The first two novels in this series were written in epistolary form so had an immediacy or a connection with the main character that allowed me to really enjoy the novels. This third novel in the Day By Day Armageddon series ditches the epistolary format for a more traditional third person narrative with only a couple of diary entries. Maybe for this reason the third novel seemed a bit clunkier and flawed than the first two. It was a good read though and adequately tied up the series. I think I groaned just a little when we were shown the reason for the zombie outbreak. It is a zombie novel so silly mcguffins shouldn't really be an issue, but, for me, it was. Just a little. Book 1 was awesome. Book 2 was almost as good, but far from being the disappointment that most sequels usually are. I loved the first two books. Off the top of my head, I can honestly say that I've re-read/listen to those books at least ten times each. (I'm an aspiring writer and I like to study authors who's styles that I feel will help improve my own writing.)But book 3 was bad. The biggest problem I had was the change in format. Stylistically, I can understand why J.L. Bourne changed the format from the journal style (written in 1st person POV to 3rd person POV). My personal belief is that he was running out of fresh ideas and switching the POV allowed him to write beyond the perspective of the main character (who up until book 3 had been unnamed).It allowed J.L. Bourne to write scenes with the supporting characters while the main character was otherwise occupied, but the downside to that was it totally ruin the story for me. Where the first two books were a more immersive experience, I just didn't have the same connection with the third book.It was a big disappointment. As far as I'm concern, the series ended with book 2. Shattered Hourglass in my mind was just a bad dream.
I enjoyed the first two books in this trilogy. The third book changes from first person narrative to third person. If you are used to the diary-style story, this will be a bit of an adaptation.However, given that there are a number of concurrent threads that come together in Shattered Hourglass, it's clear that the author needed to move beyond the first-person to make it all come together.In my opinion, it works. The ending seemed a little rushed, but the dangling threads leave open the possibility of future stories.Grab a copy and have fun reading it!
—Valjeta
This was military porn. I didn't connect with anybody and the shift of POV was very jarring. I finished this book out of spite because I already invested so much time into teh first two books (which were great).At this point he needs to hang up his hat on this series. I won't be reading the next book. Somehow a book about zombies became boring even though there were tons of action scenes in it.
—bookgurl
Great series. I recommend it for all Zombie readers. Should be on your list to read or have read!
—Selam
Zombies!
—alasif
