Feed

Feed is a first person political thriller written in a time when zombies are a serious threat. Thirty years before the novel takes place two viruses-one that cured cancer and one that cured the common cold-combined into a highly contagious disease that turns its victims into mindless flesh chomping disease vectors.
The other bit of background required to drive the plot is that blogging has gone mainstream. When bioterrorists released the cure for the common cold and triggered the epidemic of walking dead, the mainstream media dropped the ball and bloggers picked it up.
The story is a first person narrative that follows a group of bloggers on the campaign trail as they report on a hot Presidential campaign. Things heat up when it is discovered that someone is intentionally infecting people with the zombie plague to effect the outcome of the campaign.
The main characters are well drawn and the plot moves along at a good pace. I had a hard time putting the book down. The author occasionally repeats information or spends too much time laying out background information, but that does not detract from the overall pace of the novel. Towards the middle of the novel a number of supporting characters are introduced that are never fleshed out enough. Since this is the first of a planned trilogy, I assume that they are important in the following books. (I have a general problem with a potboiler that is a planned trilogy. I think a good murder/conspiracy story should be able to fit into 500 pages. More than that allows for story destroying flab.)
For non-zombie fans the author does a good job of keeping the zombies in the background. They are just a part of the world in which the novel takes place. Their effect permeates the story as it permeates the lives of the characters. The gore is also kept to a minimum.
Aside from being a good read, Feed considers a lot of interesting questions. What unintended consequences will our quest for better health bring about? Is genetic engineering safe? What is happening to our news agencies? How would society change when being social can get you killed? Is righteousness bordering zealotry capable of good?
Overall, I recommend Feed as a good read.