It's taken Matthew Dunne almost three months to get home. Never more than a few meters from the Haters at any time, every single step has been fraught with danger. But he's made it.
In his absence, his home city has become a sprawling, walled-off refugee camp. But the camp-and the entire world beyond its borders-is balanced on a knife-edge. During his time in the wilderness, Matt developed a skill which is in high demand: the ability to anticipate and predict Hater behavior. It's these skills that will thrust him into a web of subterfuge and danger. As the pressure mounts inside the camp, he finds himself under scrutiny from all sides.
He's always done his best to avoid trouble, but sometimes it can't be helped. The shit's about to hit the fan, and this time Matt's right at the epicenter.
All Roads End Here is a fast-paced, and wonderfully dark story about humanity's fight for survival in the face of the impending apocalypse.
David Moody first released Hater in 2006, and without an agent, succeeded in selling the film rights for the novel to Mark Johnson (producer, Breaking Bad) and Guillermo Del Toro (director, The Shape of Water, Pan's Labyrinth). Moody's seminal zombie novel Autumn was made into a movie starring Dexter Fletcher and David Carradine. He has an unhealthy fascination with the end of the world and likes to write books about ordinary folks going through absolute hell. With the publication of continuing Hater and Autumn stories, Moody has cemented his reputation as a writer of suspense-laced SF/horror, and "farther out" genre books of all description.
I preordered 'All Roads End Here' from audible months ago because I devour everything David Moody releases. This episode was phenomenal (as always) and I get so much enjoyment from the social commentary and messages, seamlessly intertwined throughout. #Unprecedented.
Essentially, there are two groups of warring people who are in one of two categories "Changed" or "Unchanged"(Highly recommend reading the first book in this series first titled: "HATER" for the history of what started it all) and each group hates the other with a wicked vengeance ( thus the term "Haters") and only serves to fuel an unfathomable, venomous and rabid ferociousness. The main and only objective is to kill members in the opposing group and the more savagely the better.
Initially, it was mind-bending trying to validate the unexplainable behavior which was unfolding at the beginning of the series. I so wanted a rational explanation which could validate the trauma and chaos. Human beings are literally hating each other to death. Very quickly I realized there was no rationale and to buckle up for what would be one hell of a fun ride.
The blood lust and drive to murder members of the opposing group brings to mind the lengths a drug addict is willing to go to when going through withdrawal, and the only thing they can think about is getting more and abating their insatiable cravings and suffering. Equating the single-minded, irrational need to kill with how it might be for an addict going through withdrawal is the best way I can describe the insanity of these two crazed groups. No amount of kills (as with drugs/alcohol for an addict) will ever be enough.
Racism, religion, and politics have all fallen away from society as they knew it before and ironically, the hatred and cruelty of their world today are now a billion times more destructive and hurtful. Doesn't get much worse than torturing a person to death "just because" they play for the other team. Can you imagine?? People's rage has just been redirected and is solely based on what team (changed or unchanged group) drafted them first, and instead of the ignorant name calling of yesteryear, dismemberment and murder have taken their place.
Sadly, some humans will always find a reason to "Hate," and it will continue to be for reasons as inane and idiotic as the ones demonstrated by characters here. Thankfully, (so far) in our society, most of us will not see homicide as a plausible and/or reasonable solution when we find we are not enamored with our fellows.
This series would be amazing for a book club discussion because there certainly is a lot of meat to chew on for a hearty and lively discussion.
David Moody is quite simply a genius at his craft and what a gift he provides his readers (and listeners:) by sharing his tremendous imagination with us all through his novels.
Narrator Gerard Doyle is also amazing!. Often, as I am listening I will think to myself that there is no better voice for these books. Simply put, he has been the perfect match. . . and Thank you.
What David Moody has done with The Final War series is genius. I find that more and more authors don’t know when or how to end a series and move on to something new. I loved the Hater series, it was a novel concept in the realm of “zombie” books. I loved every moment that I spent with Danny McCoyne, but by the final pages of Them or Us, Danny’s story was over, and I was good with that.
