Genre: Horror
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication date: February 2009
Reviewed by Jeremy Taylor
Without warning, ordinary people suddenly turn into violent lunatics, attacking strangers, friends, and even family members. No one knows the cause, and no one can predict who will be afflicted next. A major city is effectively shut down as people cower behind locked doors, fearful of their spouses and children. Finally the government steps in, rounding up the “Haters” and carting them off somewhere to be dealt with. It seems humanity’s only hope is to eradicate the horrific violence, and the only way to do that is to get rid of the offenders. The only problem is, it’s impossible to determine who will turn next—or when.
Does any of this sound familiar? It should. Zombie stories have made an astonishing comeback in popular culture, and while Hater isn’t exactly a zombie book (the Haters aren’t zombies, they just act like them), it certainly resembles one. Regular people turning on their friends and neighbors? Check. A viral spread of violence through the population? Check. Plenty of blood, guts, and gore? Check, check, check.
These days, a zombie story (or even a zombie-like story) needs to have something that makes it stand out from the crowd. Seth Grahame-Smith’s books have the connection with classic literature and historic figures. Max Brooks has the nonfiction feel. Stephen King’s Cell had the author’s name. So what does Hater have that makes it worth reading?
Actually it has two things. One is the brilliantly realistic picture of everyday life David Moody paints before the violence begins. Readers will readily identify with the snapshots of the hero’s everyman existence: the unreasonable boss, the boring job, the loving but needy family, the stress of providing for three kids, the understated but very real desire to somehow find something better. The contrast between this utterly recognizable tableau and the brief interjections showing the violence beginning to take place around the city is stark and sets up the primary conflict nicely.
The second thing that makes Hater worth reading is an interesting point-of-view shift toward the end of the book. The first-person narrative, formerly describing the efforts of the “Unchanged” to avoid the violent Haters, becomes a description of a new world from the point of view of someone who has become a Hater himself. This provides for an interesting question: who are the real haters—those committing violence for reasons they themselves don’t fully understand, or the Unchanged, doing everything they can to wipe out those they fear and loath?
Fast-paced, interesting, and well-written, Hater is worth a look for zombie fans eager for a new twist on a familiar genre.
Review copy provided by St. Martin’s Press.
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