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badseedgirl's review against another edition
3.0
Dog Blood by David Moody is the second book in his “Hater” series. It has been a year since the world collapsed under the weight of the “Haters.” What is left of the “Unchanged” has been forced into overcrowded and unprepared refugee areas in the city centers. Life for the “Unchanged” has become almost intolerable in these centers but the risk of the Haters prowling the outskirts is a deterrent for them.
This novel is still told from the viewpoint of our favorite anti-hero Danny McCoyne. It is some kind of a miracle worthy of a visit from the Commission of Miracles, Danny s not the biggest arsehole in this book. Apparently becoming a Hater instantly turns a person into a giant murderous douche. Danny is actually one of the sensitive ones. Most of the novel is a run through and around England with Danny looking for his daughter Ellis. In the process we find out that apparently Haters come in different flavors. On one end of the spectrum there are people like Danny who have the ability to “hold the hate” and can control themselves and infiltrate the unchanged. On the other end are the “Brutes”, mindless killing creatures that murder mindlessly. In their killing rage they will kill hater and unchanged alike. Did I mention they do it mindlessly?
I did enjoy this book but it seemed to suffer a bit from the “middle-book-in-a-series” syndrome. Mr. Moody did provide a bit more information about “The Hate” but for the most part it was just a lot of running around killing and hiding in moldy buildings. Still with the explosive (Yes for those who have already read it, pun was intended) ending of the second book, I think I’m in for a treat with book three Them or Us.
This novel is still told from the viewpoint of our favorite anti-hero Danny McCoyne. It is some kind of a miracle worthy of a visit from the Commission of Miracles, Danny s not the biggest arsehole in this book. Apparently becoming a Hater instantly turns a person into a giant murderous douche. Danny is actually one of the sensitive ones. Most of the novel is a run through and around England with Danny looking for his daughter Ellis. In the process we find out that apparently Haters come in different flavors. On one end of the spectrum there are people like Danny who have the ability to “hold the hate” and can control themselves and infiltrate the unchanged. On the other end are the “Brutes”, mindless killing creatures that murder mindlessly. In their killing rage they will kill hater and unchanged alike. Did I mention they do it mindlessly?
I did enjoy this book but it seemed to suffer a bit from the “middle-book-in-a-series” syndrome. Mr. Moody did provide a bit more information about “The Hate” but for the most part it was just a lot of running around killing and hiding in moldy buildings. Still with the explosive (Yes for those who have already read it, pun was intended) ending of the second book, I think I’m in for a treat with book three Them or Us.
lisawreading's review against another edition
3.0
"Dog Blood" is the second in what I believe will be a trilogy, following the incredibly disturbing "Hater". "Dog Blood" is every bit as violent and full of horror as the cover would lead you to believe, continuing the story of a society coming apart at the seams as the population almost overnight divides into two camps, Haters and Unchanged. Seemingly ordinary people suddenly become unstoppably homicidal, driven by a powerful hatred to kill everyone they encounter who is not "like us". "Hater" covered the early stages of this phenomenon; in "Dog Blood", several months have gone by, and the world is on the brink of apocalypse. All semblance of civilized society is gone, and the survivors face a reality in which "kill or be killed" has never been a truer sentiment. I found "Dog Blood" overall to be more tightly written and edited, and couldn't put it down. Not at all a fun read, "Dog Blood" is none the less compelling, and definitely not for the faint-hearted.
garagehymns's review against another edition
1.0
Incredibly hard to get through. Boring, tedious. Everything runs around in circles. The narrator of the audiobook version pronounces hater in a distinct way that makes him sound completely nonplussed every time. HATAHH??? I'm A HATAHH?
Haters gonna hate but I'm done reading about them, good god.
Haters gonna hate but I'm done reading about them, good god.
jrobles76's review against another edition
4.0
Definitely a great sequel to Hater. I'm a fan of different uses of point of view and this novel uses first person for Danny, a third person omniscient narrator, and a 3rd person limited to tell the story of Mark and his wife, a couple living inside the quarantine zones. It's great in that it lets you see the world of the haters and the normals. The most interesting choice is to only use first person for Danny, one of the "haters". The novel forces you to be in the mind of, essentially, the bad guys. You're purposefully distanced by the 3rd person narrative from sympathizing with the normal people. It's a great device, because you know that you'd probably be one of the normal people, "the unchanged", yet you're in the mind of the killers. Not to get too socio-political, but with the way the unchanged are like refugees, it's almost a comment on how we should try to understand more what displaced people feel like. "but for the grace of god" and all that. If a catastrophe strikes we could be displaced without any rhyme or reason. The author is from England, and in Europe they deal with displaced people more than we do here, but just thinking about Katrina and the people from Louisiana who had to leave their homes and move to new places. I felt like it was a comment on how "hate" serves to distance us and dehumanize those we don't like. Maybe he's trying to say we are all "haters". Or, maybe he's just making great horror fiction. Either way I hope he keeps it up.
aunt13soc1al's review against another edition
5.0
Dog Blood is the sequel to Hater (my review here) and I couldn’t have asked for a better novel. It’s fast paced, and even more mind bending than the first. The world is now divided between the Haters and the Unchanged. Families are divided and separated while the Unchanged try to hold off the Haters who will stop at nothing to destroy all the Unchanged.