The Final War brings me back to this dark world, but with a whole new story/character to follow, Matt. Matt lets us see Moody’s Hater world from the other side. All Roads End Here runs parallel to Dog Blood, however, I felt while listening to it that this book could be a reader’s introduction to this world; a monumental achievement considering it is the second book in the second series.
Moody took his time building the scenario that Matt has found himself in. I thoroughly enjoyed that, I mean, what’s the rush, with writing this good let’s take our time and enjoy this dirty, starving world filled with death and destruction.
David Moody is a fearless, dark author. He is not afraid to take his readers to the places they don’t want to go. He allows his readers to develop relationships with his characters and then slaps them with a healthy dose of pessimistic reality.
Considering my monumental to-be-read list, I decided to use my monthly Audible credit on All Roads End Here. I was somewhat apprehensive about listening to Gerard Doyle’s narration. I don’t have an aversion to accents, but I really didn’t want Handy Andy Kane of Changing Rooms walking me through this story. Doyle’s narration was clear and exceptionally easy to follow.
David Moody's ALL ROADS END HERE is a very strong follow-up to ONE OF US WILL BE DEAD BY MORNING, the first in his second HATER trilogy. In my opinion, it's one of the strongest in the series.
If you’re not familiar with HATER, it’s about a final war spanning the human race that begins when a certain percentage of the population starts to react with terror and hate against anybody not sharing the Hater gene. The Haters, as they’re called, start killing everybody else, and the government reacts with a program of detainment then extermination. Most of the first series focuses on the Hater point of view, while the second focuses on the Unchanged.
ALL ROADS END HERE picks up soon after ONE OF US WILL BE DEAD BY MORNING leaves off, where Matt finally makes it home to his city, now turned into a massive, overcrowded refugee camp under siege by thousands of Haters. The months spent trying to get home have taught him how to be a survivor while in a constant state of extreme danger. Now he must acclimate himself to being around people again. Soon, he discovers a group trying to condition the Haters to accept the Unchanged so as to broker peace, but it may have bigger, more nefarious plans.
From back in the day when Moody was self-publishing HATER and his AUTUMN series as PDFs (long before he got picked up by St. Martin's), I’ve been a fan of his original twists on tropes and meticulous attention to realism and human psychology under stress. While his work deals with the fantastic, everything about it rings true and makes the story, characters, and action all the more compelling. With ALL ROADS END HERE, Moody once again proves he’s still got it and remains one of the best authors of zombie fiction.
The Haters are back and fiercer than ever! The latest instalment of David Moody's trademark series focuses on survival and hard choices, and is ultimately one of the more intense books in the series. There are unexpected twists all over this bleak tale, and the ending leaves me wondering what will happen next.
The story is fairly well paced, and moves between main character Matt adjusting to returning home after months in dangerous, Hater-infested lands, only to find himself unable (or unwilling) to readjust. His story leads to some startling revelations as he tries to bring safety and comfort to the people he must care for. I like the way this twist unfolded, and definitely felt the tension when it became apparent that the dangers the survivors face were far more serious than lack of food and sanitation.
Matt was my favourite character, a man who understands the world is no longer black and white and won't hesitate to put his loved ones before others. I also enjoyed side character Jayce, who gives new meaning to the phrase "internal struggle." I tried to sympathize with side characters like Jason and Jen, but I just found Jason to be a jerk and Jen to be a little too needy. They were of course a little more complicated, but they also drove me kinda mad.
That said, I'm always super excited when a new HATER book is released, and this new story fits in the bleak, brutal world and is something all survival horror fans will love.
