Finally, and once again, acknowledgment for forbearance goes to Amy McNally, Shawn Connolly, and Cat Valente, who put up with an amazing amount of “talking it out” as I tried to make the book make sense; to my agent, Diana Fox, who remains my favorite superhero; to the cats, for not eating me when I got too wrapped up in work to feed them; and to Tara O’Shea and Chris Mangum, the incredible technical team behind www.MiraGrant.com. This book might have been written without them. It would not have been the same.
To learn more about parasites, check out Parasite Rex, by Carl Zimmer. There are many, many books on the subject, but his is one of the most accessible jumping-on points you’re likely to find.
Welcome to the war.
By Mira Grant
Parasitology
Parasite
The Newsflesh Trilogy
Feed
Deadline
Blackout
Countdown (e-only novella)
San Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California Browncoats (e-only novella)
How Green This Land, How Blue This Sea (e-only novella)
Writing as Seanan McGuire
Rosemary and Rue
A Local Habitation
An Artificial Night
Late Eclipses
One Salt Sea
Ashes of Honor
Chimes at Midnight
Discount Armageddon
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Contents
COVER
TITLE PAGE
WELCOME
DEDICATION
INTERLUDE 0: GENESIS
STAGE 0: EXPOSURE
CHAPTER 1: JULY 2027
CHAPTER 2: JULY 2027
CHAPTER 3: AUGUST 2027
CHAPTER 4: AUGUST 2027
CHAPTER 5: AUGUST 2027
CHAPTER 6: AUGUST 2027
CHAPTER 7: AUGUST 2027
INTERLUDE I: EXODUS
STAGE I: IMPLANTATION
CHAPTER 9: AUGUST 2027
CHAPTER 10: AUGUST 2027
CHAPTER 11: AUGUST 2027
INTERLUDE II: NUMBERS
STAGE II: EXPANSION
CHAPTER 12: AUGUST 2027
CHAPTER 13: AUGUST 2027
CHAPTER 14: AUGUST 2027
CHAPTER 15: AUGUST 2027
CHAPTER 16: AUGUST 2027
INTERLUDE III: JUDGES
STAGE III: INTEGRATION
CHAPTER 17: AUGUST 2027
CHAPTER 18: AUGUST 2027
CHAPTER 19: AUGUST 2027
STAGE IV: EXPRESSION
CHAPTER 20: AUGUST 2027
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
BY MIRA GRANT
NEWSLETTERS
COPYRIGHT
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Copyright © 2013 by Seanan McGuire
Cover design by Lauren Panepinto
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Cover copyright © 2013 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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First ebook edition: October 2013
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ISBN 978-0-316-21893-1