War is not only on the horizon, it’s breaking out all over the world. It’s Us vs. Them, Haters vs. the Unchanged, and there are no rules. It’s kill or be killed. In Dog Blood, David Moody’s action-packed and gore-packed sequel to his best-selling novel Hater, his violent one-time family man turned anti-hero Danny McCoyne becomes a reluctant soldier for the cause. It’s not that he doesn’t relish bashing the heads in and otherwise slaughtering the two-thirds of humanity that are still “normal,” AKA, the Unchanged–it’s just that he desperately wants to find his five-year-old daughter, Ellis, who became a Hater when he did, and fight the good fight alongside her.
It’s unclear what exactly caused the Haters to become suspicious of everyone not like themselves, and to develop their intense drive to kill the Unchanged, whether it was a virus, or infection, or alien meteorite, or a scientific experiment that somehow escaped–but that’s not very important to the novel. Instead, Dog Blood focuses on the Haters’ growing realization that they have to organize if they want to survive and continue killing the Unchanged. If they don’t, the Unchanged will continue setting traps, luring mobs of the Haters to specific planned locations, and sending in the army and air support to do some slaughtering of their own. The distinction between the Haters and the Unchanged becomes blurred and moot, with both sides desiring the annihilation of the other. What difference does it make what you call yourselves, if hatred and the death of everyone not like yourselves becomes your raison d’etre?
One aspect of the novel (besides the ole ultra-violence) reminded me of Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange: the attempts of a group of well-intentioned humanist Unchanged people to alter the thinking and behavior of the Haters. They do it differently than is done with the character Alex in Burgess’s novel, but the end effect is somewhat similar. How can one’s old friends and compadres trust someone who has changed? How can a person who has had his violent tendencies subdued or eliminated defend himself adequately if the need arises?
“People tell me I’m wasting my time with your type. They tell me you’re no better than animals, that you’ve got dog blood running through your veins and you should be rounded up and shot.”
This quote explains the title of the novel. The words are those of Joseph Mallon, one of the humanists, to Danny McCoyne. He and his group had McCoyne chained to a table, slowly starving to death, in total darkness. Mallon was not trying to be cruel or mean, but he was trying to prove that there was a chance to change the behavior of at least some of the Haters. As soon as McCoyne got hungry and thirsty enough to speak, having been told that his reward would be something to eat and drink, Mallon gave him food and water. Danny feels guilty that he’s betraying the cause of the Haters, and that he’s letting himself down, but he knows that dying isn’t going to bring him any closer to locating his daughter, or to one day being free and killing more of the Unchanged. As much as he despises the very idea of it, cooperation seems to him to be the best course of action.
Yeah, I know–just when we have the makings of a great violent epic novel, like Hater, whose main villains aren’t zombies but are at least the next best thing to them, some Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes has to go and ruin it for everyone! Don’t despair, though; without giving any further details away, I’ll say that there is still plenty of bloodshed and carnage in the rest of the book. And, of course, we have the third novel of the trilogy to look forward to, so that should tell you that our anti-hero doesn’t become a total tree-hugging flower child.
If you haven’t yet read Hater, get it, buy it, read it today if you are a fan of the horror genre and zombie sub-genre. It’s not necessary to read it to thoroughly enjoy its sequel, Dog Blood, but do it anyway–you’ll be glad you did! And, one more thing–both of the first two books of the trilogy make a perfect Father’s Day or Graduation gift, or just a gift for any occasion. What better way to say, “Thanks, Dad!” or “Congratulations, Grad!” than to say it with blood, guts, and gore? Flowers, ties, and cards are sooooo yesterday.