My older sister had bought me the book “All Roads End Here”, without the knowledge that there was a first book to read. Of course, at the time I didn’t know either, so I read it like no other book. Although, I didn’t know 100% on what was happening at first. I really started to enjoy it very much. Throughout the book it seemed like I was walking in an endless hall of emotion. There were times where I was nervous to turn the page, but proceed to do so in eager. The details of the characters and setting in the ruined world, was really well done in my opinion. I felt mixed emotions about them, I related to a character because I understood the circumstances, and even agreed with their decisions, but even then I changed my mind and was even frustrated by their choice of actions. I especially enjoyed the protagonist Matt. In some suspenseful moments, there were times where I’d even try to think like Matt, put myself in his shoes kinda. To see if my prediction of his next move to survive was true. I tried to theorize on what was going to happen next, and how would Matt and his girlfriend survive through the world filled with so much hatred. The ending really caught me off guard, and I didn’t know it was the kind that I needed. I’m thinking of purchasing the first book “Hater”, and I’m sure I’ll be very excited to read it when I do.
This one is so full of suspense that you cannot put it down. I read all the Haters series and it’s much better if you do read them first, but you could read it as a stand-alone. Terrifying and brilliant!
The story of Matt continues as he defies the Haters by slowly making his way to his home town, having escaped the remote island in the North Sea. A switch from the original trilogy with the focus on the Unchanged but an insight into the Haters. Another gripping read from the excellent David Moody.
Solid entry in the second-go-round Hater series finds our hero Matt back home and searching for his girlfriend Jen while trying to figure out the state of the world away from the island. While you sometimes get the vibe that you've been here before, Moody's superior writing propels the story along and keeps you interested in what happens to this particular group of people trying to survive in a world that's been flipped upside down. A strong ending sets up the third and final chapter in this battle against the Haters. 3.5 stars bumped to four for the quality of writing. Highly recommended for fans of the series.
Moody knows how to write gripping apocalyptic Zombie-ish fiction. I flew through this book, I was always engaged while reading, even when some plot and character details annoyed me a bit. As far as freshness or originality, this being book 5 in the "Hater" universe and book 2 in its own "Final War" trilogy, I think we are scraping the bottom of the barrel a little bit. But honestly, Moody writes this so entertaining and thrilling that he actually proves that you don't always need to come up with more and better and different, you can deliver a good book that will captivate if you know how to do that well.
The action sequences are scary and let me come back to the work gripping here because it's so fitting of a word. I was emotionally attached to our hero Matt even when I thought his level of capability was a little bit thick (made even thicker when Moody chose to give the girlfriend Jen zero chops and held her back even more by letting her suffer from agoraphobia, or pairing Matt with Jason who is very uncapable and bit of a dick): he is just this normal guy (similar to the original Hater trilogy) that you want to see survive. I liked the little details shown of this world on the brink of the end, as in how this last stronghold Matt finds shelter in struggles with supplying to the people or how waste collection is an actual problem, I live for ordinary aspects like this in my end of the world books and I loved how Moody included some. I have some issues with a very spoilery element (). For me personally I would have preferred a little less military and scientist shenanigans and more straight up survival since I think that is where the strengths of these books lie. Paranoia can be a helpful tool in that but not int he way it was utilized here.
The ending overall was a little too easy to see in advance how it all would run down, I think a good aspect of its predecessor "One of Us Will Be Dead by Morning" was that until the end I was never 100% how things would go and who would make it (it also had a killer setting), "All Roads End Here" is missing some of that for me. It still is bleak as can be but with a certain paint by numbers drive to it. I will for sure read the last installment but I do hope Moody is not going to dwell on the spoilery thing that I didn't care for, or at least if he wants to pursue this path makes it more convincing.
