Customer Reviews

Day by Day Armageddon: Beyond Exile (Book 2)

5 star:		(186)
4 star:		(64)
3 star:		(26)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Day by Day Armageddon was one of the first books I read when I became interested in zombie literature, to go hand in hand with my fascination with zombie movies, almost exactly four years ago. As is the case with many people who enjoyed its personal approach to the apocalypse as told by an active officer in the military, I have waited all this time for the long hoped for sequel. Since J.L. Bourne is himself an active member of the military, my guess is that he was only able to write bits and pieces of this update of the saga between active tours of duty. While it may have been frustration for us fans of the first book to have waited this long, I have to say that the wait was well worth it.
An issue that some people had with the first book was perhaps the intentional diary approach to the book, with typos left in and even the text a bit rougher than you would get from a traditional novel. That is no longer an issue, as the format of this book is more traditional, with no errors in the text, intentional or not. I myself had no issues with that previously, but with it gone, it is one less point of criticism that someone may have with this type of storytelling. We once again get a diary of a military officer facing down the zombie apocalypse and this one picks up where the last journal ended, under ground, in the nuclear missile silo the author has dubbed Hotel 23, shortly after an attack by hostile survivors that failed to penetrate its defenses.
This is once again a personal journey of one man, with other people entering and exiting the story at different intervals. The characters in the first novel that are with the main character in Hotel 23 remain, but do not play a pivotal role here. The story has more dramatic swings to it than the previous tale, where it was mainly one man gathering who he could with him to find any place they could to survive. In this story, the military is reintroduced and play a huge role in the goings on of this tale. This allows the story to progress beyond what could have amounted to a group of people just trying to hide out underground for the duration of the apocalypse. Instead, the main character is required to make tough decisions and take on new responsibilities that will lead him away from H23 for the bulk of this tale and once again make this a intriguing saga of one man's path, out in the open, during the zombie apocalypse.
My favorite character, and one which I am gathering much more will be revealed about in a future journal, is Saien, who our main character meets during his desperate travels and appears to be equally as capable (if not more so) than the main character at surviving in zed infested territory. His background is perhaps not completely shrouded in mystery, but it is clear there is more to the man than what the diary indicates. Suffice it to say, he is an interesting addition to the characters in the book, and the only one that shared a great deal of pages with the main character.
While there is a bit of romance afoot for our hero, it is certainly not a significant part of this journal. Personal interactions like that are kept to a minimum, with some character commentary that reveals bits and pieces, but the action is what the author targets, as is natural in a journal format such as this. While there is a great deal of military terminology, the author goes to significant lengths to make the layman, like me, feel comfortable with the equipment and hardware being used in the story. This is not a story about an every day guy beating the odds and surviving, but about someone who has gone through survival training, has a great familiarity with weaponry, hand to hand combat, and battle tactics most of us are not privy to, which makes this book fairly unique among most zombie stories written.
I personally enjoyed the gritty, personal perspective that this book and the previous novel have. A journal format does have its weaknesses: minimal dialogue, limited perspective, and by necessity, we know that the person who is penning the journal is okay because they continue to write about their exploits day after day. But done well, it is a compelling format, and it is hard to say that anyone out there does it any better than J.L. Bourne.

CONTAINS SPOILERS CONTAINS SPOILERS CONTAINS SPOILERS

Moving right along....

I know I am gonna get blasted here, given all of the 5-star ratings for this book. I'm Ok with that, because I struggled with writing an honest review because I wasn't thrilled with the book, and writing a lukewarm review because I heart JL Bourne and didn't want to piss him off. Honesty has won out in this epic struggle. But hey, JL? I still heart you, man.

Another reviewer, lou villaflor says:

"Big fan of the first book (and the zombie genre) so I couldn't wait for this second book. For those that have read the first book, Bourne doesn't disappoint as takes you through a journey of survival but the book literally dumps the reader in the last 30-50 pages(can't tell because I'm reading from a Kindle). It's almost like Bourne had to go somewhere and rushes through the ending. For example, they are attacked by an unknown and unexplained party with high tech weapons, they shut down the fort, evacuate, fight off the Z horde, end up in the carrier base and is forced to go to China-all this with very scant depth-it leaves you empty; especially after you've been on this great journey with the main character. WTF?
3 STARS IS ABOUT RIGHT."

I could not agree more with every single point, though I think it was more than the last 30-50 pages that are...off.

I totally heart JL and was waiting with trembling fingers to get my hands on a copy of this, as the first book was so entirely fabulastic that I just KNEW this book was gonna be ace. It was not.

It wasn't a BAD book, it just wasn't up to par with the first one. It DID feel rushed and incomplete, and the entire middle section of the book (where our hero is trying to get back to Hotel 23) is long, needlessly drawn out and kind of goes not really anywhere, but has threats and story lines that could go somewhere, but do not. It was like 3/4 of the second book was nothing more than a set up for the third.

I assume these threads will be picked up in the third book, which of course I will read - because I think I have, like, OCD or something, and I need the closure - but I wasn't thrilled with this. I still heart JL though. For realsies.

I will say, however, that I don't think I saw even one teeny little editing mistake, which makes me very, very happy.

