Hater by David Moody

My first title for Literary Escapism's The Firsts mini-challenge is David Moody's Hater.

So here's the deal with David Moody. He's a UK author who released his book Autumn online for FREE. Yep, free. After that, he went on to start his own publishing company, Infected Books. In 2006, he published Hater and, according to his bio, within months he had a movie deal. How freaking cool is that? And not just any deal, Guillermo del Toro and Mark Johnson are producing and JA Bayona (director of the fantastically creepy The Orphanage) is directing.

In 2007, Moody signed a contract with St. Martin's Thomas Dunne Books for Hater and its two sequels. The contract has now expanded to include the Autumn series (five books).

This is a writers dream, I think. All of the hard work paying off and the author getting their dues. And its great for the readers, too! This means (by my count) eight Moody books here in the US. And actually, the second part of the Hater trilogy, Dog Blood, hit shelves this week.

Hater is a dark and brutal story in the viral apocalypse vein. (That's what I'm going to start calling it, viral apocalypse.) It begins with a handful of violent outbursts. Danny McCoyne is witness to one of the first: a man in a crowd randomly attacks an old woman, beating her to death before he's brought down. The number and rate of attacks increase slowly so that Danny and his family aren't even sure what's happening at first. Before too long, though, it's all over the news. And by the end, people have become terrified of one another. The news dubs the affected 'Haters' but it's still unclear just who 'they' are in this us against them tale.

I read this in one afternoon. It's been a bit of a reading slump for me, indecision being the biggest factor as I've been unable to even choose what book to read next. Hater and its sequel Dog Blood sort of literally fell into my lap thanks to St. Martins Press and Moody literally ripped me out of the blue reading phase. Hater is a quick train-wreck of a read. I don't think I could have put it down if I'd tried.

Moody's bio says he has an unhealthy addiction to the end of the world. I say bring it on! I love end of the world (post-apocalypse) reads. Love 'em! Autumn (the first book in that series) is due out here in the States in October. Hater is now out in trade and Dog Blood is out in hardcover.