All Roads End Here is the 5th book in the Hater series by David Moody, this book set in the same universe as the original trilogy along the same time line but the difference here is that we get to see it from a different perspective this time from the Unchanged pov. Book five picks up where the last one left off with Matt on his dangerous journey trying to return home to his partner. The book races straight off the start line with Matt trying to enter the safe zone as all hell is breaking loose as the unchanged try to rescue a small group trapped from the haters, The writing is first class and the horror and violence is Moody at his best, However a word of warning this is not a book for the Squamish! This being book 5 the world our characters inhabit is very well realised and brought to life superbly by Moody. The setting is bleak and the atmosphere is very tense and a little paranoid which I believe Moody should be applauded for after 5 books I would have to say this is the best book in the series so far by a country mile. The feeling of claustrophobia in the safe zone that Moody writes is so well brought to life as I read I felt the walls closing in around me. Matt is a really great character and the main focus this time of the book we have some supporting cast they are fairly well flesh out but the main character is the world and as protagonist travels throughout this terrifying place. With one trilogy already in the bag you can read this from 1 to 5 or start at book 4 on the second trilogy as even though they are set in the same world the different POV adds so much depth to these stories and that is such clever writing from Mr. Moody.
This is a tour de force in the Z genre and David Moody should be absolutely applauded to have written 4 books already which are all great to still be able to shock and write with so much class is outstanding.
I guess I'm a bit biased in my rating here as I'm 5 books into the series.
Aside from a few questionable decisions here and there, and Moody's no holes barred approach to killing any characters he sees fit, It's a tense and satisfying read. Everything that I've come to expect from this underrated series. On to the sixth and final book... (Literally right now!)
It took me a bit to really get into the storyline, since I didn’t realize it was a part of a series. But once I understood what was going on, I found myself turning page after page. The ending, even though I was able to predict it, shocked me to my core, and I found myself wanting much more after it ended. I love how Moody goes really in depth with description, characters, and plot development, and he really knows how to play with the emotions of his readers.
I’ve really enjoyed this book series, starting with the original Hater trilogy, and then expanded into this spinoff trilogy – The Final War series. The concept of the ‘Haters’; just regular people until some sort of hormonal trigger, sees anyone else who hasn’t had the same trigger - the unchanged – as a mortal enemy and they are driven to kill them at all costs , yet still essentially being human was such an original and brutal concept, and one that has kept up now after five books still being as brutal and compelling.
Matt has spent three months trying to get home. Hiding and avoiding roving tribes of Haters, watching as they’ve torn families apart, he’s done anything to get home to Jen. But home isn’t home anymore. The city is now a sprawling refugee fortress, where the local militarised government is trying to hold back the gathering hordes of Haters while the city strains against the ever-increasing population of unchanged looking for sanctuary. Matt has changed since the emergence of Haters, the constant battle and fear had made him hard and willing to do anything to survive, much to the shock of Jen. The situation in the city has Matt constantly on edge, the crush of people who don’t know what it takes to survive outside the city, the shortages of food, the increasing population and the CDF ruling the city, sacrificing parts of the city to the ever grow haters gathering outside the city despite constant bombardment. Desperate for more supplies, rather than wait in day long queues for very little, Matt volunteers for work outside the city for CDF to get a better supply line. Matt’s survival and new understanding in this new world attracts some attention from some in the CDF, and Matt finds himself working alongside a secret group within in CDF, working on a secret project – trying to ‘rehabilitate’ Haters. Matt’s main goal is to protect Jen, but as the Haters gather outside, food becomes scarce, and parts of the CDF begin evacuating; the idea of bringing in captured Haters into the city to try and ‘fix’ them seems like suicide. Matt and few others start on a plan to evacuate and hide, once the inevitable happens and the city falls and the Haters rage in killing everyone in their path.
The original Hater trilogy was different as your main character you followed was spoiler a Hater; sort of like a zombie being the main character in regular Zombie apocalypse book. The twist in this series, of following Matt, just a regular person – an unchanged, might seem a turn to something more traditional and common, but seen as continuation of the original trilogy, to see the other side, the unchanged side, greatly adds to the whole story narrative of the entire book series. Seeing both sides of this unimaginable disaster, really hits hard, and the way that is written, really carries the sense of desperation and fear, which is present through the book.
