Day by Day Armageddon

A reviewer

Bourne gives us a thinking man's 'or woman's' zombie themed horror novel. This is a struggle for survival that draws the reader in by way of the protagonist's journal. You feel for the characters and honestly care about their survival. The author puts his knowledge of the military to good use here as the protagonist relies on careful planning in a post apocalyptic world. This is an exciting novel that left me hungry for the sequel.

8 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

Decent Amateur Effort

Some of the glowing reviews must have been written by family members. These are useless to both the public and the writer. Granted, the book is an earnest, heartfelt effort in an always-enjoyable subgenre. It's a quick read with some good details and sympathetic characters. But definitely a rough, amateurish, frankly semiliterate work. Actual proofreading, instead of using a spell-check program, would have made it more readable.

5 out of 8 people found this review helpful.

A must for zombie fans!

First off, I must say that J.L. Bourne did a fantastic job with this book, I was hooked right away! The writing style was new to me, but very effective and captivating. I loved the characters and was very pleased with how well Bourne could capture the human essence allowing you to get to "know" them. I am eagerly awaiting the second installment of Day by Day Armageddon!

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Didn't do it for me.

This book suffered from one inherent flaw--we, as the reader, know that the writer of the diary has survived whatever encounters are described within. No matter how thrilling a reader may perceive the events, there's a diminished sense of danger and urgency whenever everything is in past tense.

Speaking of the thrills, I found them lacking. The descriptions of the zombies were quite brief and frequently accompanied by the narrator's explanation as to why a particular feature was unsettling. Much like when someone explains why a joke is funny and the humor is lost, the horror falls apart because of the aforementioned explanations of why something should be perceived as scary.

This book isn't horrible, by any means - the diction is easy to follow and the characters felt fairly real. It felt a little improbable that in a world gone so horribly wrong, the characters in this book had such luck. Thanks to careful planning of the characters, they survived several instances. However, much of their survival can be attributed to finding far more supplies than anticipated.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Recommend this even if you aren't a zombie fan.....YET!

great book, but $11.99 for 183 pages is a little much.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A reviewer

This isn't your typical zombie story. The only leap it asks you to take is that the dead walk. Once you accept this premise, every other detail of this story is firmly planted in cold, hard reality. From the way each character reacts to the situations they find themselves in to the weapons and equipment they use, this is a story meticulously researched and executed. Each character is fully realized with strengths, weaknesses and depth. The story is rich in character development and surprises. This is a story not just for horror fans, but for all fans of good storytelling.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

cover to cover in one sitting

The story starts off rather slow but begins to pick up after the character "bugs-out." If you stick it out through the early portions of the book you will be rewarded. I finished this book on a Sunday night and I bought 'Beyond Exile' on Monday morning. This is a solid read for any fan of the zombie apocalypse genre. READ THIS BOOK!!! You won't be disappointed.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Puts you right there with the flesheaters

I loved this book, I hope he comes out with a sequel soon. I loved the fact that it was written from a military man's point of view and that there were zombies at every turn. It really made me think about what I would do if faced with this type of stiuation. This book is much more than just a gorefest, it has real, believeable characters in a surreal situation and it makes you think more than you would expect from a zombie novel. if you want a good, scary, seat of your pants read, then check it out and hang on, what a ride.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Interesting addition to the zombie fiction genre

Some of the reviews I've read of Day By Day Armageddon have been unfavorable. I ended up purchasing it primarily because I was hungry for more of the genre and wasn't sure I cared how good it was. It ended up being excellent and a great addition to the zombie fiction genre. Some have complained about spelling and grammar errors, but I chalk this up to the nature of a "journal." However, one must assume that the main character is a well-spoken and educated individual, as the "errors" occur fairly infrequently.

J.L. Bourne takes us through the early days of the zombie apocalypse with a soldier that starts the journal just a few days before the first outbreaks occur. I felt at multiple points as if I was the one experiencing such, or at least right there with him, and found myself uneasy and pondering my own survival plan. This is one of the best examples I've seen of someone bringing in the personal psychological struggle of it all. (The Walking Dead graphic novel series also did a great job with this.)

I would definitely recommend this to anyone that loves zombies, or even a good survival book.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

DIARY OF DOOM

The title, Day by Day Armageddon, refers to the fact that the book is presented as a journal written by a survivor of the zombie apocalypse which has sparked the imagination of so many authors lately. The diarist is a Naval pilot, which gives him more skills (like flying) than your average survivor and this makes him interesting. Another fresh twist is that Bourne makes the connection between the fictional apocalypse and the all-too-real post traumatic stress so many of our soldiers, sailors and marines have experienced as a result of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He astutely compares the ruined cities full of undead with the aftermath of 911 when the streets of New York were full of debris and casualties. And I believe these events; war and terrorism, are two main causes of the recent trend in literature, both for adults and children, toward macabre topics. Vampires, zombies, werewolves, ghosts have all proliferated since 2001, in every section of the book store. There are some flaws in Day by Day. The text is fraught with glaring errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation.

1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Waiting for his next book.

The author has a clear and effective writing style that holds your attention from page to page. He has the rare ability to 'paint a picture' with his choice of words. I read this book in one sitting, too bad it wasn't 1000 pages long.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A reviewer

This book hooked me immediately! I could hardly put it down, and am eagerly awaiting the next book from this author!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

This had me hooked immediately, and is one of my favorite Zombie

This had me hooked immediately, and is one of my favorite Zombie Novels.

IT'S CRAP

If I could give it no stars, I would. It's so bad I was stunned to find out it wasn't self-published.

What's wrong with it? Pretty much everything.

This boring, sexist, illiterate loser of a main character wouldn't make cub scout, much less Navy officer. When I could be bothered to care about him (which aren't we, as readers, supposed to feel SOMETHING for a character?) I couldn't stand him.

I spent 188 pages waiting for something to happen. And there are more plot holes than there is plot. It's all lists of things he got, and then left behind because a plot-hole happened and he had to move.

Please, spare yourself and don't come near this thing. It's not even lendable. If you really need to read it, go to a library and check out the paper copy for free. You won't be sorry you didn't waste your hard earned money on it.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Very good

i very much enjoyed this book. fans of zombie horror, do not pass this up.

Read

I'm a friggin korean

Good read

At first I really didn't care for the whole dear diary feel of it but as I continued it is an interesting switch from regular reads. Almost more realistic. I was able to really enjoy Bourne's work

This is a wonderful book. If you like zombies It is most deff fo

This is a wonderful book. If you like zombies It is most deff for you!

Excellent zombie series, looking foward to the third installment

Excellent zombie series, looking foward to the third installment.

This was a decent zombie book. Having it written in journal entr

This was a decent zombie book. Having it written in journal entries was different, and something i hadn't seen before which was a pleasant surprise. I liked the planning and survival strategy that the main characters used. These characters did have a little too much luck in this book. I would have liked to see them get into a sticky situation and someone not be able to make it out alive.