Day By Day Armageddon

The recent festive holidays left me with a shiny new Kindle eReader in my hand. Like any good minded tech nerd, I had to break it in! Since I have a healthy dose of horror nerd in me, I figured a zombie apocalypse book would be a good fit. Considering the fact that my good friend 'P' has been on me for a good year or more to give "Day By Day Armageddon" a shot, I figured what the hell and dove in. One day later, I'd say it was a good experience!

The setup is simple; "Day By Day Armageddon" is the journal of an air force officer who has begun to journal his way through the end of the world. He decides to stay in his home with battery back up and provisions instead of reporting to base which turns out to be a good thing for him in the long run. We follow along as the title suggests in day to day snippets of the narrator's recounting of his harried existence if the land of the un-dead.

Bourne's book of the end of the world has had praise heaped upon it by throngs of zombie loving fans out there and for good reason. Following along on the narrator's journey is pretty damn engaging and makes for a solid read. The format can be off putting at first. Everything is delivered in short bite sized journal entries as the synopsis tells us. Don't worry though, it will grow on you over time. The truth is, the narrator and the people he meet are all pretty interesting as they grow in this new unfriendly world. Bourne does well to keep the situations and resolutions grounded in reality with a heavy use of military tactics and terms.

The format does bring with it some shortcomings, like a shortage of details. There are many sequences throughout the book that feel like they have been glossed over since we are being given just a brief journal entry. It fits for what the author is shooting for but as an end of the world/zombie fan, I'd like to hear more on what our protagonists are going through. It seems like most of the time we are told that someone is bleeding, given a brief wrap up of what happened to them and then we move on to the next entry. What it boils down to is the age old writer's argument of show vs. tell. You can make a case for either side. I myself as a writer; I struggle with showing more instead of telling. Telling has it's place though such as in "Day By Day Armageddon". A good balance of showing us some of the details would make this story cross over from a good read to a great one.

If you're a fan of zombies and the end of the world? You really need to get your hands on this. I know I'm late to the game since Bourne has already released the sequel "Day By Day Armageddon: Beyond Exile". That's okay though. It's worth crowing about, it's a good read!