Product Description

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. Their attacks are brutal, remorseless and extreme. There are no apparent links between the Haters or their victims and no obvious reason for their violence. In seconds rational, controlled people become vicious killers. Everyone - irrespective of race, gender, age, sexuality or any other imaginable difference - has the potential to become either a Hater or a victim. This is a terror which knows no boundaries. You can no longer trust anyone, no matter how well you think you know them. You can no longer trust yourself. By the end of today you could be a killer. By the end of today you could be dead. HATER - a new nightmare from the author of the AUTUMN series.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1008876 in Books
• Published on: 2006-07-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 244 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Originally self-published, Moody's nail-biter of a debut plausibly creates a nightmare world. Danny McCoyne, an employee of the Parking Fine Processing office in an unnamed, possibly British city, barely manages to support his wife and children. Things get a lot worse after incidents of random violence escalate to a condition that threatens the social fabric of the country. Those afflicted with the violent impulse are dubbed Haters. The rapid onset of the disorder, exacerbated by the frighteningly inadequate government response, leaves Danny and his family virtual prisoners in their own home. While the major twist and the final payoff aren't particularly surprising, the sections building up to them perfectly evoke the quiet desperation of an ordinary life. Moody might have been better off explaining less, but this intelligent, well-written chiller heralds a significant new talent. Guillermo Del Toro has bought film rights. (Feb.)
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From Booklist
*Starred Review* One day Danny McCoyne’s life tends toward the humdrum: job, family, the usual. The next day, suddenly, without warning or explanation, people are turning into killers, murdering their loved ones, attacking perfect strangers. Soon Danny is trying desperately to keep his family safe, while all around him society seems to be self-destructing, as ordinary men and women turn into animals, filled with hate and violence. This is a truly frightening book because, like Danny, we’re constantly scrambling to process what’s going on. Moody, who self-published the novel in 2006, writes as though his novel were a zombie movie, and readers familiar with the genre will have no difficulty seeing, in their mind’s eye, the rapid dissolution of society played out in front of them. (Is it purely a coincidence that the protagonist has the same first name as Danny Boyle, director of the movie 28 Days Later, whose zombielike creatures were infected with something that filled them with uncontrollable rage?) It’s a risky undertaking, giving literary form to a type of story that is traditionally told in pictures, but Moody completely pulls it off. The movie rights to the book have been sold, and it’ll be interesting to see if the film is as good as the novel. It’s hard to imagine how it could be. --David Pitt

Review

Customer Reviews

When You Can't Tell Who is "Us" and Who is "Them"
There must be something with new authors and 2009; this is the 3rd novel I've read this year by a first-time author. Although it was originally self-published on-line, David Moody's Hater, found a publisher and, with that, should enjoy a lot of new interest. It wasn't until the last few pages that I realized that this is the first novel in a series. Finishing Hater, I can't wait for the next installment.

Set in an unnamed city in Britain, Danny McCoyne works in the Parking Fine Processing office, a government job for those workers on their way down. Husband and father, he watches his money closely, as he doesn't have much to spare. After he gets home from a long, tough day being shout at from upset people with parking fines or wanting boots removed from their cars, he can't even relax in front of the television, his kids are monopolizing it. But there are times where he and his wife are able to escape from their modest flat. On one outing, they are at a club enjoying one of Danny's favorite bands. However, mid-set, the lead singer stops playing and simply stares out into the crowd. And then he goes berserk-using his guitar as a weapon, he lashes out at his bandmates. Danny and his wife escape the ensuing chaos and rioting patrons. Later, the 24 hour news stations begin to show other seemingly acts of random, vicious violence, eventually calling the instigators "Haters.". These random acts are occurring all over the city, at such a rate that the government tells people to stay indoors, create a "safe room," and to wait for further instructions. And then the military gets involved and starts house to house searches.

Moody has written a book that is very hard to put down. Interspersed with scenes of violence, shocking in it's fury and randomness, Moody carefully introduces us to Danny McCoyne until you really care about the character. You go with Danny to his job, experience his home life, his interactions with his children, and witness his relationship with his father-in-law. Then, when it appears that Haters are tearing society apart, you hope that Danny is able to protect his family. Moody increases the tension by investigating the mundane; if you are locked in your flat, how do you provide for your family as your food stocks diminish? How do you protect your family, especially if you don't know if one of them is a Hater? How do you explain to your children the scenes of violence on the television and out in your street? Suspenseful, disturbing, and utterly enjoyable, Hater is world full of fear, mistrust, and madness. And it is one of the best books I have read.

A Truly Harrowing Thriller
David Moody's HATER has come out of nowhere to leap to the head of the class as one of the best Apocalyptic thrillers I've ever read, joining the ranks of Stephen King's THE STAND, Richard Matheson's I AM LEGEND, and Brian Keene's THE RISING. High praise, but very well deserved.

HATER revolves around Danny McCoyne, a Husband and Father, who toils away in a meaningless mid-level job that he's too unmotivated to ever get out of. Danny's been drifting through life on auto-pilot, but all that's about to change. Great Britain is rocked by outbreaks of unexplained violence....It starts slowly, with a few incidents here and there, but as the days pass, the small isolated instances become more widespread, with savage, mindless violence becoming almost the norm. People are snapping and committing atrocities, killing strangers, friends, and family for no apparent reason. The media has christened these people "Haters", and whatever is causing the violence seems to be spreading, with no relief in sight....

HATER is an impressive book for a number of reasons, not the least of which is David Moody's careful crafting of the character of Danny McCoyne. It's been a long time since I got so caught up in a fictional character. I really felt for this man; The way Moody describes Danny's home and work environments paints a vivid picture, and that makes the eventual breakdown of the status quo even more frightening. Moody makes us worry about things most stories of this type totally gloss over: Where will you get food to feed your family? How will you defend yourself if one of the infected tries to get into your home? Even a trip to the sidewalk just outside your front door becomes a journey into terror in Moody's skilled hands. HATER is, simply put, one of the most harrowing novels I've ever read. David Moody is a talent to watch, for sure.

A Chilling New Kind of Epidemic
Danny McCoyne leads an ordinary life, in an ordinary (possibly British) town, with an ordinary family and an ordinary job. His mundane, day to day routine leaves him unhappy and bitter. Suddenly, the humdrum life he leads is rudely shaken up as a frightening epidemic breaks out without any warning. People are beginning to snap in a moments flash--suddenly filled with hate, murdering their loved ones, viciously attacking strangers in random acts of violence. The violent incidents grow more and more out of control as the "Haters" run rampant, leaving those who want to survive locked up in their homes and fighting for their lives.

David Moody creates a familiar world in Hater and appeals to everyone's worst nightmare of that world gone mad with no warning or reason. His chapters intertwine the colloquial narrative of McCoyne's life as the outbreak grows with vignettes that take you into particular incidents of the "Haters" and their despicably sadistic actions. Although Moody is noticeably verbose and 100 pages into the novel one is left wanting for more action, he delivers and the novel picks up, turning into a zombie-like thriller. Guillermo Del Toro (director of "Pan's Labyrinth") has already bought the film rights to Moody's Hater and by the looks of Moody's graphic and colorful prose, it seems this novel will translate beautifully to screen.

Reviewed by Jenna Scancarello