Libby - it's a gathering of a story line to see how the whole thing came to being, and how people dealt with it. I liked it because it was varied. The stories don't all intertwine except for the reporter, but I loved it becuase it was so varied and not a single point of view. But, again, the voice thing may have played a bigger role in how much I liked it.
I love Tom Clancy books because they do the same thing - bounce back and forth and back and forth as they bring a story in together.
Now I need to get out of dystopian/zombies and do something mind-numbingly everyday and get started reading ahead for school books. Mom's summer reading was fun while it lasted!