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Day By Day Armageddon
- Genre: Zombie
- Published: 2004
- Author: J. L. Bourne
- Pages: 212
- Paperback ISBN#: 978-0978970772
- Hardcover ISBN#: 978-0978970772
- Reviewed by: Fixxxer on Wed 28 May 08
Official Blurb:
START INTERCEPT_ Sporadic news reports indicate chaos and violence spreading through U.S. cities. An unknown evil is sweeping the planet. The dead are rising to claim the Earth as the new dominant species in the food chain. INTERCEPT COMPLETE_
Survivor, In your hands is the handwritten journal depicting one man's struggle for survival. Trapped in the midst of global disaster, he must make decisions; choices that ultimately mean life, or the eternal curse to walk as one of them. Enter if you will into his world. -The world of the undead.
Plot Synopsis:
The protagonist of the book (unfortunately he never gives his name, since it’s his own diary he’s writing in) begins keeping a diary. Being an active member of the US military, he gets a great deal of scuttlebutt that fills in the blanks somewhat about the leadup to the eventual zombie outbreak that will claim the world. Even afterwards, we get a great deal of information about the zombies themselves because the author is stationary, but curious enough to experiment with the zombies trapped outside of his home. Eventually, he and his surviving neighbor are forced to flee their fortresses when the most heavily populated cities (one of which they’re in) are nuked. On the road, he picks up a few extra friends and the group has to survive pretty much hand-to-mouth.
All of this is told in the form of the protagonist’s diary. We get exacting detail from the perspective of one man, without anyone else’s input muddying up the waters. The protagonist is smart and likable and the challenges he faces seem dangerous and real. I found myself drawn into the book almost to the extent that I was a fellow survivor reading a journal I happened across.
What I liked:
- The protagonist was well-prepared for an emergency, and rather than play that off like it was nothing, the author has made him a member of the military, trained to be prepared for emergencies. The fact that the author himself is an active member of the US military (and last I heard, was recently back from Afghanistan) certainly helped the character maintain continuity.
- Actions taken by the protagonist were well thought out and driven by need and, at times, desperation. He was a likable person that the reader should be able to easily bond with.
- There were no likely-to-get-you-killed types traveling with the protagonist. The use of these types of people (those who are obviously going to snap, someone who shoots at every zombie he sees, etc) is chronic in the genre, probably to help build drama unrelated to the zombies themselves. It’s refreshing to see someone smart enough not to travel with said types.
What I didn't like:
- Several of the entries in the diary were more detailed than a person would logically put into his diary. I realize this is by necessity, since it’s hard to tell a story otherwise, but it’s noticeable nonetheless.
- The book leads up to the outbreak very quickly. I understand this stems from a desire to jump right into the action. However, the first diary entry is January 1st, and boils down to “I decided to keep a journal,” and two weeks later, the world has gone to hell. It seems somewhat convenient.
Rating:
- Genre Feel: It doesn’t get much better than this, I think. A nearly day-by-day account of the fall of the world as well as a significant amount of time afterward. Zombies are everywhere and there is rarely a page in the book where the threat of them doesn’t loom over the protagonist.
- Story: The story was well executed and written with care. The author currently claims to be better than 200 pages into the sequel, but this is going to be hard to top.
- Readability: The book was easy to read and contained few spelling or syntax errors that jumped off the page. The fictional diary author was careful to include a C.Y.A. line about how his work is probably riddled with errors.
Final Scoring:
5.0 Zombie Heads of a possible
5 Zombie Heads
Personal Recommendation: Get yourself a copy of this book, ASAP. If you like zombie fiction and are desperately searching for a book that’s worth a damn in the ocean of books that aren’t, this one is for you.
Availablity:
Amazon
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