Armageddon It!

Day By Day Armageddon By J.L. Bourne


There are two types of people in the world. Vampire people and zombie people.  The Gothic, sexual, dark, mysterious, powerful, and immortal vs. the viral, experimental, grotesque, rotting, sometimes comical and always thoughtless.  Vampires have depth, while zombies are dumb. Both can be scary; both iconic. The freaks like vampires and the geeks like zombies.
That has been my perception. Not to knock the classic zombie, there are just different trains for different brains. However, a shift is upon us. I am obviously a vampire person, but with the recent disgrace and over commercialization of my beloved bloodsuckers, and, the emergence of legitimate zombie greatness like The Walking Dead, The Crazies (the remake), and the 28 Days franchise, amongst others, I was easily convinced to check out one of the new wave Zombie novels. 
Apparently, this was first a series of posts on a message board gaining wild popularity and then turned into a novel. Interesting way to get a start.  Day By Day Armageddon is the account of an unnamed Navy pilot, written in the form of a journal, during a zombie apocalypse.  J.L. Bourne is an actual Navy officer. Note: The only other book that I remember reading that was in the form of a journal was Dracula.

It starts in China, the virus that is, and spreads quite rapidly. Next thing you know U.S. troops are in China and voila! It's spreading all over the world and people are turning into zombies. Our main character is tuned into current events and what goes on in the world.  That and obviously his military training allow him to foresee the impending zombie apocalypse.  If something like this ever happens, Mr. Bourne has convinced me I would want to be with an experienced military man. The common conversation in zombie loving circles seems to be "what would you do?" or "what is the best  weapon?" or "who would be best prepared?"  And the answers to those questions are the hallmark of the story.  Knowing what to do and being prepared in certain situations is what the story is about.  So our Navy pilot, coincidentally, surrounds himself with other lucky survivors that have convenient skills, like John the Engineer, and Jan the nurse.  They make use of our protagonist's aviation skills and they utilize boats, rescue a family, and locate an under ground bomb shelter.  The Zombies are dumb and slow, but after the good ol' U.S. of A. drops atomic bombs on all the major cities, the radiation seems to enhance their cognition and mobility ever so slightly.  Uh-oh.  After all that they have a confrontation with other survivors. And just when the going gets good, the story ends, because this is just the beginning.  The abrupt ending was a bummer, because I didn't know the book was the first in a series. Luckily the second installment has already been released. I'll give it a shot at some point. Zombie stories can seem to all be the same.  This one is really no different, but the perspective, insight, and format do enough to make the story interesting, while the length, pace, and obvious situations make the story exciting.  It is not particularly pretty writing or a new idea, it's not meant to be; it is simple and realistic.  It is portrayed as a journal and is written like one, and it does a good job. Bourne also does a good job of combining the old and the new, so both the zombie purists and the new generation should be appeased with how the living dead are portrayed.  A nice quick read. It's not great, but it's good.  I'll admit it. Zombies are kinda cool I guess.

Next is The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro And Chuck Hogan.