Berkeley), Shawn Mason should be flat out dead. Even armed with rich heiress friends, a genius computer hacker, smugglers and people to fake identities, the CDC tracks him down multiple times. At best, journalists spur those in power to do something about the system; they have no direct power themselves. Shaun Mason going up against the CDC is like an fly going up against a semi tanker.
Except oh, they're friends with the Vice President. And the Secret Service. And it makes absolutely no sense that the Vice President or …
I wanted to like this, I really did.
But the premise defies all belief. Of all people, the CDC cloned Georgia Mason. Even in a world where zombies walk, this makes absolutely no sense from the CDC's perspective, no matter who is leaning on them.
And given the amount of putative power that the CDC has (spies, government assassins, firebombing Berkeley), Shawn Mason should be flat out dead. Even armed with rich heiress friends, a genius computer hacker, smugglers and people to fake identities, the CDC tracks him down multiple times. At best, journalists spur those in power to do something about the system; they have no direct power themselves. Shaun Mason going up against the CDC is like an fly going up against a semi tanker.
Except oh, they're friends with the Vice President. And the Secret Service. And it makes absolutely no sense that the Vice President or anyone in the executive branch needs Georgia or Shaun's help for anything, let alone go through such ridiculous machinations.
I just... yeah. Even allowing for artistic license and protagonists smart enough to poke holes in their own plot (Georgia in particular), this just doesn't hold up. Georgia and Shawn are well rounded characters, but the antagonists are too cartoonish and short-sighted to be realistic, and the repeated trope of "meet smart people, get checked for virus, admire tight security and lots of guns, go inside and chat, come outside to chaos and zombies" gets really old.