Symbiont by Mira Grant

This is book two of Mira Grant's Parasitology trilogy so there may necessarily be some spoilers if you haven't read book one, Parasite. Which you definitely should. It's amazing.

Sal has escaped the clutches of SymboGen and it's morally bankrupt founder, Dr. Banks for the relative safety of Dr. Shanti Cole's illegal lab. But with San Francisco falling apart under the influx of the parasite-infected zombie apocalypse, nowhere is really safe for long. Sal's life is further complicated by the necessity of a dangerous operation to repair damaged blood vessels in her brain which will require her to venture forth among her enemies. She must also plan the rescue of her spiritual sister and resident fun psychopath, Tansy, from SymboGen.

Mira Grant is the pseudonym of fantasy author Seanan McGuire. She has also written the Newsflesh trilogy under this name (which is also excellent. In fact, just read everything she's ever written. You won't be disappointed.) Zombie fiction isn't usually my bag but this series feels like something that could actually happen in the near future. It's clear that McGuire-as-Grant did massive amounts of research into parasites, epidemiology, and drug development protocols. The result seems eerily prescient and raises questions of ethics, identity, and the relationship of humans to other species.

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