The tension in this book is rarely, if ever taken off. The protagonist Matt, his experiences as he made it back home, have turned him constantly on alert and vigilant, and this level of unease and tension is carried by him all the way through, and you the reader really notice this, and greatly enhances the general uncomfortable feeling through the book. Matts anger on how people who haven't seen what he has and can't comprehend what the works is now also seeps out with disdain. The sense of impeding collapse of the city, is done well, and even though if you’ve read the previous trilogy and now where that ends it’s still thrilling ending and with enough surprises thrown in. The idea of various levels of Hater is a good one and one that wasn’t really touched upon in the Hater trilogy. While all Haters have an uncontrollable reaction to the unchanged when they encounter them, here it’s shown there’s more of a scale. While there are Haters where exterminating the unchanged is their sole purpose, like Danny and the other Haters, there are ones that don’t want to be part of its and hide away so they don’t come into contact with any unchanged, as once they see them, they can’t control themselves. I thought this was a good expansion of the world; that there are Haters, but these aren’t driven on a sort of crusade to wipe out the unchanged like the groups that Danny worked with before; but people isolating themselves so they don’t come into contact with any unchanged and get taken over by the murderous compulsion. The fact that Haters can be classed as ‘innocent’ and just caught in a life altering situation not of their own making, and one they can't control, I think is a good expansion to the lore. People who've give through the ‘Hater rehabilitation programme’ like spoiler Jayce spoiler are a real good addition. Their battle to control their urges when surrounded and their reasons why of sticking through it, are really well done and added an extra layer of complexity.
Matt is a good character, and how his survival while he crossed the country has affected him, is smartly done, with Jen and the others living in his house unable to grasp what it took for him to survive or what the world is like now. The others in the book; Jen, Jason, Franklin, Jayce are all decent, with my only real gripe being that we don't spend enough with them. I would have liked more on Franklin, Jen, and Jayce in particular. It’s not that matt isn’t enough to carry the story, he is, just I felt there was more there if these characters were expanded on just a bit more.
The book throws in a few surprises, which are actual surprises. Finding out which are the Haters who are able to put some control into their behaviour. You had Haters able to control themselves in Dog Blood, but this was a Hater plot in infiltrate and bring down unchanged safe houses; here what’s left of government trying to find a less violent option and some sort of way to coexist. This book starts interweaving with Dogs Blood, with even Danny being briefly seen, and how the CDF’s plan of rehabilitated Haters is subverted to become a Trojan horse for the Haters to get into the city.
I really enjoyed this book, pretty much how I loved the rest of the books in this story. The writing is tense, where I was unsure where it was going to go and the suspense is kept high, pretty much throughout. Flipping the story, to see the other side of what happened in the Hater trilogy really works, and I’m surprised by how original it is; that doesn’t feel just a rehash of the previous books.
I strongly recommend these; obviously after the reading the previous books. I feel if you started reading this new trilogy first, you wouldn't get the same impact you'd get after reading the first trilogy. So first read the Hater trilogy, then start this one.
Not developed enough for me. Too many questions - not enough connections. Haters? Still don't understand why they do what they do. Aliens? Full moon? Experiment gone wrong? I admit, I started to skim read so maybe the answer was in there between the lines and I missed it. It just didn't hold me attention. And then there was the ending...
Matthew Dunne was away on business when the war started. He manages to escape the turmoil and find his way back home after a three-month journey. When he gets there, he discovers that the house where he was living with his girlfriend, Jen, is now occupied by four other people along with Jen. These individuals were sent to live there as housing is at a premium inside the city, which is now a giant refugee camp.
The world has been turned upside down, and a savage war is being fought all around. It’s the Haters against the Unchanged. The Haters, as their name implies, hate everyone, and their only objective is to kill anyone who is not one of them. As such, they have turned the whole countryside into a massive killing field. Those lucky enough to escape have found their way to the camp.
Matt is a survivor and is determined to keep Jen safe. In order to do so, he must find a way to provide food for everyone in the house on a daily basis. This is a tedious job, but a necessary one. However, there is more to this conflict than meets the eye. Through careful observation, Matt realizes that other things are going on in and around the camp. He feels compelled to learn what they are, even if it means putting himself in harm’s way. What he discovers forces him to make some difficult choices.
