199 pagesA plague has suddenly swept across the globe, turning most of the world's population into flesh-eating zombies in a matter of weeks. This is the diary of a young U.S. Naval Pilot who chronicles the disaster from the beginning of the outbreak. He turns his home in San Antonio into a fortress but soon has to go on the run to escape the growing population of undead and to find new supplies. Along the way, he pulls together a small group of survivors and discovers that the state of the world has become far worse than he could have imagined.
I can't decide how I feel about the diary format in general. I like the personal tone and that it helps keep chronology straight. On the other hand, I think it's hard to do well because there are some details that readers want to know but wouldn't realistically be in a diary (for instance, you wouldn't write "my mom, Janice"; you would just write "Mom"). I suppose you might give the extra info if you are writing something as a historical record for future generations, but in this case the writer starts the journal before the outbreak of the plague and was just writing to get his feelings out. I know that's not a big thing, but it still bugs me for some reason. At first, it bothered me that the diarist is so prepared for the disaster--as a military man, he's got tons of weapons and knows how to fly a plane, and he has solar panels on his house. But then it started to make sense: if anyone would survive long enough to document a zombie apocalypse, it would be someone who had advantages over the average citizen. All in all, I enjoyed this story. It moves quickly, kept me guessing, and held my interest throughout. Zombie lit fans like me should not be disappointed. The sequel, "Beyond Exile," came out in July and I'm looking forward to reading it.
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