J. L. Bourne
Author of Day by Day Armageddon
About the Author
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Works by J. L. Bourne
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- Birthdate
- 20th century
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
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Day by Day Armageddon is a unique zombie apocalypse tale told in journal entries.
If you're looking for something horrific yet totally thrilling and intriguing, this book is for you. It's written in such a unique format, that it's hard not to be intrigued by the story. We follow our lead on a scary adventure when the world has been thrust into a zombie apocalypse. He writes journal entries of his journey, finding new friends, surviving day by day and trying to figure out what in the world is show more going on.
I like this take on thrills and action. It's fast paced, keeps you hooked and leaves enough to the imagination. The army side of things is explained thoroughly and it's super interesting. Knowing J.L. Bourne's background, it only makes it way more intriguing. Following a member of the military through the zombie apocalypse (and with legitimate phrasing and knowledge) it way more interesting than the average day person.
The worst part about this story is the darn cliffhanger! I'm glad I have the second book ready to go, or else I'd be livid. How could he end it like that?! In the middle of the action?! Ack!
Overall, this book is cool! It's not my typical read, but I think that's why I like it. It's spicing up my shelf. If you like horror, zombies, apocalypse or just different stylized books then I'd highly recommend this book!
Four out of five stars. show less
If you're looking for something horrific yet totally thrilling and intriguing, this book is for you. It's written in such a unique format, that it's hard not to be intrigued by the story. We follow our lead on a scary adventure when the world has been thrust into a zombie apocalypse. He writes journal entries of his journey, finding new friends, surviving day by day and trying to figure out what in the world is show more going on.
I like this take on thrills and action. It's fast paced, keeps you hooked and leaves enough to the imagination. The army side of things is explained thoroughly and it's super interesting. Knowing J.L. Bourne's background, it only makes it way more intriguing. Following a member of the military through the zombie apocalypse (and with legitimate phrasing and knowledge) it way more interesting than the average day person.
The worst part about this story is the darn cliffhanger! I'm glad I have the second book ready to go, or else I'd be livid. How could he end it like that?! In the middle of the action?! Ack!
Overall, this book is cool! It's not my typical read, but I think that's why I like it. It's spicing up my shelf. If you like horror, zombies, apocalypse or just different stylized books then I'd highly recommend this book!
Four out of five stars. show less
If I could give this book negative stars, I would.
It's been a long time since a book has made me as angry as this one did. I don't think I'm the overly critical sort. I have expectations, and I want them to be met, but I think that I'm willing to compromise. If a book isn't the best written but has a good story, or if the writing is gorgeous, but the story is kinda "meh", I can appreciate the book for what it is and move on. But this was just painfully, ridiculously bad.
This book's gimmick show more is that it's the daily journal entries of a person who is trying to survive the zombie apocalypse. That's it. The journal format is what's supposed to make this book different from all the other zombie lit out there. The book kinda hinges on that aspect, so it's important to do it right.
And right there, that hinge-y part, is where the author failed to tighten the screws, and the whole thing fell apart almost as soon as I opened it up.
Here's why: Writing in the style of journal entries is not the same as 1st person narration. They aren't interchangeable. Similar, sure, but again, NOT the same thing. I feel like I need to make this clear: Journal style ≠ First person.
A journal is where we write our own thoughts, for ourselves, so we don't need to explain things to ourselves that we already know. Writing in journal form is tricky, because the reader DOESN'T know what the journal writer does, so info needs to be conveyed in a subtle, indirect way by context.
Not like these:
At this point, I lost patience and flipped ahead to a random page to see if it got any better, where I read this:
Just for fun, let's re-write this one too... "I slammed the garage door just before the first creature started beating on it and started looking for a way keep it shut. I looked around the room and found a mop and some nylon string. Keeping a foot on the door to hold it closed, I edged over to the mop, jammed it into the door rollers, and tied the string around it to keep it in place. I weighted the door down with a heavy box for good measure. Probably won't last, but better than nothing."
