After reading Day by Day Armageddon’s sequel, Beyond Exile, I feel like I need to watch a comedy or something before I can get to sleep tonight. Reading this book is like playing Left 4 Dead late at night; it freaked me out. I’m really glad that I read it broad daylight. Holy cow.
We met our nameless hero in the first book in San Antonio. In order to deal with everything and to keep a record of his life–for however long it lasts–our hero keeps a roughly daily journal. Beyond Exile finds him at Hotel 23, a missile silo somewhere in Texas with the other survivors that he collected in the first book. Just when it seems like there’s no one else alive, the crew at H23 intercept a distress call from a group of marines. After rescuing the marines, Nameless’ people makes contact with what’s left of the US military.
Things hum along at Hotel 23 until a reconnaissance mission goes wrong and strands Nameless more than two hundred miles away from his safe haven, all on his own. The rest of the book (more than half) is all about his attempts to get home to his girl and safety. It’s a bit like reading a narrative version of Max Brooks’ Complete Zombie Survival Guide. It’s all about fighting off hordes, noise discipline, and finding shelter. It’s a cracking read. Even though the writing style is spare and our hero doesn’t do a lot of reflective thinking, you feel like you’re right there, riding along on Nameless’ shoulder, dodging the undead and trying not to die.
The book ends with a clear set up for a third book and I am very much looking forward to spending another day reading. (I sure as hell won’t read it at night.)