Day by Day Armageddon: Not as scary as sentient squirrels

Day by Day Armageddon by J.L. Bourne

Day by Day Armageddon is a fictional journal of an unnamed Navy pilot depicting the daily events of the zombie apocalypse. The journal begins with a new year’s resolution, describes newscasts about a virus outbreak in china, then continues to describe each day as things around the world get progressively worse, leading to the eventual total collapse of modern society.

J.L. Bourne has not brought anything new to the table as far as zombie lore goes. He sticks to the fundamentals laid out by George A. Romero’s films. These zombies are slow, stupid, and they bite. They also moan and shuffle around. Many zombie fans see this as a purist’s approach to zombie fiction; I see it as unoriginal.

However, despite the lack of an original premise, I was able to enjoy the story quite a bit. Bourne is a good writer, sticking with the concise verbiage you might expect from a military officer keeping a journal. At first I was taken aback by the intensity in the journal entries — I kept thinking there is no way a real person would take the time to write that much detail — and then I decided to stop being an ass and enjoy the book for what it was: a good story.

I listened to Day by Day Armageddon on the CD set published by Brilliance Audio. Jay Snyder, who portrays the journal writer, is well suited for the quiet tough-guy tone the main character needs. He delivers the often emotionally detached observations of the journal writer in a realistic and exciting way, so listening to Day by Day Armageddon on audio is great way for a zombie fan to experience this story.

Zombie fans will adore Day by Day Armageddon. Non-zombie enthusiasts should probably give it a pass. Personally, I’ve never been all that frightened by zombie stories, and the slow moving stupid-heads that run amok in this story are the least frightening of all. Of all the possible Armageddons, a zombie apocalypse is at the bottom of my anxiety list. Shuffling moaners that cannot turn a doorknob are nothing more than target practice. However, a robot army apocalypse is another matter entirely, or even worse… sentient squirrels.