Ghost Run

In this fourth installment in the Day by Day Armageddon series, we once again join Kil as he is taking a lonely tour through the zombie haunted wasteland that is the continental Americas.. I purchased this book earlier this year with the explicit goal of reading it, along with all the others in the series, for Halloween. Last night I wrapped up my reading and got some closure to the world of Day by Day Armageddon which I had been needing for a few years.

Does this struggle across the dead land once known as the United States amount to much, or is it the last hurrah of a survivor who was unable to control his urge to explore? Find out, in Ghost Run!

From goodreads.com

To begin with, this story does get back to the strength of the original novel. Its' a fixed first person narrative, told in the journal style. Less concentrated, but told in a very similar manner. It does tell a more personal story, one which covers a range of issues from addiction, the devolving of society, and seeing echoes of a formerly strong world now covered in decay, both natural and unnatural. It does have a wonderful series of action sequences with spectacular zombie kills. From knives to wrecking balls, we do see some good work taking out the undead.

However, it does manage to only harken back slightly to what made the original novels so good. Without a real overarching mission, the humanity and the community which was built across the first two installments, it felt lacking in terms of the hope and drama which propelled me through the first books. Then it's much shorter, with precious little preamble to the meat of the main story. Shorn of the tighter narrative, broader supporting cast, and overarching sunny, but gray, tone, it made for a less compelling read than the previous three volumes.

Our ending here too, felt rushed. It didn't have the same oomph which added power to the story of Shattered Hourglass, or Origin to Exile which, while each had their dark moments, the sense of hope and humanity established in them allowed me to hold hope for something more than mere survival. Instead, in this story, we almost get a sense of the lights going out one by one, the field of view narrowing, and no hope anywhere else in the world. It was, to be frank, a tad disappointing.

If you've read the rest of the series and would like resolution, I definitely recommend checking it out. However, you may feel better just reading the end of Shattered Hourglass. It's an ending, and it comes from two strong initial installments which created one of the best zombie stories I've ever read. So ends my saga with this terrifying series!