David Moody’s story is a good one, as there is plenty of action and conflict. But this is a sequel to ONE OF US WILL BE DEAD BY MORNING, which I did not read. So I kept wondering when the author was going to provide some kind of backstory for newcomers about what caused the conflict in the first place and why some people ended up as Haters and others were Unchanged. What exactly happened? When and how did it happen? Those questions were never answered, which I found to be a bit frustrating as I wanted to know what was going on.
ALL ROADS END HERE has an unexpected ending that I enjoyed. If you’re looking for a novel that provides lots of food for thought, I highly recommend this one. However, it would serve you well to read the prequel first so you can fully understand and appreciate all that happens in this second Final War installment.
Wow - I just began reading David Moody's books (recommended through Reddit - I find Reddit recommendations about good horror books from "normal" readers like me more on point than ones written by editors from formal publications/websites). Anyway I've read 5 of his books these past few weeks and the evolution of his writing style is amazing. I may not have noticed except that I've been reading one book after another since they are all a series.
This one is the most evolved one yet - truly a mash up of a great Zombie book and World War Z. It's almost as if the author got a ghost writer or a super fabulous editor.
This is more of a 4.5 but I figure why be stingy. It's one of the best post apocalyptic books I've read.
I love these books. Have loved all of Moody's books. I read them fast and I enjoy them a lot. My one complaint in this one was that several characters at critical moments made really "what the hell are you doing" decisions. I guess part of the fun of this genre whether it be books or movies is indeed yelling at the screen or page "don't go in there!" I haven't noticed it in previous books by the author. And some of the actions were more mind-scratching than simple "get out of the house" stupidity. It wasn't huge...but it was present enough for me that to not mention it in giving my take and review on this one would be dishonest.
Another bleak entry in the Hater series that does not disappoint. It's a touch slower than One of Us Will Be Dead By Morning, but that's not a bad thing. I felt even more invested in the characters, and loved how we got to see Matt's evolution across the two books. As usual, Moody builds up to an incredible conclusion that will leave you rattled for days. I also appreciated the cameos from the Hater series proper, and how the viewpoint expands our understanding of what was happening in Dog Blood. There's a lot more to say--all positive, but I'll leave off with this:
David Moody is one of the best thriller / suspense writers around, full stop.
Нормально, но выразительности таки не хватает. И, да, события идут в параллель с первой трилогией, для наглядности можно сказать, что ГГ Хейтера-1 (Dog Blood) двинул на штурм того самого города, где сейчас обороняется ГГ Хейтера-2 (сабж). Ну и ядерная конфетка прилетает как раз туда же. Читабельно, иногда даже интересно, но не более. Впрочем, третий роман буду читать в обязательном порядке.
Reading a book about the end of the world may not be an ideal topic for some people given what's going on at the moment!
For me though I really enjoyed it & found it to be a tense, tightly paced & thrilling story. Brace yourself though - it can get very grim at times. I can't wait to read the next book in the series!
I really loved Hater. I remember enjoying One of Us Will Be Dead by Morning. I am stuck on chapter 23. I fully enjoyed the story until Matt showed up at home. It's been so very boring since I don't know, maybe I'm just tired of Haters. I don't think I can finish this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
As always David leaves us wanting more about who will survive and how man kind can turn so quickly on its self, do we even have a chance to find a way to live among the undead. I hope the rumours are true that we do see this series become a movie franchise.
This was by far my favorite book in this series yet. I loved how we learn more about the world of the unchanged, and towards the end it was so intense I had to put the book down every so often and freak out!
Another great read from Moody! Fifth in the Hater series, or 2nd in the Final War series. This book continues on after the previous book, "One of Us will be Dead by Morning". An entertaining, disturbing, and sad read about humanity and the end of the world.