Hater

By: David Moody

Narrated by: Gerard Doyle

Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

Within seconds, normally rational, self-controlled people become frenzied killers. Christened "Haters" by the media, the attackers strike without warning, killing all who cross their path. People are afraid to go to work, afraid to leave their homes, afraid that at any moment their friends or family could turn on them. In the face of this mindless terror, Danny McCoyne must secure his family, seek shelter, and watch as the world falls apart. "Attack first, ask questions later" becomes the order of the day.

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

©2006 David Moody (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The novel moves at a deliberate, relentless pace, feeding readers just enough information to keep them perplexed and paranoid....Moody creates some truly chilling scenes, but there are also flashes of black comedy." ( Kirkus Reviews)
"Originally self-published, Moody's nail-biter of a debut plausibly creates a nightmare world....this intelligent, well-written chiller heralds a significant new talent." ( Publishers Weekly)
"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." ( Booklist)

Hater series

Hater, Dog blood and Them or us
I found it a entertaining series, generally I dislike British accents but this narrator didn't bug me.
The story goes maybe a third or more of the population succumb to some change that makes them incredibly violent and kill anyone who hasn't changed.

Simply Scary

Would you consider the audio edition of Hater to be better than the print version?

Love this story. The narrater is great and the story is beyond. Imagine if someone you love and trust suddenly turned on you? Or if suddenly you felt threatened by someone you loved and felt you must kill them or they'd kill you?

Great idea for an even better story. Thanks David Moody.

Slow starter

Starts off slow, a little too much mundane information about the family. Kept waiting for some action then when the action did come, there wasn't enough time left to tell the story.
Good story overall although predictable. Slow start - all the action in the end if you can get through it.

An odd twist

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

What first started out as what I could only assume would be a zombie apocalypse novel, quickly changed into something more...likely that could happen. While i went in expecting zombies, I was presently surprised! I enjoyed the book, and liked how it was a very personal first person point of view story. I'd recommend to anyone who wants an interested thriller with a twist. I look forward to book 2!

Too moralistic for a zombie novel

Of course, it's not *exactly* a Zombie novel...

It's short and fast-paced and... moralizing. There is some "message" in here regarding anger and violence and a displaced, dis-enthused generation. A diatribe against that horrifying condition called "adulthood". It seems as though the main character is mad at the world because he's "all grown up" and now has to *gasp* WORK to pay the bills and feed his kids. (Well, tough nuggies buddy... welcome to the real world.)

Of course, the "zombification" of the world gets him off the hook and he can go about getting even with the status quo.

The author tries a bit too hard to be shocking (it'll jump from character to character in order to show another scene of someone getting murdered) and not hard enough to keep the whining out of the main character - to the point where I was hoping some zombie would have a munch on him, if only so he'd shut up.

The narration is good.

Lacked something.

Wasn’t too bad it just didn’t get to where I thought it would. Needed a little something but I can’t put my finger on it.

I agree with a lot of people’s reviews of the main character. The main character was annoying in a lot of ways. “Oh well, I guess I’ll do this.” Or “Ho hum things are horrible aren’t they.” All while craziness is going on all over the place.

Overall not bad.

Halfway through, having a hard time.

The lead protagonist is a whiny little brat of a man, so much so that it distracts from the story line. I keep hoping he gets killed off in the next chapter just to shut him up, but alas, it's written in first person so I'm left to assume in stuck with him.

A simple, but literary plague story.

"Hater" stands out among plague/zombie fiction in that it has something to offer beyond thrills and chills. The story itself is simple and fairly straightforward (with one not very surprising twist), but the themes suggested by the novel are not.

"Hater" isn't an action-packed gorefest (although both elements are present in the work), and may seem slow for readers expecting more of an action story.

But for readers who enjoy plague/zombie fiction, and have been waiting for a novel that is not only thrilling but well-written and insightful, I unreservedly recommend "Hater."

It will stick with you long after you've heard it

This book is frightening.

Not in a slasher/monster/zombie/natural disaster way, that would be too easy. Its frightening in a raw real way and Moody is unapologetic in his descriptions of gut wrenching violence.

The pacing is fantastic and starts out as a bleak end of the world scenerio before heading into darker more uncharted territory.
By the end of the book you won't know who to root for and the final moments are the stuff nightmares are made of.

Thank goodness there will be a sequel.

Slow

Painfully slow for such a short book. But it eventually gets interesting, if a bit predictable. Gerard Doyle does a great job reading.