The sentences I quoted are just plain awkward, and would be in ANY piece of writing, in my humble opinion. I get that it's hard to write fiction in journal entries. There's a lot of info that only the person writing the journal would know, like who Bryce is, or Jenny, or that the stepfather isn't the same "Dad" as "Dad", and somehow that information needs to be conveyed realistically to the reader. But that's the challenge you take on when you go for that style. It's NOT the same as epistolary fiction using letters or other correspondence, because those are intended to be read by someone else, and therefore the explanation works, is even necessary.
The fact is that if Bourne had specified that the journal was being kept for posterity, much of my issues would not even exist. If you're purposefully writing a journal for someone else to read at some point, it makes sense to write it with explanations for them. But unless the purpose of the journal changes at some point, that's not the case. (And honestly, even if it DID, it doesn't explain the explanations in the part that came before the decision to explain to future readers.)
What it boils down to is that this book was a huge disappointment, and I couldn't even make it 10% into it. You can be the "[...]king of hardcore zombie action" as the quote by Brad Thor says on the cover, but if you can't write a decent sentence, it doesn't matter at all.
1 Decapitation. show less
It's been a long time since a book has made me as angry as this one did. I don't think I'm the overly critical sort. I have expectations, and I want them to be met, but I think that I'm willing to compromise. If a book isn't the best written but has a good story, or if the writing is gorgeous, but the story is kinda "meh", I can appreciate the book for what it is and move on. But this was just painfully, ridiculously bad.
This book's gimmick show more is that it's the daily journal entries of a person who is trying to survive the zombie apocalypse. That's it. The journal format is what's supposed to make this book different from all the other zombie lit out there. The book kinda hinges on that aspect, so it's important to do it right.
And right there, that hinge-y part, is where the author failed to tighten the screws, and the whole thing fell apart almost as soon as I opened it up.
Here's why: Writing in the style of journal entries is not the same as 1st person narration. They aren't interchangeable. Similar, sure, but again, NOT the same thing. I feel like I need to make this clear: Journal style ≠ First person.
A journal is where we write our own thoughts, for ourselves, so we don't need to explain things to ourselves that we already know. Writing in journal form is tricky, because the reader DOESN'T know what the journal writer does, so info needs to be conveyed in a subtle, indirect way by context.
Not like these:
1. "My friend in Groton, CT called today. Bryce is a Navy submarine officer. He really helped me out on a great deal on salvage parts off the old diesel boats when I was installing those panels in my house a few years back." (Pg. 5)Who is he telling? Doesn't he know who Bryce is? Obviously he remembers the help that good ol' Bryce gave him, so why explain it to himself in his own journal? And WHAT panels? If we're all gung-ho about explaining everything to ourselves, let's explain what the hell the panels are. I seem to have forgotten...
2. "I miss my sisters, Jenny and Mandy. [...] I called my dad's house and spoke to Jenny, the youngest." (Pg. 7)Again, doesn't he know who Jenny is? Or that she's the youngest? Why is he telling himself this?
3. "I installed the bars using a tape measure, pencil, 5/32 drill bit, and a square head screwdriver (proprietary screwdriver that came with the bars and it's supposed to be difficult to get the screws out without using a drill.)" (Pg. 10)I would like to point out here that this is the beginning of the fucking inane shit that seems to take over this book. The ONLY reason I can think of to list out the tools used for installation of anything is so that it can be taken back apart later. But this would only really apply to those tools needed later. Why would anyone (including Sir Journalist) need to know that a tape measure and a pencil were used specifically? No really, I want to know. This is not a rhetorical question. Well, yes it is, because nobody needs to ever know that. It's fucking pointless drivel inserted for "authenticity" that needs none. You installed security bars. Bam. Done. I don't need to know if they are black or silver, who manufactured them or what the weather was like as they were being installed unless that has some actual bearing on the story. FFS!!
