** spoiler alert ** J.L. Bourne knows his stuff. Plain and simple. An active service member with an obvious fondness for weaponry, Bourne writes in a spare, engaging style, filling a whole scene with a few choice sentences. This epistolary story is more about survivalism and the resourcefulness of its lead character, moreso than about the zombie threat. In fact, for such a quintessential novel in the canon of zombie fiction, there is comparatively little violence. It is THAT focused on the survival aspect of the dreaded "What If". My only real complaint with the novel is the last few paragraphs of the climax. And truthfully, it's my common complaint with most novels written as journals. Why would the author of the journal (as opposed to the author of the novel), writing in a world where no one will probably read the journal, write a compelling climax AS IF AN AUDIENCE WILL READ IT? Day By Day Armageddon just sort of...ends. The sequel (Beyond Exile) which follows almost literally picks up from the end of this book, as if there were no break and no climax. BUT...beyond that...I loved this book. Brutal, intense, stripped down, and with a deep psychological bent that will surprise you.