3.5 stars, but I detract a half star for the narrator.

This book is in this day and age a lot more relevant and difficult to read than it must have been when it came out in... 2011 I believe?
Going through a viral pandemic was, in that time, something far away from reality. Today it isn't.

We don't have zombies, thank goodness. The way people actually behave during a pandemic would have meant mankind would have been extinct within a year. But we have the Corona-virus.
When this book was written, social media weren't the thing they are now, but blogging was hot. But replace blogs with Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, and you have the world of today, where the news isn't only in the hands of the traditional journalists, but also in the hand of online influencers, and the common man/woman/whatever.
It's a different world, and yet, frightfully the same.
There was this presidential campaign during a world-wide pandemic. A campaign the went on like everything was normal, while putting supporters at risk.

Well... this book wasn't easy to read.
Especially the conspiracy angle. I want to stay far away from conspiracy theories about the current situation, and reading this book, I understand how the media fuel and stoke the ideas in people that things like that have to be conspiracies. I understand why writers do this. But I can see every day around me how dangerous that can be.
Still... back to the book.

This was Seanan McGuire in excellent form. Not her best, but quite good. It floated a bit more on the Incryptid side than on the October Day. All her standard themes and motives are in this book. She really has a problem with her parents, doesn't she? Or so one would guess after reading most of her series.
While reading, I found that my brain tried to keep fitting puzzle pieces to the other series elements, and it was distracting. While she uses the same elements over and over (and the same names), she does manage to vary the elements enough to keep them separate. So while she clearly has a problem with authority (fatherly) figures, there are small changes that keep it interesting.

It reminded me the most of the Incryptid Werewolf book: the incredibly contagious virus, transmitted with a bite or bodily fluid. Shaun was some kind of Alex. The werewolf explanation sounded even the same. And yet, it is different. Well, for one, this wasn't in Australia :-) (then again, there were Irwins, so... ;-) )

While I really appreciated the acknowledgements, mentioning the massive amount of work and help she got with the work of getting all the facts and science straight, I was miffed about the shoddy work on the tech-side. But still... kuddoos for puting in the research!

The end of this book hit like a bullet to the frontal lobe. Now there was a twist I didn't see coming. That's great as well!

I like how she kept the language of this book (she does this in all her series) to a theme. "Feed" is about biting, chewing, puncturing, devouring, and those are the words she uses for the needles in the tests. The story is pulpy enough to almost forget what a lovely word-crafter she actually is.
I really enjoy how she manages to create very different series (in tone, setting). That's a skill not many writers posses.

Narration was... OK, I guess. I didn't like the narrator's accent. It was a drawl (a bit). Not pleasant to listen to (for me). The male narrator at the end had a problem with accents and speed-control. I hope that gets better in the next book.

I'll be continuing to the second part of the series.