Blackout is the third novel in the Newsflesh series by Mira Grant (aka Seanan McGuire).
Finished on: 5.5.2023
[Here are my other reviews of the series.]

Plot [with SPOILERS for the books that came before]:
Shaun and his journalist team, or rather what remains of it, are in hiding with Dr. Abbey, trying to advance the research of a cure to Kellis-Amberlee. With Shaun’s new-found immunity, he is not only a skilled zombie retriever, but also a research subject himself. But the CDC is still on their tail, and Dr. Abbey needs more than just the local zombie population – she needs one of the mosquitos who have started spreading the virus in Florida. So Shaun and Rebecca split from the rest of the team to set out.
Meanwhile, Georgia wakes in a CDC facility, distinctly remembering having died. Caught with the CDC, her journalistic instincts kicks in and she she starts to investigate as best she can under the circumstances.

Blackout is a good continuation of a strong series, but I have to admit that it was the weakest part for me so far. The plotting just wasn’t as tight anymore, and there were a couple of revelations that I could have done without. That being said, I’m glad I read it – I wouldn’t have wanted to miss this (more or less) conclusion.

As with the first two books, Blackout very softly slides into yet another thriller subgenre. In the first novel, we got the political thriller. The second one was the investigative journalism thriller. And this one is more like a spy thriller. They all fit together well and things are definitely cohesive enough and close enough in tone that it still feels like one series, so I really enjoyed these variations on the theme.

But above all, I just really liked the characters and was deeply invested in their well-being. Much more, I have to say, than I was invested in the plot or the grand conspiracy that is being uncovered here, and that admittedly only made a limited amount of sense to me. There are just some logical gaps there, I think. But it didn’t bother me enough to think hard about it (and either find explanations for the gaps, or confirm that there really are gaps). The characters were more important – above all, Shaun and George.

George’s re-introduction to the group was really fantastically handled, apart from one aspect for me: [SPOILER] the fact that George and Shaun are revealed to have been lovers all along. It’s not even so much the incestuous angle, though as someone with adopted siblings, let me just say eeeeeeek, than the fact that in my mind, George was asexual – and that queer reading was thus completely dismantled. [/SPOILER]

Thanks to the vivacious characters and George’s still-excellent narration, I was willing to forgive the book many of its flaws, but I just wasn’t as into it anymore as I was into the first two books. Still, it is good to bring the story to a close with this one. Although there is yet another sequel, written a little later, that seems to continue the series a little longer after all. I don’t know if I will check that one out, though, because Blackout was enough for now. We will see.

Summarizing: not unsatisfying, but not as good as I had hoped.