Them or Us

In Moody’s bleak concluding volume to his apocalyptic Hater trilogy, the ferociously violent Haters continue to try to wipe out the Unchanged, those people who made it through the cataclysm without resorting to force in the previous books, Hater and Dog Blood. With the Unchanged’s chances for survival dwindling rapidly, someone has ordered nuclear strikes that obliterate all of England’s major cities. If the goal was to decimate the Haters and give the Unchanged a new lease on life, the ploy failed. In the aftermath of the nuclear winter, Danny McCoyne, a Hater who’s able to control his aggressive urges, has found a haven in the coastal town of Lowestoft, ruled by a vicious dictator named Hinchcliffe. Hinchcliffe exploits McCoyne’s special status to search out the few remaining pockets of the Unchanged. Solid prose keeps the action moving, but the unremitting darkness of this horror thriller won’t be for everyone. (Nov.)