Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Overview
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.
Synopsis
Soon to be a major motion picture—produced by Pan’s Labyrinth and Hellboy 1 & 2 director Guillermo del Toro
A modern take on the classic “apocalyptic" novel, Hater is similar in tone to the seminal works of H.G. Wells, as well as the recent films 28 Days Later and I Am Legend, and tells the story of Danny McCoyne, an everyman forced to contend with a world gone mad, as for reasons unknown, vast numbers of the human population suddenly become irrationally violent, killing all who cross their path.
Publishers Weekly
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.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Editorials
Publishers Weekly
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.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Kirkus Reviews
Originally self published in 2006, British author Moody's thriller concerns a young father who attempts to save himself and his family from a world moving inexorably and mysteriously toward chaos and violence. Danny McCoyne spends his days plugging away at a thankless, unfulfilling job as a minor bureaucrat in an unnamed English city. His relationship with his wife and kids suffers the occasional stress-related strain. Money is tight, and his prospects are few and distant. Still, he's a decent enough bloke, and definitely not the sort to think in violent terms. So when he witnesses a series of brutal attacks, he's somewhat at a loss. Were these isolated instances or signs of something larger? Danny isn't the only one noticing the uptick in violence, however. Soon news reports are full of stories about Haters-once well-behaved, normal people who begin unleashing vicious, seemingly unprovoked attacks on friends, family members and strangers with often homicidal aggression, and no one seems to know why. After things start getting really out of hand, Danny begins to suspect that something big may be happening, something which the powers that be want to keep quiet. He just needs to keep his family and himself alive long enough to figure out what's happening. The novel moves at a deliberate, relentless pace, feeding readers just enough information to keep them perplexed and paranoid, and the depiction of a society being rent at the seams by violence rings true. Moody creates some truly chilling scenes, but there are also flashes of black comedy. At times savagely brutal-the moments of outrageous violence may be considered over-the-top by some readers-but engrossing and effective. Film rights toGuillermo del Toro, with Juan Antonio Bayona to directFrom the Publisher
"A head-spinning thrill ride, a cautionary tale about the most salient emotion of the 21st century... HATER will haunt you long after you read the last page..."—GUILLERMO DEL TORO, director, Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy 1 & 2"A lucid approach to the state of fear in which we live in and a spine-chilling fable about its utmost consequences... Be careful with HATER, chapter by chapter it will make its way into your soul till it finds the seed of evil that lurks within."—J.A. BAYONA, director, The Orphanage, Hater
"Powerful and well-written."—S.M. STIRLING, author of Dies the Fire, The Scourge of God
"HATER touches something universal and truly scary—the little voice in all of our heads that tells us the difference between 'us' and 'them'. Subtly drawn, engrossing characters take us inside a landscape of paranoia and fear."—DAVID WELLINGTON, author of Monster Island, 99 Coffins, Vampire Zero
“David Moody spins paranoia into a deliciously dark new direction. [He] is one scary guy.”—JONATHAN MABERRY, author of Ghost Road Blues, Patient Zero
"David Moody's HATER is a brutal, eerie, and hugely entertaining novel that grips you with its grim and nihilistic attitude from page one. The attention to detail used to paint an average man's often frustrating life is as disturbing as the bloody violence that follows, giving us one of the year's most readable nerve-shredders."—TOM PICCIRILLI, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The Midnight Road, A Choir of Ill Children