J L Bourne's "Beyond Exile", the second in the "Day by Day Armageddon" series, may well be the best yet.

Bourne has grown as a writer. He is better at handling his characters and his scenes.

"Beyond Exile" starts exactly where the last book left off and it shows no signs of the dreaded "sequel lag".

In keeping with my tradition of not offering up spoilers, I will say that you will meet new characters, connect with other survivors and encounter mysterious factions with unfathomable agendas.

"Beyond Exile" is a great read and I give you fair warning: once you start reading it, you will be useless until you are done.

I read Day by Day Armageddon again before I read Beyond Exile just to refresh my memory. I was not as quite as impressed with Beyond Exile. It just seemed that some of the scenarios were a bit hard to believe and the way things kept happening to the main character, well, it just seemed phony. I enjoyed the book but not as much as the first one.

The second installment of Boune's zombie series is a good yarn, but lacks the humanity of the first book. Bourne is so busy talking zombies and relating experinces that the characters become much more cardboard cut-outs than people we care about, and his ex-Taliban sidekick is just a perposterous addition! If you don't believe me, read this one, then go back and re-read the first book. You'll see what I mean!

After voraciously devouring the first "Day By Day Armageddon" novel, I eagerly awaited this sequel. Unlike some experiences I've had in the past, the sequel did not disappoint in the least. "Beyond Exile" has the same accessible tone and down-to-earth main character from the first book, but with added twists. While it is still at heart a tale of the beyond difficult task of surviving in an undead world, "Beyond Exile" brings in a new element of mystery. Bourne incorporates subplots involving mysterious groups, the remainder of the military, and the burgeoning relationship between the narrator and Tara, the woman rescued in the first novel. While that may cause some readers to roll their eyes, Bourne handles this subplot tactfully, and it does in fact enhance the character development of the narrator, making him, in his own words, "more human". There is also of course plenty of zombie-killing action, and fans of the first novel will not be disappointed in that realm. There are new weapons and higher threats, and many heart-pounding scenes with the undead and the narrator. Overall, "Beyond Exile" manages to be a sequel to the first book, while managing to stand on its own two feet as a novel of its own. Certainly having read the first book helps familiarize a new reader with the characters and plot. But if you're going into "Beyond Exile" expecting a continuation of the survival story, be prepared for something new and different, and, to be honest, pretty awesome.

The follow up to the literally "underground" classic. DBDA beyond exile picks up where the original journal formatted book left off. Where the journal form was part of the appeal of the original, the second book picks up the action effortlessly and runs with it. A well written book is an achievement by any measure, to do it while actively deployed in the defense of our country is nothing short of amazing. No plot review or spoilers, J.L Bourne worked to hard for me to spoil any of it for him. Buy the book, and enjoy. Welcome to the underground.

The original Day By Day is one of my all time favorite zombie books. I read it in one weekend. And re-read it again several times because it is so much fun.

The sequel (in the first two chapters) has already exceed all my expectations. Mr. Bourne's personality and James Bondish dry sense of humor is coming out as the 1980's style - action one liners are coming out and they are funny!

More adventure and more zombie death. What more can you ask for.

Oh yeah - don't take six years to write the next book!

I'm not sure what books the reviewers who are giving this book 5 stars read, but it wasn't the same book I read. BE isn't bad, it has some weak plot points that ruin a fairly solid book, in my opinion.

I will not give any spoilers, but toward the end, I'm not sure what happened, because it seemed like someone told the author to wrap it up and email the final version to them right away... so he just toss some stuff in and sent it off.

If I could have torn the last two chapters out of the book and not read them, I'd give this book a solid 4 or maybe even 5 stars. I didn't have a problem with any of the events until that point, other than maybe some of the solutions to the protagonist's problems were just a little too convenient. However, he might just be really lucky, who knows. Stranger things have happened in real life.

I gave the book 3 stars because in the end, I didn't care very much for the characters in this book, maybe it would be better to say, I didn't seem to have as much invested in their stories. The protagonist's story was interesting, but the rest were not. If the last line in the book would have been "They all died, expect me." I would have been fine with that. It didn't really matter and I think that is a problem with a book with several characters in it.

Don't let the detractors prevent you from reading this book, it was enjoyable and if you just squint a little and suspend your disbelief an extra bit, it isn't bad... and just sort of skim the last few chapters...

Despite the ending, which might just turn out to be awesome, who knows, if another book comes out, I'll read it. Perhaps the author will just say, "Hey, that last chapter didn't really happen... it was just a dream." Keep hope alive!

I love Bourne's zombie series. I can't wait for the next book, if there will be one. The same strengths that the previous book had are there, and built upon. However, this book again shows a set of flaws that keep it from getting a five star rating. Bourne doesn't do a great job with the main character's love interest. There's a whole section where the character should be frequently thinking of being back with her, but instead she is just forgotten about for a ridiculous period of time. There are a few cases where I saw so much potential for something cool, like with some of the new weapons that were dropped, and then nothing interesting happened. Finally, the epilogue has left me very skeptical. But I'll give Bourne the benefit of the doubt that it won't turn out poorly. Overall, a fantastic book and it would be worth five stars if not for the flaws I mentioned.