Dog Blood Review

TITLE Dog Blood (Hater #2)
AUTHOR David Moody
PUBLICATION 2010 by Thomas Dunne Books
READ September 17 to 18, 2012
SOURCE Purchased

The world has suffered a catastrophe of unknown cause, dividing humankind into two: the Haters and the Unchanged. Each group believes the other to be the enemy; each group is fighting for survival. Only by working together can the enemy – whoever that enemy is – be defeated. There are no other choices. Danny McCoyne has managed to break free, and after days of indiscriminate fighting and killing, he is determined to make his way home, to recalim the only thing of any value to him in this strange new world: his daughter Ellis. Unlike his wife and son, Ellis is like him, and he knows, in his heart of hearts, that she is not dead. His dearest wish is for Ellis to be fighting for the world at his side – but Danny soon discovers his daughter is worth far more than just another fighting body. Others like him have discovered that children are absolutely vital to the cause. They are strong, small, fast, and they have no inhibitions. They are pure Haters...

After being blown away by Hater I was quick to run out and buy the remaining books in the series, Dog Blood and Them or Us. Hater had the perfect build up, and I was right there with the McCoyne's as the world went to hell. In Dog Blood we are once again treated to alternating perspectives, but here we have, of course, Danny's perspective and we alternate between that and a third person narration following an unchanged named Mark around as he tries to survive in a changed world. While this one was definitely less exciting than its predecessor, it was a worthy follow up in the intensely strong world building.

I loved how the two stories presented in Dog Blood intertwined throughout the novel and we got to see the characters tales blend together a bit. Danny's story is intense as he charges through, trying to find his daughter Ellis, who he knows is like him but was taken away by her mother. I was worried in the beginning that the novel would be a dragged out journey as he works his way to his daughter but the roadblocks he encounters really served to make it an interesting journey. This one gets a bit more political as the changed plan an uprising and a way to infiltrate the unchanged. I do feel that the first page of the novel stating that it doesn't matter why or how the change occurred was a cop-out and I really hope that those answers are still coming. I mean you can't have this happening to people and the world falling apart at the seams and not tell the reader what made it all happen. I don't care if it's a disease that comes from the saliva of bunnies, I just want some sort of reason.

Once again we are left with an intriguing set up for the final installment in the series. I am dying to see more of the changed children and just what they are capable of (even though I am certain it will not be pretty.) What sets this series apart for me is really brought to light in this second installment; the changed have a method to their madness. They are intelligent and have the ability to be organized & reign in their desire to the point that they come across as calculated in their actions at times. This is a frightening concept, and it's what keeps me hungrily turning the pages. I have no idea what the outcome of this series could be, there are so many directions it could go in so I can't wait to dig into Them or Us.

Hater Review

TITLE Hater (Hater #1)
AUTHOR by David Moody
PUBLICATION July 17th 2006 by Infected Books
READ September 07 - 09, 2012
SOURCE Purchased

Soon to be a major motion picture—produced by Guillermo del Toro and directed by J.A. Bayona

REMAIN CALM DO NOT PANIC TAKE SHELTER WAIT FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS THE SITUATION IS UNDER CONTROL Society is rocked by a sudden increase in the number of violent assaults on individuals. Christened 'Haters' by the media, the attackers strike without warning, killing all who cross their path. The assaults are brutal, remorseless and extreme: within seconds, normally rational, self-controlled people become frenzied, vicious killers. There are no apparent links as a hundred random attacks become a thousand, then hundreds of thousands. Everyone, irrespective of gender, age, race or any other difference, has the potential to become a victim - or a Hater. People are afraid to go to work, afraid to leave their homes and, increasingly, afraid that at any moment their friends, even their closest family, could turn on them with ultra violent intent. Waking up each morning, no matter how well defended, everyone must now consider the fact that by the end of the day, they might be dead. Or perhaps worse, become a killer themselves. As the status quo shifts, ATTACK FIRST, ASK QUESTIONS LATER becomes the order of the day... only, the answers might be much different than what you expect....

In the tradition of H. G. Wells and Richard Matheson, Hater is one man’s story of his place in a world gone mad— a world infected with fear, violence, and HATE.

Hater is my most recent foray into adult horror novels and has further solidified my love for the genre. This one catches your eye by the simple, bloodstained cover and once you read the back you can tell it must be good. It talks of how David Moody published the story online in 2006 and without an agent managed to sell film rights for it to Guillermo Del Toro (Pan's Labrynth, The Orphanage, Hellboy) How epic is that right? I love Mr. Del Toro's movies and his imagery is hauntingly beautiful. I think that little bit of information may have added to my enjoyment of the novel. Every scene I was picturing in my head playing out on the big screen.

We meet Danny who works in a Parking Fine Processing office and the lazy, uncaring feeling achieved in the first few chapters was very reminiscent of Sean of the Dead and Office Space for me. I knew I was in for something good when those references came to mind. Not only does Danny have the job but he is also a family man. With 3 loud children and an overbearing wife, his home life is not much more happy than his work life. Meeting the family we are also treated to interspersed little chapters from other peoples perspectives who are facing random acts of violence on the streets. What was so creepy about Hater for me was that it wasn't your typical zombie novel, as I was expecting. These people are not the dead coming back to life in search of brains. Haters are people going about their everyday life when they have a moment of pause and are overwhelmed with a feeling of self preservation. One moment everything is fine and dandy, and in the blink of an eye they realize that if they do not kill whomever is closest to them, they will be the one who is killed. You don't know when it's going to happen, it could be the old lady on the train, or the janitor at work, or even your own beautiful, seemingly innocent child. Moody achieves the highest level of paranoia in this novel perfectly, I was questioning everyone!

The story had the perfect flow, we meet Danny and his family and have time to come to care about them. Once everything gets out of control I truly cared about this family and how what was going on would affect them. I will say that it went in a completely different direction than I was anticipating and that was awesome! Once we get into the mind of a hater I was salivating for more. Do we get all the answers? No, I still don't really know exactly what is causing this change in people but I do know that Mr. Moody has set the grounds for an epic war to come in the follow up, Dog Blood.