The story picks up with Mark, Danny’s cousin, who is Unchanged and his survival in the city center with his pregnant wife, in-laws, Danny’s wife, and a secret. It shows just how much the world has changed since the Haters began to emerge. It then flips over the Danny, our main character from Hater, as he struggles to survive out in the world as a Hater. Danny moves from group to group and searching for his daughter, Ellis, who was taken along with his sons by his wife when she runs away from him. He heads back to the only place he knows to start his search and it only gets more interesting from there.
This is one that is so hard to describe without giving something important away and this is one that you really need to read yourself to experience the full effect of Moody’s well researched and thought provoking dystopian fiction. Read Haters, and then read Dog Blood. You won’t regret it.
The story picks up with Mark, Danny’s cousin, who is Unchanged and his survival in the city center with his pregnant wife, in-laws, Danny’s wife, and a secret. It shows just how much the world has changed since the Haters began to emerge. It then flips over the Danny, our main character from Hater, as he struggles to survive out in the world as a Hater. Danny moves from group to group and searching for his daughter, Ellis, who was taken along with his sons by his wife when she runs away from him. He heads back to the only place he knows to start his search and it only gets more interesting from there.
This is one that is so hard to describe without giving something important away and this is one that you really need to read yourself to experience the full effect of Moody’s well researched and thought provoking dystopian fiction. Read Haters, and then read Dog Blood. You won’t regret it.
biggreg's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
trudilibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
Not as strong as Book 1, but a decent sequel that achieved the necessary plot development to move the story along to what will hopefully be a rousing finale. By now, we know what's going on so there's no mystery there (even though we still don't know why and for what purpose).
This time the story lacks the fever-pitch level of suspense that grabs you by the throat in Hater and doesn't let go. Dog Blood shows us how most humans are "dealing with" the crisis in the short-term, having become refugees locked behind a perimeter surrounding their own ravaged cities, existing under martial law, depending on the military for every basic human need. All the while government soldiers and pseudo-conscripted volunteers, wage a war on the Haters in their attempt to wipe them out.
What I did find totally engaging here is Danny McCoyne's quest to find his five year old daughter, also a Hater. The ramifications of child Haters, and their possible role in the on-going war against humans, is chilling. What's remarkable is that McCoyne is no less sympathetic now, as a blood-thirsty full-on Hater, then he is in Book 1 as a normal Joe Blow underachiever trying to protect his family from the exploding violence.
Dog Blood also raises some interesting questions about the Hate, whether it is a disease, an alien influence, or a genetic malfunction in some humans triggering an evolutionary dichotomy between man and Hater. Other than the bloodlust and insatiable need to kill the Unchanged, Haters remain recognizably human. But cannot or will not co-exist with non-Haters. So my hope for Book 3 is that we learn the true nature and purpose of the Hate and that Moody will take a closer look at the Hater goal -- if they succeed in wiping out the Unchanged and essentially taking over the planet, what will that "new world" look like, and how will they choose to live in it with no one ostensibly left to hate?
This time the story lacks the fever-pitch level of suspense that grabs you by the throat in Hater and doesn't let go. Dog Blood shows us how most humans are "dealing with" the crisis in the short-term, having become refugees locked behind a perimeter surrounding their own ravaged cities, existing under martial law, depending on the military for every basic human need. All the while government soldiers and pseudo-conscripted volunteers, wage a war on the Haters in their attempt to wipe them out.
What I did find totally engaging here is Danny McCoyne's quest to find his five year old daughter, also a Hater. The ramifications of child Haters, and their possible role in the on-going war against humans, is chilling. What's remarkable is that McCoyne is no less sympathetic now, as a blood-thirsty full-on Hater, then he is in Book 1 as a normal Joe Blow underachiever trying to protect his family from the exploding violence.
Dog Blood also raises some interesting questions about the Hate, whether it is a disease, an alien influence, or a genetic malfunction in some humans triggering an evolutionary dichotomy between man and Hater. Other than the bloodlust and insatiable need to kill the Unchanged, Haters remain recognizably human. But cannot or will not co-exist with non-Haters. So my hope for Book 3 is that we learn the true nature and purpose of the Hate and that Moody will take a closer look at the Hater goal -- if they succeed in wiping out the Unchanged and essentially taking over the planet, what will that "new world" look like, and how will they choose to live in it with no one ostensibly left to hate?
andolaria's review against another edition
2.0
A decent follow up to Hater, but it could have been so much better.
beledit's review against another edition
5.0
As good as book 1 in the trilogy. Couldn't put it down. Finished it in less than a day and immediately downloaded book 3.
This series is even better than the Autumn series. Reading Moody's books is like eating hot, buttered toast. You know it's crap, and contains no nourishment whatsoever, but you just can't stop. He builds a coherent world with well-defined characters and paces the story so as to keep you on the edge of your seat. Reading this series reminds me of Dexter - you find yourself rooting for the bad guy, and that makes you feel simultaneously excited, uncomfortable and rather ashamed of yourself. Yep, like with the toast.
Recommended for fans of the post-apocalyptic genre, especially the more gritty and realistic stories set in the UK.
Now please let me get back to book 3, Them or Us.
This series is even better than the Autumn series. Reading Moody's books is like eating hot, buttered toast. You know it's crap, and contains no nourishment whatsoever, but you just can't stop. He builds a coherent world with well-defined characters and paces the story so as to keep you on the edge of your seat. Reading this series reminds me of Dexter - you find yourself rooting for the bad guy, and that makes you feel simultaneously excited, uncomfortable and rather ashamed of yourself. Yep, like with the toast.
Recommended for fans of the post-apocalyptic genre, especially the more gritty and realistic stories set in the UK.
Now please let me get back to book 3, Them or Us.