4. "I finally got through to my Mother and Stepfather (Dad). Mom was hysterical. I had to talk to dad to get any words in. He told me that things were fine and that they were as safe as possible. They hadn't seen any signs of the disease, but told me that there were reports in town of possible outbreak (10 miles away)." (Pg. 16)Really. REALLY?! Again, WHO IS HE RELAYING THIS TO?? Look, here's how you do this: "I finally got through to mom. She was hysterical and I had to talk to my stepdad in order to get any words in edgewise. Thank God they are safe - dad said the nearest reports of outbreak are at least 10 miles away from them."
At this point, I lost patience and flipped ahead to a random page to see if it got any better, where I read this:
5. "I slammed the garage door type shutter down and immediately thought of a way to secure it. I held the shutter down with the bottom of my boot just as the first creature started beating on the metal. They would attract more. The plastic zip ties in my pocket would do no good, as I had nothing on the ground to secure the door to. I glanced over to the corner of the room where I found a mop and some nylon string. Walking over to the corner, I kept my right foot along the lip of the door, and my left for balance. Grabbing the mop, I wedged it between the rollers that made the door slide up smoothly. Using the twine I secured it in place. There was a heavy box on the shelf full of plastic bottles of mouthwash. I sat the box on the lip of the door where my foot was. This wouldn't work forever, but it would have to work for now." (Pg. 126-127)So, not only has the writing not improved 110 pages later, but there's even more of it now! The guy is fighting for his life against an undead horde... Exactly when does he have time to take notes on his daily activities? When does he find the time to put them in essay form?
Just for fun, let's re-write this one too... "I slammed the garage door just before the first creature started beating on it and started looking for a way keep it shut. I looked around the room and found a mop and some nylon string. Keeping a foot on the door to hold it closed, I edged over to the mop, jammed it into the door rollers, and tied the string around it to keep it in place. I weighted the door down with a heavy box for good measure. Probably won't last, but better than nothing."
The sentences I quoted are just plain awkward, and would be in ANY piece of writing, in my humble opinion. I get that it's hard to write fiction in journal entries. There's a lot of info that only the person writing the journal would know, like who Bryce is, or Jenny, or that the stepfather isn't the same "Dad" as "Dad", and somehow that information needs to be conveyed realistically to the reader. But that's the challenge you take on when you go for that style. It's NOT the same as epistolary fiction using letters or other correspondence, because those are intended to be read by someone else, and therefore the explanation works, is even necessary.
The fact is that if Bourne had specified that the journal was being kept for posterity, much of my issues would not even exist. If you're purposefully writing a journal for someone else to read at some point, it makes sense to write it with explanations for them. But unless the purpose of the journal changes at some point, that's not the case. (And honestly, even if it DID, it doesn't explain the explanations in the part that came before the decision to explain to future readers.)
What it boils down to is that this book was a huge disappointment, and I couldn't even make it 10% into it. You can be the "[...]king of hardcore zombie action" as the quote by Brad Thor says on the cover, but if you can't write a decent sentence, it doesn't matter at all.
1 Decapitation. show less
Of all the types of books that I read, end of the world novels are grand. The method of storytelling put reality into a doomsday scenario--how it would impact and affect the average person. The characters are believable and that contributes to the book's authenticity. Great read.
This book was just fantastic :] When I started reading it, I was hesitant because it has no fancy writing style. It is written just as a standard journal, no whistles or frills and I wasn't sure that was what I was in the mood for.Shortly after starting it I was hooked. I am always on the lookout for the kind of book that is so haunting and chilling that your imagination runs away with you. This is how I felt throughout the majority of Day by Day. I think the only place I would have felt show more safe reading this book was in a bunker. :]The characters are simple but heartfelt and realistic. Some of the scenes are so stunning and leave an impression in your mind. I feel it would work great as a film.My only complaint would be the ending. While it doesn't cut off without complete notice, it does end almost suddenly and then the next page is a note from the author promising a sequel. The story is really not over and deserved more closure in this novel. Also, the ending had become a bit deus ex machina what with the main characters just HAPPENING to find a military base and everything else almost provided perfectly for them. Still, I'll give it 5/5! show less
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