David Moody (1) (1970–)

It's difficult for me to explain this book without giving away something vital. Hater is almost a modern take on a zombie tale, but not quite -- it's more than that, a not-zombie book: there are no undead, rotting and roaming the streets, but the atmosphere is the same. There's the same Us vs. Them mentality, and the same mindless brutality, but for all its similarities, Hater is also worlds apart. In straightforward zombie stories, you just have this unknown motivation (brains? why brains?) show more or no real reasoning, but just a plodding force that won't give up and will come for you, and you have no idea why. In Hater, there is a similar confusing terror of the why is this happening, why me? sort, but you also get to experience things from a Haters perspective, like being in the zombie hoarde and knowing you must kill. And it doesn't matter why. This is done so well in Hater, and creeps up on you so perfectly that it works its way under your skin in a truly disturbing way.

It's a truly frightening scenario that has you questioning what you would be like. Haters are full of an unexplained paranoia that everyone else is out to get them, and so they brutally attack those who they believe will attack them: kill or be killed. As it progresses, this means that whether you are a Hater or a "normal" human being, the worst is bound to come out in you, because you can trust no one. It's like those ridiculous stories anti-drug groups act out in middle schools, about acid trips gone really wrong* -- only on a global scale. It's mass paranoia and distrust, and it's inescapable, and to me, that's something that's far more terrifying than, I don't know, killer clowns** or masked mad men. Much scarier than knowing there's a monster out there is realizing that you are the monster.

And I think that's where the power of this stories lies. We live all of this mess through Danny, including all of his (comparatively) trivial frustration and "everyday" misery. We can relate to him, and as the story slams back and forth between Danny's life and hater attacks, building tension of two different but palpable types, we can't help but put ourselves in the situation and experience the book. Which is a good, if disturbing, thing. show less

Autumn: Aftermath by David Moody is the fifth and final volume in his zombie apocalypse story. Over the course of the five books I have been following a number of different groups of people, and in this book the various groups come together and those still on the mainland plan to join with those who found shelter on an island off the coast of England.

It’s now almost 100 days since the dead became reinanimated and they have deteriorated to such a degree that they aren’t really that show more threatening any more. In fact, they seem to have some knowledge of their condition and have moved on from anger to wanting to be put down. Unfortunately, some of the people who are left have fallen into such depression that nothing seems to be able to bring them back. We also find a small group of men who decide they would rather set up on their own, with a number of captives to do the heavy work, including a number of women to cook, clean and offer sexual favors. Tempers and tensions mount as people see a way out of this enslavement and a chance for a new life.

I have enjoyed this series and appreciated that the author took the time to develop some interesting characters along the way. There was plenty of zombie action, but the author also took the time for the characters to plan their futures and to see what the post-apocalyptic world was going to develop into. show less

When I dove into Hater blind, it was what I typically expect from books following this theme. The structure was similar, right down to the brief scenes of others being affected, slightly formulaic in fee, but the way in which Moody introduced and described the 'Haters', I felt there was more to be expected.

The third act was a complete mind fuck.

I am now looking forward to reading the rest of the Hater series, but I will say that reading Hater - published in 2010 - in 2023 during the January show more 6 hearings, while QAnon conspiracy theories are overwhelming the main-stream and "Hate" groups becoming more and more predominant while society's middle ground rapidly shrinks away to a vague line in the sand... it's hard not to feel like Moody saw it coming.

“If only it were so simple!” cried Solzenhitsyn from behind the Gulag’s barbed-wire: “If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?” show less

Autumn - David Moody *****

Although I have never really been a huge fan of the zombie/b movie type of book, I do like to dip into one now and again. The last I read was ‘Night of the Living Dead’ and thought it a really awful read. But when looking through a second hand book store I came across ‘Autumn’ and thought I would give it a try. Looking at the other reviews this seems to be very much a love it or hate it book with many ratings from the extremes of both sides. I suppose that show more it will depend what you are expecting to get from the read. If you approach it wanting some gritty drama or in depth plot then you will probably be disappointed, but if you are looking for some escapism into a cataclysmic world full of death and gore you will love it.

So what’s it about?
A deadly virus has struck the USA (maybe the world) that causes death within a few minutes. The unlucky individual has a very gory end that involves plenty of blood and pain. All across the country there are homes, work places and public areas where people are dropping like flies. Strangely though, there does seem to be the odd few that are immune to the disease. These survivors are spread far and wide and as they wander through the decimated landscape, start to gel together in groups. Whilst trying to decide what their next step should be an odd thing happens, some of the corpses begin to move; at first wandering aimlessly but with each passing day they seem to be getting more self aware and through the sheer numbers pose a threat. A decision needs to be made, do they stay holed up in a potential ‘safe’ house or should they make a break for open country where hopefully the undead will be less in number. But more importantly, what would you do?

Although described as a Zombie novel, this really does the book an injustice; it is as much about survival and the different ways in which people cope with a changing world (and undead walking around every corner). I can’t remember even seeing the word zombie except on the cover, so if you are fed up with the seemingly daft theme of ‘dead people trying to eat the living’ storyline, then Autumn offers something different.

I absolutely loved this book, the speech at times was a little wooden, but the writing was short, sharp and to the point. The atmosphere really does build and actually gets quite creepy at times. I cared what happened to the characters and found myself rooting for them, more than I usually do when reading a book, so much so that I went straight out and ordered the next books in the series. show less