LADY ELEANOR URBAN FANTASY REVIEW; Haters 3: Them or Us - David Moody

Release Date: 17/11/11

SYNOPSIS:

Movie rights in the HATER series were snapped up by PAN'S LABYRINTH/HELLBOY director Guillermo del Toro and producer Mark Johnson (The NARNIA movies). Perfect for fans of HBO's THE WALKING DEAD, the series reaches a shattering conclusion...The war which has torn the human race apart is finally nearing an end. The population has been devastated, and the earth has been reduced to a poisoned ruin. Most of the towns and cities are uninhabitable, and with the country in the grip of a savage nuclear winter, both Haters and Unchanged alike struggle to survive. Hundreds of Hater fighters have settled in the east, in the relatively undamaged coastal town of Lowestoft, under the command of the ruthless Hinchcliffe. His fledgling society is harsh and unforgiving, and he'll stop at nothing to eradicate the last few Unchanged and consolidate his position at the top of this new world order. Danny McCoyne is the exception to the rule. His ability to hold the Hate has given him a unique position in Hinchcliffe's army, for he uses his unique skill to hunt out the remaining Unchanged. But as the enemy's numbers shrink, so the pressure on McCoyne increases, until he finds himself at the very centre of a pivotal confrontation. The outcome will have repercussions on the future of everyone who is still alive. It's down to him alone: will it be Them, or Us?


REVIEW:

As people know I’m a huge fan of the horror genre, and I love a good scare as much as the next person. What the first book in the series did was set up the whole zombie scenario from a different point of view, as if the inhabitants of the body were still there but a chemical change made them hate anyone dissimilar to others of their kind. It was cleverly thought out, it had great scope for the author to play with and overall it gave the reader a real thriller to hang on for.

Yet the second book really didn’t further the concept and unfortunately whilst it had moments that I loved within, the third really fell into the same category when, had I been writing it, I’d have condensed the series into a duology rather than the trilogy to keep it sharp and snappy. Don’t get me wrong the writing is decent, the authors use of prose nicely done, but the overall plotline structure felt a little flat and almost padded out rather than getting to the meat of the matter for me. All in a reasonable read but one that won’t stay with me for long as it didn’t have enough going for it to keep the pace at the level I expected.