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When You Can't Tell Who is "Us" and Who is "Them" Jul 3, 2009 (5 of 5 found this helpful)
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.
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A disturbing examination of our current culture of fear Apr 29, 2009 (2 of 2 found this helpful)
Sundays are when I normally visit my parents. And when I do, it's also the time when I'm forced to watch the 24 hours news programs for that's the only time such things as Fox News are ever viewed by myself). On these shows, I see things that makes the events of Hater by David Moody seem so apt, so now, so real. Hater is a riff on the ever popular zombie genre and includes many themes and devices employed by that medium, but does so in a paranoid way that really speaks to today. Hater begins with a first person account of someone walking on the street and deep in thought. Suddenly, he spots a woman through the crowd and freaks out; he knows she wants to kill him and so, overwhelmed with emotion, he charges her and bashes her head into the wall over and over again. The woman? A grandmother; an elderly person who couldn't harm a fly.
Moody then quickly puts us in the shoes of his everyman protagonist, Danny. What's interesting is Moody's concept of an everyman: he's stuck in a dead end job, with a horrible boss and in a situation that will remind readers of the protagonist in the film Wanted. He goes from his job to his house where his kids are incredibly loud and obnoxious, his relationship with his wife is one you could describe as strained even though they love each other. All of it is written from the first person perspective, giving us a glimpse of Danny's interior monologue which is at times disturbing and other times incredibly sad and sometimes pathetic.
Interspersed with sections involving his daily life and seeing what's happening to the world from his small perspective, we're given glimpses of horrific things happening to people in the world. In each case, someone turns on another person and murders him or her. Soon, the events start to escalate and, like a zombie novel, fear and paranoia run rampant, people start to isolate themselves and the really bad stuff starts to happen. The narrative takes a right turn though towards the end of the book and while I wouldn't call it a twist, it definitely twists the story into something more than what I thought it would be.
By the end of the novel, I wasn't so sure what to think about the two sides that started to emerge. In fact, I think the strength of this narrative is better expressed than some simply due to the first person perspective. As the novel goes into different directions, it's still grounded by our protagonist and his personal story, one that we are vicariously living through, whether we want to or not.
One of the strengths of this genre is to showcase societal ills in a way that's alarming and terrifying. I think I can say the following without spoiling anything that one of the aims in this type of story is to show that both sides are the same. One might be denoted as "Haters" or "zombies" or something else, and the other as "human" or "normal," but underneath when push comes to show it's "us" versus "them." It's the philosophical story of "the other" that I've mentioned before in my review of Breathers: A Zombie's Lament, where a group will demonize/dehumanize a second group of individuals, furthering the justification to exploit the group.
But in the case of Hater, who is "the other?"
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Progression of Humanity Nov 16, 2009 (1 of 1 found this helpful)
I have to admit, the cover for "Hater" is what initially caught my eye and prompted my fingers to pluck the book from the shelf. The inside jacket cover revealed a previously self-published author, which piqued my interest further. Within the first pages, I was hooked.
Moody grabs you with the first sub-chapter. The action is a definite draw to anyone who enjoys a thriller type read. However, as I made my way through the chapters I started feeling a sense of the mundane. I felt I was being told more than shown, and I was starting to question whether to finish the read. Those doubts ended with the turn from one page to another, one chapter's end to the start of the next.
By the middle of the book, I was applauding Moody for his methods in showing the progression of the human psyche through emotions such as fear and panic. I still felt the story was being told to me, rather than shown, but it no longer mattered. By the end of the final chapter, I found myself anxious for the next installment to the series. Kudos to Moody!
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Hater hits close to home Jul 13, 2009 (1 of 1 found this helpful)
First published in 2006 by author David Moody, Hater has been republished this year by Thomas Dunne Books in the United States and Orion Books in the United Kingdom. Hater is the initial volume of a three-book series, and will be followed by Dog Blood in 2010.
Moody's previous publishing effort, the post-apocalyptic Autumn was originally offered for free online. More than half a million downloads of the novel led to a movie adaptation and republication of the five-book series by Thomas Dunne Books.
Moody has become a sensation while bypassing the traditional publishing structure. Without an agent Moody managed to sell Hater film rights to producers Mark Johnson (The Chronicles of Narnia) and Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth). The film is scheduled for release in 2010 directed by Juan Antonio Bayona (The Orphanage).
Hater opens with a random act of violence between two apparent strangers on a city street. The act is observed by dozens of people on their way to work. Witnesses are torn. Should they assist the hapless victim? Should they try to stop the attacker? Or should they try and make it to the office on time?
"Sometimes having such a dull and monotonous job is an advantage. This stuff is way beneath me and I don't really have to think about what I'm doing."
With these lines, protagonist Danny McCoyne sums up a large percentage of modern jobs. We've all been there: moving, talking, making it through the day, yet mentally zoned out. The only incentive for returning every morning is a paycheck, and there are times when it hardly seems worth that, to keep one's soul in a cubicle.
Danny's state of mind--hovering slightly above and to one side of the physical world--could be relaxing, a bit like meditation. Unfortunately, Danny's work environment is not peaceful. His supervisor is belligerent and spiteful. His co-workers divide equally into the lame and the bitter. Danny lingers in his half-there condition--in part, to avoid getting angry enough to erupt at his fellow workers.
PictureWhen he isn't struggling to contain his temper, Danny is bored by the tedious routine of his job processing fines for parking violations. And he is a little afraid of the enraged drivers who come barreling into the office hoping to scream their way clear of paying the standard fee, to retrieve their impounded vehicles.
At home Danny copes with three small children who compete for his attention and never seem to shut up. His beloved yet increasingly alienated and harried wife finds fault with every move he makes. They seldom make love, and they are always tired. Just as disheartening in a different way, their combined salaries don't go far enough to afford luxuries that might relieve the close quarters and constant sacrifices that currently define their personal lives. They strive to be patient, loving parents, while longing for just one day of freedom, one whole night of sleep.
Sound familiar? Of course it does. Moody has accurately and vividly described the way a large part of the population in Great Britain and the U.S. manage to get by, week after week, year after year. In every area of the lives we have created, our sanity and our self-importance are chipped away bit by bit.
Surviving urban competition is a continual struggle, a deft balancing act. No wonder, then, that some of us go stark, raving mad. We are playing by the rules in a society that demands we behave properly at all times, and then sporadically and extravagantly rewards certain individuals who behave badly, sometimes going so far as to call them "mavericks" and heroes.
We strenuously ignore one provocation after another, all day long, without any sanctified form of release other than music concerts and sporting events, which have come to represent far too much to their devotees. This fact is highlighted in the book when an act
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A Chilling New Kind of Epidemic Jun 10, 2009 (1 of 1 found this helpful)
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